Equinox = Balance of Astronomy, Astrology, and Semantics

I tried to explain the autumnal equinox a few years ago to Ron, who now rests in peace.

“On the equinox,” I said, “Day and night are nearly equal.”

Perplexed, he questioned the word nearly. After all, he seemed to say, equinox does mean equal night.

The answer is an astrological version of smoke and mirrors.

It starts with the Equator, the imaginary line that encircles Earth at its circumference and equally divides it in two halves. Then there’s Earth’s axis, the imaginary line that passes from North Pole to South Pole at a tilt of 23.4 degrees. It always points in the same direction, though it tilts toward and away from the Sun at different times of the year. On an equinox, it is neutral. Finally, there’s the atmosphere, the invisible layer of gases that surrounds Earth and refracts or bends sunlight.

Refraction causes the Sun’s upper edge to be visible from Earth several minutes before the edge actually reaches the horizon. The same thing happens at sunset when you can see the Sun for several minutes after it has dipped under the horizon. This causes every day on Earth, including the days of the equinoxes, to be at least 6 minutes longer than it would have been without this refraction.

The autumnal equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the Celestial Equator—the imaginary line that extends beyond Earth’s Equator. Before the crossing, the Sun rises and sets in a more northerly direction; afterward, more southerly.

The days become shorter at the higher latitudes (those farther from the Equator) because it takes the sun longer to rise and set. According to the National Weather Service, on the equinox, the length of a day ranges from about 12 hours and 6.5 minutes at the Equator, 12 hours and 8 minutes at 30 degrees latitude, and 12 hours and 16 minutes at 60 degrees latitude.

Because of differences in the calendar and the tropical year, the autumnal equinox can occur any time between September 21 and 24, but it happens at the same moment worldwide. This year, it is Sunday, September 22, at 8:43 a.m., EDT.  The sun will rise from true east (90 degrees) and set due west (270 degrees). This happens only on equinoxes, which explains why we see sunrise and sunset in a slightly different place along the horizon each day.

Balancing Astronomy with Astrology

Has this bit of astronomy challenged your equilibrium? If so, you are not alone. Ron thought that a bit of astrology might help. The Sun is about to enter Libra, the seventh sign of the zodiac, the one that represents a shift in perspective. While the first six signs focus on the individual, the last six focus on relationships with others and the world at large. Represented by scales, Libra exemplifies balance.

According to Eight Sabbats for Witches, by Janet and Stewart Farrar, the term “balance” is a much more appropriate term than “equal” for an equinox. Not only do spring and autumn balance each other, but they also are seasons when we change gears and energy. Spring, for example, is the time for growth while autumn is the time of harvest. Spring initiates life, autumn ushers in death. Spring is youth, autumn old age.

The Farrars practice Wicca, a religion that seeks to harmonize people with divine principles through rituals based on natural occurrences. They believe that March and September—the months with equinoxes—are times of metaphysical stress, times when the veil between the seen and unseen is thin, creating psychological as well as psychic turbulence.

In the Wiccan cycle, light rules the darkness at the vernal equinox, and darkness rules the light at its autumnal equivalent. Rather than lament the inequality of darkness that begins on the equinox, I suggest practicing balance.

It depends on three systems in your body—visual, proprioceptive (muscles and joints), and vestibular (inner ear). Your visual system tells your brain where your body is in relation to your environment. Your proprioceptive system tells your brain what your muscles, tendons, and joints are doing. And your vestibular system determines if your head is level—and yes, we could all use a level head around now.

Balance starts with knowing where you are—finding direction, so to speak. While Bruce McClure, former writer for EarthSky‘s “Tonight” pages, does not suggest using the equinox as a means to reset your psychic balance, he does suggest using it to find true east and west.

Simply go outside at sunset or sunrise and notice the location of the sun on the horizon with respect to familiar landmarks. You can use these familiar landmarks to find the cardinal directions long after Earth has moved on in its orbit. I like to think of it as orienting myself in the universe.

With your body acting as a fulcrum, close your eyes to steady your equilibrium and point your right hand east, and your left directly west. Take a minute to change gears, to be balanced, to recognize and understand the significance of the natural phases of the Sun and Earth, so that the turbulence of the season exhilarates rather than distresses you.

I asked Ron if he thought the world would be more balanced if we all took a minute at the point of equinox to orient ourselves to the natural phases of Sun and Earth—reset our moral compass, so to speak.

Simpering as only a feline can, Ron let me know that all these semantics had thrown him off balance. Equal night or not, he closed his eyes and took a cat nap.