Autumnal Equinox

This Thursday, September 22, we celebrate the Autumnal Equinox.

The Autumnal Equinox marks the start of autumn. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox occurs in September; in the Southern Hemisphere, it occurs in March. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through the celestial equator, (the yellow dotted line in the diagram below), an imaginary extension of Earth's equator into space. The word equinox comes from the latin "aequus" meaning equal, and "nox" meaning night. On the equinox the length of day and night are roughly the same. (Almanac, 2022)

A diagram of the Equinox. Source Time and Date.com

It is the time of year when we slow down and harvest all that can be salvaged from the garden. A time of year when canning and preserving takes up any spare time and fills the empty shelves which were eaten from all year. A time of year when flowers are dried for winter arrangements, pumpkins are entered at fall fairs, and pies are made with fresh fallen apples from our orchards.

The moon is very large around the Equinox and rises very close to sunset many nights in a row. This moon is called the Harvest Moon. Historically this provided farmers with extra light to finish their harvests before the damaging frosts set in. "Normally, the Moon rises about an hour later each night, but around the time of the fall equinox, the angle of the Moon’s orbit and the tilt of the Earth line up just right and cause the Moon to rise only about 20 to 30 minutes later each night for several nights in a row!" (Almanac, 2022)

An inspiration to drink from beautiful mugs filled with hot tea fills the chilling air. I am Worthy is a tea to drink through the Autumn Season. Inspired by Chinese Medicine, the Five Season Collection offers 5 teas for each season, Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

This Autumn we will fill our cups with I am Worthy to remind ourselves that we are indeed worthy to take the time to slow down and enjoy the fleeting days of summer. The subtle blend of Fennell, Fenugreek, Flax, Nettles, Lavender, Lemon Balm, and Wild Blueberries will send you into a relaxed state. Working with Medicine with Melody we have co-created this line of teas to guide you through the changing seasons. We hope you take some time to plan winter projects, and play in the falling leaves.