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Here is the video we’ve just released about the autumn equinox, which is in a few days (in the Northern Hemisphere). This is the fourth video in the series we’ve been making about the ancient spiritual meaning of the solstices and equinoxes – this one focuses on the ancient spiritual meaning of the autumn equinox.

It takes a visually rich deep dive into the traditions, ancient sites, and myths of the fall / autumn equinox to uncover their deeper spiritual meaning and relevance today.

The autumn equinox is a time when day and night are equal, but after which the nights become longer than the days, and darkness becomes greater than light. It was celebrated by ancient peoples for millennia and is still one of the most celebrated religious times of year today.

Why is the autumn equinox such an important religious event and what is its spiritual meaning?

To answer these questions, I travel through the many sites and festivals connected to it across the world.

I explore the autumn equinox tradition of Durga Puja in India, which is celebrated by over a billion people, and the ancient Persian festival of Mehregan. I also look at the meaning of the legend of the Minotaur, the Eleusinian Mysteries, the descent of the feathered serpent Kukulkan/Quetzalcoatl, the hanging of the Norse god Odin on the world tree, the journey of the Egyptian sun god Ra, and the crucifixion of Jesus, which are all connected to the fall equinox.

I explore the alignments of some of the world’s most enigmatic sacred sites to the autumn equinox to interpret their symbolic, spiritual meaning, including the Great Pyramid and Sphinx Temple in Egypt, Ahu Akivi in Easter Island, the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent in Mexico (El Castillo at Chichen Itza), and the Palace of Knossos in Crete.

I explain how celebrating the equinox was an important component of an ancient religion of the sun that spread to different parts of the world in prehistory. I also explore the role and symbolism of the mother goddess, and of darkness, death and descent, as represented by the autumn equinox.

This video is part of a series about the spiritual meaning of the solstices and equinoxes, which is based on our book Ancient Solstice. You can watch the other videos in this series here:

Winter solstice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRhU-bw0gPI
Spring equinox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLdf5jW9IhQ
Summer solstice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_2Tn7esH10

*******

Once again, the team and I just finished this video in time for the autumn equinox by putting in some big hours in the last couple of weeks. Everyone involved did such a fantastic job. There is a lot of work that goes into making these longer style doco videos with their hundreds of images, illustrations, and 3D graphics – not to mention all the research, music, filming, editing etc. But it’s worth it, as it’s really something special to see these ancient sites and mysteries brought back to life.

Jon did a superb job of editing everything together. Erik did a wonderful job of organizing all the images and clips and creating some of the AI images. Dara also made some of the AI images. Together Dara and Erik brought Minoan priestesses back to life! Dara also recreated the beautiful alignment of the Great Pyramid’s descending passage to the North Star. Julian did another brilliant job of doing the 3D graphics, which allowed us to travel across the world to different ancient sites, and to witness the alignments of the Sphinx Temple and Ahu Akivi. Together, Julian and Erik did the diagram of the Great Pyramid’s alignment to Alcyone and Thuban (based on an existed illustration by Charles Piazzi Smyth). Lucia composed the poignant quote images. Jenny created the true-to-life still of the Sphinx Temple equinox alignment, and cleared the images/clips we needed. And last but not least, Jenny and Jordan put the mighty list of credits together.

It’s been a big project to make these videos about the ancient spiritual meaning of the four solstices and equinoxes, but we finally made it, and I think it’s such an important contribution to the world’s understanding of the ancient celebration of these times of year. I hope they serve as educational resources for many years to come.

Thank you to those of you who’ve supported Mark and I, and the team at the publisher to be able to complete this project – though we’ll be continuing to make videos about these times of year. There is still much to say, as they were the most important days in the ancient world.

Wishing you a very meaningful equinox.