The Autumn Equinox gives us a point on the calendar, a moment when day and night are nearly equal. But a date on the calendar cannot tell us when autumn will begin to make itself known.
Along the coast, autumn may arrive on wind and rain. In the Midwest, it may announce itself through fields and changing leaves. In the Southwest, its signs may be quieter and entirely different. Even places at similar latitudes can experience the turning differently.
The equinox is shared. The experience of autumn is local.
By the time the equinox arrives, the season may already be well underway where you live, or summer may still be holding on. This is where observation becomes part of practice.
Rather than beginning with what we have been told autumn should look like, we can begin with what is actually happening around us.
Go and Find Autumn
Sometime in the days surrounding the equinox, step outside. You don't need to go anywhere special. Your yard, neighborhood, a nearby park, or even a place where you can sit and watch what is happening around you is enough.
Take your time.
What is leaving?
What is arriving?
What is changing?
And perhaps just as importantly, what hasn't changed yet?
Notice the temperature of the air and the feel of the ground. Look at the trees and other plants. Listen for birds and insects. Pay attention to the light, the wind, the smells, and the small things you might ordinarily walk past.
Don't go looking for what you think you are supposed to find.
Notice what you notice.
Gather Three Things
As you observe, choose three things that say autumn to you.
There is no correct collection of autumn things. The purpose isn't to recreate someone else's idea of the season, but to notice what tells you that autumn has arrived where you are.
One of your objects might be a fallen leaf or an acorn. It might be a feather, stone, dried seed head, or something you hadn't thought of as particularly autumnal until it caught your attention.
And not everything needs to come from outside. An object already in your home may belong among the three because of a memory, tradition, or feeling that connects it with the season.
As you gather, take only what is appropriate to take. Some things belong exactly where they are and are better noticed than collected.
If you are called to do so, leave a small offering of gratitude in return. For many practitioners, this is part of an exchange, a way of acknowledging that what we gather from the land is received, not simply taken. What constitutes an appropriate offering is something each practitioner can consider for themselves and for the place in which they are working.
Bring Autumn Home
Arrange your three things somewhere you will see them.
They might sit on your altar, but they don't have to. A table, windowsill, shelf, or another small place in your home is just as suitable.
You don't need to assign a traditional correspondence to each object or decide what it is supposed to represent. Begin instead with why you chose it.
What did you notice about it?
Why did it say autumn to you?
What does it remind you of?
Then let your small arrangement remain for a while.
As the weeks pass and autumn deepens, you may begin to see those objects differently. Something that seemed important at the equinox may become less so. Something you almost overlooked may take on greater meaning.
That, too, is part of observing a season.
Your Autumn Will Not Look Like Everyone Else's
We can learn traditional associations. We can read about seasonal customs and practices. We can understand the astronomical turning taking place at the equinox.
There is value in structure and tradition.
But there is also value in allowing intuition, creativity, experience, and relationship with place to have their say.
The calendar can tell us when the Autumn Equinox occurs. It cannot tell us what autumn looks like where we live.
The land can help us with that.
We only have to pay attention.
And perhaps, when autumn has moved toward winter, return to those three things one more time.
Look at what you chose at the beginning of the season and ask:
Do these still say autumn to me?
You may be surprised by the answer.