Three Simple Rituals to Celebrate the Autumn Equinox
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Twice a year, we experience an equinox where the day and night are equal in length. In the Northern hemisphere, the fall equinox in September marks the transition from summer into autumn, where the days become shorter and the nights become longer. In feng shui, we think about the seasons as the continuous cycle of shifting yin and yang energy. The autumn equinox in particular represents a point where the expansive yang energy of summer is diminishing and yin energy is gradually increasing. We see this everyday: the days are becoming shorter, cooler, and the sun is setting earlier. These are all signs of increasing yin qi.
The equinox really invites us to notice these changes in nature and also to consider where similar shifts may be happening in our own lives. Autumn has traditionally been associated with gathering, harvesting, preserving food, and preparing for the coming winter. There’s also an invitation to take stock and really notice where you are, what has been produced, what can be gathered, and what needs to be stored. You can look at this on a mundane level, but you can also do some self-reflection.
Autumn and the metal element
In feng shui, we work with the five elements system, a way of looking at the natural world and how energy flows. Each of the elements has a different type of signature, or a different flavor of qi that we can recognize throughout nature. Autumn is connected to the metal element, and the autumn equinox represents the peak of metal energy. Metal qi is about contracting and moving inwards. Think about what happens in nature as autumn arrives: leaves fall to the ground, plants die back, seeds are conserved, and animals begin to prepare for the colder months ahead. Energy shifts from outwards growth to inward preservation and conservation of resources for winter.
Metal energy also invites us to do something similar in our lives. It asks us to gather our energy, refine what’s important, complete what needs completing, and let go of what’s no longer needed. From a personal qi standpoint, metal is connected to clarity, completion, refinement, and letting go. We’ve come from the exciting growth of spring and the hot summer, and now autumn gives us the permission to simplify, shed, and let things die away. This time of year encourages us to get quieter.
To celebrate the autumn equinox, here are three simple rituals you can do to align with the idea of simplicity and the energy of the season:
Ritual 1: Harvest and prepare for winter
Autumn has historically been a season of gathering and preparation. For this ritual, you’re invited to walk through your kitchen, pantry, garden, office, or home, and just notice what you’ve gathered and created over the summer. Take stock of what you have, and consider what you need to prepare for the coming season. This is also an invitation to investigate what season of life you’re in. Then, preserve or prepare something seasonal. For example, you could dry or preserve some herbs, gather food from your garden, cook a soup or bake something, or even just prepare a cup of tea for yourself. Notice what you have and use that as a starting point to prepare something that’s connected to the current season.
As you prepare this seasonal offering, bring your awareness to the abundance that’s been created throughout the year and how this can nourish you. Some questions you can ask yourself are:
What have I gathered?
What resources do I want to preserve?
What do I want to carry with me into the quieter months?
What can I prepare now so that I feel supported later?
Of course, this can be taken literally in a practical sense, but also internally. Notice also what invisible things you’ve gathered and which invisible resources you want to preserve. This ritual is about creating a harvest in preparation for winter. It connects us with the practical wisdom of our ancestors: gathering what you need, appreciating what’s grown, and preparing for the season ahead.
Ritual 2: Let go and simplify your home
Autumn is an ideal time to work with the contracting and refining energy of the metal element by mindfully decluttering. Just as the trees release their leaves, we can consider what we are ready to release. Letting go of what we no longer need creates space for clarity and allows energy to move more freely. Instead of trying to declutter your whole home, you could choose just one small, manageable area that has been neglected. The goal isn’t perfection or a completely minimal home; instead, we want to consciously release what’s no longer needed and create space for what matters right now.
Once you’ve chosen the area of your home that you want to focus on, start sorting through your belongings, asking yourself the following questions:
What am I ready to let go of?
What no longer supports me?
What am I holding on to simply because I haven't taken the time to release it?
What can I complete?
If you want, you can also take this a step further and focus on an area of your home that aligns with a particular aspect of your life that you want to work on. If you’re familiar with the feng shui bagua, you can do this by focusing on a particular gua. Or, you could focus on a room in your home that’s symbolically connected with a specific part of your life: the kitchen for abundance, office for career, bathroom for health, bedroom for your private self, dining room for community, entryway for new opportunities, or living room for family.
Note: If you’re interested in a more expansive version of this ritual, you can find this in our book, Mindful Living, along with rituals for the spring equinox, winter solstice, and summer solstice.
Ritual 3: Active metal qi with sound
Choose a metal bell, chime, singing bowl, tingsha bell, or another metal object with a clear, resonant sound. You’re going to ring the bell nine times, and there are a few different ways to do this: you can move throughout your home and ring it nine times in the center of each room, or simply go to the center of the main floor of your home and ring it there nine times. Another option is combine these approaches: ring it once in the center of each room and then finish by ringing it nine times in the overall center of your home. The key is that you want to focus on the center, either of your overall home or of each room. Allow the sound to completely resonate and fade into silence each time before you ring it again. As you ring your bell and listen, you can set intentions that align with the season. For example, you may want to set an intention around completing a project, letting go of something, or gaining clarity on a situation. The goal is to use the resonance of this metal object to activate the metal element and support the process of completion and release. This is also a really great way to clear the qi of your space.
Letting go is a natural part of the cycle
As we move into autumn, we are invited to move in a different direction from the expansive energy of summer. Instead of asking what else you can do, start asking what you can complete, simplify, release, or preserve. And what do you want to carry forward? The autumn equinox reminds us that letting go is not an ending; it's simply part of the natural cycle that makes space for what comes next. Just as the trees release their leaves and conserve their energy for winter, we can also turn inward, gather our resources, and prepare for the next phase of the cycle.