Harvesting Balance: The Equinox as a Mirror for Recovery

What are YOU harvesting?

In the northern hemisphere the Autumnal Equinox happens on 22 September. Mabon is the fall harvest festival name for this sabbat. I want to share the connection that I see here between recovery and this seasonal shift, for by honoring nature's cyclic turning, I also honor my own evolution this year.

At the autumn equinox, day and night hold each other in perfect balance—a mirror for the delicate equilibrium we seek within ourselves. This is a time of harvest, when we gather not only the fruits from the earth but also the wisdom from our own experiences. In recovery, we learn that both light and shadow have shaped us, that our struggles and our strengths are intertwined like roots and branches of the same tree. The equinox invites us to honor both: the darkness we've moved through and the light we've cultivated, recognizing that one gives meaning to the other.

The harvest season asks us to take stock—to acknowledge what we've grown, what served us, and what needs to be released as the year turns inward. In recovery, this practice of honest inventory becomes sacred. We harvest the fruits of our commitment: new relationships, rebuilt trust, moments of clarity and peace. We also recognize what must be composted—old patterns, resentments, the weight of shame—returning them to the earth so they might transform into something that nourishes future growth. This isn't just metaphor; it's the actual work of aligning our healing with nature's rhythms.

When we honor the equinox, we remember that recovery itself is a return to natural cycles. Addiction often disconnects us from the rhythms of day and night, seasons and rest, our own bodies and the earth beneath our feet. As we heal, we relearn to move with these tides rather than against them. We understand that there are times for active growth and times for stillness, that both the harvest and the fallow period are necessary. By attuning ourselves to these ancient patterns—the balance, the gathering, the letting go—we find our place again in the larger story of life renewing itself, season after season, breath after breath.