When is the official start of the fall season in the Northern Hemisphere? Does it begin in early September, late August, or at the Autumn equinox?

Ask multiple people when fall begins, and you’ll likely have some different answers.

The First Day of the Fall Season

For me, it commences when autumn foliage begins appearing, usually near the start of meteorological fall. This also occurs near the same time as the new school year, a time full of promise.

After so many years as a student and then a teacher, the fall season feels full of novelty, opportunities to create the community and year one desires, and more. It’s a time of both/and rather than either/or.

The autumn season means endings and release, as well as beginnings and liminal spaces ripe with possibilities.

This fall season is particularly poignant to me. Over the summer, I sorted through and donated many possessions in preparation for the move to Maryland. I also let go of outdated beliefs about myself to make room for expansion.

As I traveled through various regions of the country on the way here, I noticed the different ways signs of autumn were showing up in the vegetation. Harvest was near completion in some areas and just beginning in others.

Sunrise and sunset varied a bit by location as well as day; the nights are getting longer.

Celebrating the ‘Mellow Fruitfulness’ of My Autumn Practices

For me, Autumn marks several yearly traditions that I embrace. I have some soups that I particularly like making in the fall. I enjoy more spiced drinks and foods, including pumpkin spice coffee, chai lattes, apple pie, and more.

The bountiful harvests and variety of ripe foods available are an enjoyable treat.

I focus not just on letting go of what no longer fits me, but on cultivating and embracing what I wish to welcome in my life beyond this fall.

This year, autumn means fresh-pressed cider—sometimes heated in a cauldron over the fire at a harvest festival—apple picking, hills covered with deciduous trees, apple cider donuts, spiced apple whoopie pies, homemade applesauce and apple butter, and more.

I have new celebrations to attend for the autumnal equinox, hopefully including craft fairs, a full moon harvest festival, Pride, ghost tours, and other celebrations of this abundant time of year.

The word autumn conjures images of pumpkins and other squash, hoodie or sweater weather, and fall classic movies like Hocus Pocus. Who could forget the swirls of scarlet, pumpkin, gold, crimson, and mocha leaves dancing to earth.

In some areas of North America, there is harsh weather, falling temperatures, and snow. Most places in the northern hemisphere experience cooler weather in the fall months and even in the weeks leading up to astronomical fall.

That’s the time when the day and night are of equal length.

Thinning of the Veil and the Mysticism Associated With the Fall Season

In late September and early October, Halloween season truly begins in earnest. As the day length decreases, the veil thins, especially around the time ancient Celtic people referred to as Samhain.

The thinning of the veil can make it easier to connect with ancestors and others who have gone before us. Ghosts seem to be more present, or perhaps we’re paying more attention this time of year.

As the ethers thin, more people tend to start reading and telling ghost and other scary stories during the early autumn months, as well as going on ghost tours.

There are numerous ghost tours in Maryland, as well as dozens of books of ghost stories and legends about this area.

More people seem to accept the existence of paranormal phenomena also, not just in fall, but in all four seasons. Perhaps the atmosphere or something about the earth and energies here allows hauntings to more easily occur or be seen.

As I walk outdoors in the sun in historic and other possibly haunted locations, I find myself wondering not just about those whose perspectives we know, but also all the stories untold.

Some of the ghosts in particular locations would likely share stories of heartache that shed additional light on what is typically disseminated and taught about various historic places and events.

They may also show us brilliant examples of resilience, strength, hope, bravery, and more.

What can we learn from all who have gone before? How can we honor them all year, but especially when the veil is thin?

Resilience in the Past

For examples of resilience, consider looking to our not-so-long-ago ancestors. The fall months were a time of celebration and preparations for late autumn, winter, and spring before the plants began growing and producing edible fruits, berries, leaves, etc.

They couldn’t just run to the store or other locations in early January to purchase food, including out-of-season foods from around the world like we can.

In many locations, the growing season meant careful work planting and cultivating gardens, preserving food, and other hard work.

The regular seasons varied by location, with summer days longer in some areas than others, different weather, plants, etc. Thus, people needed to prepare for winter more than we do these days.

Connecting to the Rhythms of Earth

In many cultures—especially Western cultures—our lives tend to be disconnected from the natural world. Instead of syncing our bodies to sunlight, spending time outdoors regularly, and following seasons of work with seasons of rest, many have unplugged from the natural world.

They spend hours each day using phones and other technology.

Instead of celebrating the autumn equinox, winter solstice, spring equinox, and summer solstice, people may mark their passage on a calendar or briefly note it when the news or social media mention these traditional markers for the start of seasons.

I’m working on more deliberately aligning my life with the seasonal cycles, as well as day and night, and the sun and moon, like I did automatically as a child. I also hope to honor the wheel of the year and eight sabbats, or at least the spring and fall equinoxes and summer and winter solstices.

I want to renew my connection to the earth, trees, and other aspects of the natural world. When fall begins next year, I hope to see an improvement in my spiritual, mental, and physical health.

Attune to Your Ancestral Rhythms, Too

Early November in the U.S. heralds a month of giving thanks for what we have and receive. However, I want to incorporate more gratitude into my daily life.

I will continue to include practices of noticing and wondering when I’m spending time in nature, no matter the season.

For those unfamiliar with this, I look for unusual or interesting things that cause me to wonder something about it, which I can either continue pondering or look up.

Prior to each sabbat, I plan to study the traditions of my ancestors and consider what resonates with me and what will work for where I’m living now.

I’m hoping that by connecting more to my ancestry, I can honor the generational gifts that have been transmitted, as well as work on healing ancestral and personal trauma.

Seasons of Life and Recognizing Our Own Autumn

Over the seasons of my life, my purpose has evolved. I’m in midlife now, and I imagine that my childhood and teen years were spring; due to so much trauma, what was planted withered through harsh treatment.

However, there was much that grew into beautiful plants that I tended as an adult, especially since I became the woman who would have saved little me.

Throughout the summer (young adulthood into my midlife), I tended to the garden of my life, cultivating love, joy, purpose, healing, growth, and more out of the ashes of trauma.

Autumn Begins: We Must Learn to Let Go and Trust Our Regrowth

Yet it is only now, halfway through my life and in another liminal space, that I’m beginning to generate a stunning harvest. I’m not quite into the season called fall—or at least I don’t want to think that I am.

But I am becoming more myself and fully blossoming into my destiny.

Although my main purpose remains—to learn, teach, and inspire—the focus has changed.

All the limits that my abuser and others tried to place on me have been shattered. I am doing what scares me so that I can help save children.

I’m perhaps at a point where there is as much life before and behind me; I don’t know. My life may be equal day and night, or there may be more years left than I realize. All I know is that I want to engage in more advocacy and help realize my dreams.

Dreams Aren’t Just for Night

I want to help children all over the world. I hope to visit countries throughout the northern and southern hemisphere to advocate for adults to protect children through policies and procedures in schools and elsewhere to help prevent abuse.

My goals include encouraging legislation that enhances efforts to prevent it.

In the autumn of my life, I plan to continue to grow and realize dreams. I have always loved fall, and I plan to enjoy this season.

As the leaves spiral down, enjoy the beautiful sights, sounds, and scents of autumn.

How can you use this time of year to celebrate, show gratitude, cultivated resilience, and embrace the myriad possibilities in the liminal space of autumn?