Last Wednesday, there was Libra equinox – the autumn equinox in the northern hemisphere and the spring equinox in the southern hemisphere. At Libra equinox, the Sun crosses the point of balance on its journey to the South, while at Aries equinox,
the Sun transits the equator on its northward journey.
Like in previous years, we met again with a small group at the Paracelsus Center near Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The weather was very clear with radiant light.
Autumn equinox sunrise on the highway
It was partly heavy traffic on the motorway – it took us 2.5 hours to arrive at the mountain ridge near the Etzel pass, where our Austrian friends were already waiting for us. It is about 20 minutes walk to the fire place where we started the equinox celebration with a little fire ritual and meditation.
“Morning walkers” in another direction…
First exchanges on the walk to the fire place
Lake Zurich with 2 islands on the other side of the mountain ridge
Towards the south the Lake Sihl with Einsiedeln and its monastery and the Mythen Mounts in the background
The magic moments of the fire ritual
Sitting directly on the edge of the mountain ridge with the mountain going down to Lake Zurich and the view to Einsiedeln on the other side, undisturbed in the silence of nature is soul-stirring. When we intonated the hymns of the ritual and some mantrams, you could feel a strong spiritual presence.
After some prasad (sweets) and collecting the utensils, we walked back to the parking and went to the house at the Devil’s Bridge where the Paracelsus Center is located above the restaurant – it was closed for vacation.
The Paracelsus memorial stone at the Devil’s Bridge over the Sihl river
If you are interested in more about Paracelsus, see here a video interview by Anima Channel with me about “The Call of Paracelsus” in July 2024.
Inside the center, we prepared for a little equinox ritual and contemplation. And then lunch. Our friends from Austria had brought fresh figs, cherry tomatoes and cake. My friend from our home town prepared a delicious risotto…
Celebrating autumn equinox
In the afternoon, we went to a plateau near Einsiedeln for a walk in nature – beautiful autumn colours around.
Afternoon walk
View of Lake Sihl
Later, we read a text of Sri Kumar on the spiritual meaning of autumn equinox, followed by the evening prayer.
On the way back, while night was slowly setting in, there was a gorgeous display of after sunset colours in the sky.
