You set five alarms to catch the sunrise, downloaded three meditation apps, and bought crystals you can’t pronounce. Yet somehow, you still feel completely out of sync with the rhythms that once guided your ancestors through every season.
That feeling of being out of sync is a sign that our modern programming, which demands constant growth and output, is clashing with the Earth’s natural rhythm. For the Primal Priestess within, this disconnect can feel like a deep soul-ache. The Autumn Equinox, when day and night hang in perfect balance, isn’t just a calendar date. It’s a sacred invitation from the Earth to pause, recalibrate, and learn the ancient wisdom of cyclical living. In this post, we’ll explore five powerful lessons from this magical time to help you find balance, honor your journey, and connect with your wild, authentic self.
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Why the Autumn Equinox Calls to Your Primal Priestess
The autumn equinox represents perfect balance between light and dark, a moment when day and night stand in equal measure. This celestial event awakens something primal within women who’ve been conditioned to push through cycles rather than honor them.
The Primal Priestess archetype thrives on this natural wisdom. She understands that growth happens in seasons, not in constant upward trajectories. She knows that rest isn’t laziness and that darkness isn’t something to fix or avoid.
When you connect with equinox energy, you’re tapping into thousands of years of feminine wisdom that honored the earth’s rhythms as sacred guidance. This isn’t about becoming a different person. It’s about remembering who you’ve always been underneath the conditioning that told you to ignore your body’s signals and push through fatigue.
Lesson 1: Embrace Radical Balance
The Autumn Equinox is one of only two days a year when light and darkness are in perfect equilibrium. This celestial event is a powerful reminder that our own lives require balance. The Primal Priestess knows that we cannot exist in a constant state of summer’s outward expansion. We need moments of quiet, of “being” to balance our “doing.” These autumn equinox rituals are not about adding more to your plate, but about creating space for inner harmony.
I learned this the hard way a few years ago. I pushed through September with a major work project, ignoring all the signs that my body and spirit were craving rest. By the time October arrived, I was completely burned out and creatively empty. The universe forced the pause I refused to take. It taught me that honoring the need for balance isn’t a weakness; it’s the source of sustainable energy.
- Do a life audit. On a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle. On one side, list all your “doing” activities (work, chores, errands). On the other, list your “being” activities (rest, meditation, play). How balanced is it?
- Practice balanced breathing. Try alternate nostril breathing for just three minutes. This simple practice is known to calm the nervous system and balance the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
- Schedule “being” time. Block out non-negotiable time in your calendar for rest and play, just as you would for an important meeting.
- Journal on balance. Ask yourself: “Where in my life do I feel out of balance? What is one small step I can take to invite more equilibrium?”
Lesson 2: Honor Your Personal Harvest (Even the Imperfect Parts)
The Equinox marks the peak of the harvest season, a time of gathering the fruits of a season’s labor. As a modern Primal Priestess, your harvest might not be crops, but the wisdom, growth, and experiences you’ve cultivated this year. It’s time to look back at the seeds of intention you planted in the spring and acknowledge how far you’ve come. This isn’t about judging your progress, but about practicing radical gratitude for your unique journey.
I used to write gratitude lists that sounded like spiritual performance art. Only the shiny, acceptable experiences made the cut. The equinox taught me to honor the difficult gifts too.
- Create a harvest list. Write down every win, lesson, and moment of joy you’ve experienced since the spring. No accomplishment is too small.
- Take inventory of your whole harvest: The times you stood up for yourself, even when your voice shook, the boundaries you finally set after years of people-pleasing, the moments you chose rest over productivity guilt, the relationships you healed by showing up authentically, the courage you found in small, daily choices nobody else witnessed.
- Share your gratitude. Thank someone who supported your growth this year. Voicing your appreciation magnifies its energy.
- Feast on seasonal foods. Enjoying apples, pumpkins, or squash is a simple, delicious way to connect with the season’s abundance.
- Build a gratitude altar. Gather items that represent your harvest (a photo, a crystal, a symbol of a project) and place them on a small table or windowsill as a visual reminder of your abundance.
Lesson 3: Release What You Cannot Carry
As the days grow shorter, nature gives us a masterclass in letting go. Trees don’t cling to their leaves; they release them, knowing it’s essential for their survival and future growth. The Primal Priestess understands that we, too, must release what is no longer serving us to conserve our energy for the introspective season ahead. This is the perfect time to shed old habits, limiting beliefs, or emotional baggage that feels heavy. If you’re looking for guidance on this, my post on Mercury Retrograde Shadow Work can be a powerful ally.
In the past, I’ve held onto resentments like they were treasures, but a powerful fire ritual one Equinox taught me that releasing that energy wasn’t for them, it was for me. It freed up so much space in my heart and mind for peace.
- Write and burn. Write down what you’re ready to release on a piece of paper. Safely burn it in a fire-proof bowl, visualizing the baggage turning to smoke and disappearing.
- Declutter your space. Letting go of physical clutter can create a powerful corresponding shift in your inner world. Choose one drawer or closet to clear out.
- Take a salt bath. Salt is a powerful energetic cleanser. As you soak, visualize the water washing away any heavy energy you’re carrying.
- Practice a leaf meditation. Find a fallen leaf. Hold it in your hands and fill it with an intention of what you want to release. Leave it on the earth and walk away without looking back.
Lesson 4: Embracing the Dark Without Fear
While summer solstice celebrates peak light, the autumn equinox prepares us for the inward journey of winter. This isn’t about becoming depressed or pessimistic. It’s about reclaiming the sacred feminine wisdom that knows darkness as a place of gestation, not punishment.
The Primal Priestess archetype understands what patriarchal spirituality often misses: darkness isn’t the opposite of light. It’s the womb where light is born. Seeds don’t grow in constant brightness. They need the dark, nutrient-rich soil of winter to prepare for spring’s emergence.
I spent years afraid of my own dark nights of the soul, treating them like spiritual failures. The equinox taught me that these experiences aren’t detours from my path. They’re essential parts of the journey that can’t be bypassed or spiritual-conceptualized away.
The dark offers gifts the light cannot.
- Take time to rest. Deep rest restores your nervous system and intuitive abilities, yet we often continuously rush through life. Create moments when you can pause and do something that restores you.
- Embrace your shadows. Shadow work integrates rejected parts of yourself into wholeness. Although this work may feel challenging, it’s a powerful and important part of how you grow.
- Find moments of silence. Take time away from the noise of life. Inner knowing emerges when external distractions quiet down
- Explore your roots. Spend time with an elder or researching your family’s roots creating connection to ancestral wisdom
Your relationship with darkness determines your relationship with your own cycles. The equinox invites you to stop fearing the winter within and start honoring it as sacred preparation time.
Lesson 5: Trusting the Cycles of Rest and Renewal
Nature doesn’t apologize for winter. Trees don’t feel guilty about going dormant or worry that they’re being lazy. They trust that rest is productive, that stillness is sacred, and that this apparent death is actually preparation for explosive spring growth.
Your Primal Priestess holds this same trust, but it’s been conditioned out of most of us. We’ve been taught that worth equals productivity, that rest needs to be earned, and that any pause in forward momentum means failure.
The autumn equinox whispers a different truth. It reminds you that cycles are natural, that your energy ebbs and flows like tides, and that honoring these rhythms actually increases your long-term capacity and creativity.
This doesn’t mean giving up on goals or commitments. It means:
- Adjusting your expectations based on where you are in your personal cycles
- Choosing projects that align with your current season rather than forcing mismatched energy
- Giving yourself permission to rest without productivity guilt
- Trusting that your dormant periods are preparing you for your next growth phase
- Understanding that sustainable success requires sustainable rhythms
I learned this lesson the hard way after burning out three times trying to maintain summer energy year-round. Now I plan my biggest launches for spring, use autumn for deep planning and preparation, and honor winter as reflection and visioning time.
The equinox teaches us that working with our cycles rather than against them isn’t just more pleasant. It’s more effective.
Creating Your Own Equinox Ritual
You don’t need elaborate ceremonies to connect with seasonal wisdom. All you need are authentic practices that help her feel the truth of these lessons in her body.
The Balance & Release Equinox Ritual:
What you need: A candle, paper, pen, and 15 minutes of uninterrupted time
Step 1 – Create Sacred Space (2 minutes)
Light your candle and take three deep breaths. Place your hands on your heart and say: “I honor the balance within me. I trust the wisdom of cycles.”
Step 2 – Honor Your Harvest (5 minutes)
Write down three things you’re proud of from this season, including at least one that wasn’t perfect but taught you something important.
Step 3 – Sacred Release (5 minutes)
On the other side of the paper, write what you’re ready to let go of. This might be old patterns, relationships, or versions of yourself that no longer serve.
Step 4 – Balance Integration (3 minutes)
Hold the paper with both hands and say: “I release what no longer serves with gratitude. I welcome what wants to emerge through me.” Fold the paper and place it under your pillow for three nights, then safely burn or bury it.
This ritual honors both the light and shadow aspects of your journey while creating energetic space for your next season of growth.
Trusting Your Primal Priestess Wisdom
The autumn equinox offers a masterclass in living cyclically rather than linearly. It reminds every Primal Priestess, including yours, that balance isn’t a perfect state you achieve once, but a dynamic dance you practice moment by moment.
When you honor these five lessons—sacred letting go, embracing extremes, celebrating imperfect harvests, befriending darkness, and trusting cycles—you step into an ancient way of being that your ancestors would recognize instantly.
Your Primal Priestess doesn’t need to be fixed, improved, or optimized. She needs to be remembered, honored, and trusted. The equinox energy supports this remembering by showing you that the wisdom you seek isn’t outside you. It’s in your bones, your breath, and your willingness to dance with the seasons rather than fight them.
