How to celebrate the fall equinox like a pagan

Wednesday is the fall equinox. The hours of daylight and night will be completely even, and with that, the northern hemisphere will enter into autumn.

Lots of people will observe the change of seasons by jumping into leaf piles, sipping pumpkin spice lattes, and yelling at NFL teams.

But for the million-or-so pagans worldwide - an umbrella term for wiccans, druids, and followers of other pre-monotheistic European faith traditions - the change of seasons is observed in much older ways.

Sabina Magliocco, the author of "Witching Culture" and an anthropologist at California State University, Northridge, says that there isn't one particular set of practices for modern-day druids.

But there are several themes that will show up in pagan rituals around the world:

• Balance, because of the perfect balance between dark and light in the day. You might be asked to think about what in your life is out of balance and how you might act on it, and the same for society. "What can we do pragmatically to contribute to balance within ourselves and the outer world?" she asks.

• Gratitude, because of the harvest. The equinox is a time for giving thanks to the literal and metaphorical harvests of the summer season, Magliocco says, whether that's actual crops or completed projects. "People might decorate with symbols of the harvest: apples, gourds, pumpkins," she says, and if you're feasting to celebrate, you might bring a piece of writing or music that you completed over the summer. "This is extremely individual," she says, "but it might be a ritual of thanks for this wonderful bounty.

• Letting go, because winter is coming. The equinox marks the entry into a darker time of the year, so it's time to discard what will hold you back on that journey. Practitioners "will write on scraps of paper the things they want out of their lives - a bad habit, a way of thinking, baggage from an old relationship - and burn it as part of a ritual" Magliocco says. "You want to give thanks for what you received and purify yourself, because we're going into a darker time of year where you naturally turn inward."

Still, it's actually a relatively minor feast compared to others on the pagan calendar, like Samhain (know better as Halloween). Lots of pagans either already celebrated last Sunday or will celebrate over the weekend, since it can be hard to fit seasonal rites into busy schedules.

Sierra Fox, a 25-year-old Philadelphian who "quietly identifies" as a pagan, made the trip up to Syracuse, New York, to observe the change of seasons last weekend with members of Central New York Pagan Pride.

They shared apples cakes and apple cider to mark the day, and carried out group rituals.

In one memorable case, fifty or so celebrants gathered in a circle and took a handful of bird seed each. "We held it and focused our intent, what we were thankful for," she says. "We chanted 'thank you, thank you' louder and louder, and threw the birdseed into the air, yelling out what we were thankful for - throwing the gratitude out into the world, and feeding the birds, which is always nice."

Contrary to what you might have heard, the autumn equinox isn't about animal sacrifice or casting spells.

Fox, who grew up in a household that was "mildly pagan," says that the celebration is a way of recognizing the chapter of the year. "Pagans would argue that the seasons are magical, nature is magical," she says. "The things that inspire wonder and awe, they don't feel mundane. There is something magical and sacred about these natural events. They are natural in that they are part of nature, but not natural in a throwaway mundane term."

It's an "epic day of grace," according to Beth Ann Mastromarino, the president of New York Pagan Pride. Pagans, she maintains, try to look back at how their ancestors observed the world. And with a harvest holiday, it has lots to do with food.

Back in the day, you couldn't grab an apple at the supermarket, you had to pluck it from a tree. So the equinox is a moment for appreciating the struggles and fortune that produced the bounty that sustains everybody.

"This is the time to see what you've harvested and plan what you want for the next year," she says.

Even if you're not a pagan, if your family is setting out decorative gourds to welcome the autumn, it's acting from the same instinct.

"People do these things without realizing why or where these traditions come from," Mastromarino says. "All day I have seen wreaths and pumpkins and mums planted specifically for the season. people will welcome in the season in what we now consider mundane ways, but to decorate for a holiday is a way of celebrating it as well."