During this season, we find that the focus of the first half is on the harvest and thanksgiving. The sun still has rule over the night and the days are still summer like. But, come the equinox, the focus shifts. Day yields to the rule of the night; the daylight hours grow shorter and shorter, and our focus turns to the ground, to the bodies that lay therein, and to the spirits that once did occupy them. 

It seems fitting, what with the final harvest festival being centered around root vegetables and the long winter looming just beyond. Contemplation and introspection set in easy. As we dig out the potatoes and onions, our minds begin to wander to the last time we were so intimate with the soil. Were that it was the Spring, planting seeds and tiny seedlings, but, nay, there were times since then where we may have planted a family member, a beloved pet, or someone we hardly knew. And, so, the focus of the second half of fall is on the fall, not just of the leaves, but bodies. In this time we remember and honor the dead. We rejoice in their memory and in the echoes of their laughter that can still be heard on the wind.

Weather wise, in this season, we find a return of the winds. Great breezes blow through daily, helping the trees to cast off their painted leaves. Gradually, we come to find the morning air to be tinged with frost; you can smell the cold winter coming, almost taste the snow on the breeze. The grass is frosted over, and we can't help but shiver with anticipation.

It is also during this time that the spiders begin to make their way indoors and out of the growing cold. Most will be content to winter away in the corners of the house, keeping other opportunistic bugs (and biting spiders) in check. Their presence is a reminder that intelligence comes in many forms, of the interconnectedness of all life, and that communal living is possible with even the most unlikely of guests.

This is a time of preparations, of letting go, getting rid of unwanted and unnecessary things. This is the bulk of the Waning Half of the Year, similar to that of the Waning Moon, and it correlates with the aging and growing frailty of the body.