Times and Seasons

Can I just address all those Beaker People who are planning, it being the 21st September tomorrow,  for the Solsticial Festival of Autumnal Balance.

It's all rather lovely. The giant pile of leaves for kicking through, the Cosy Corner with the chiminea, the Hedgehog Nutrition Centre where the Wodewose enables us to feed up the hedgehogs before their big sleep (and charges us for the privilege - they learn quick, these mythical wildmen). And the giant orrery with which Burton is planning to bore us silly as he explains - yet again - how the equinoxes and solstices work.

Now there are many that object to us marking these times of the year. Times and seasons, they say - falling back into pagan or ancient Jewish ways. To which I say "phooey". Christmas at Winter Solstice, St John's at Summer Solstice, Easter (based on Passover) set to the Sunday after the Full Moon on or after the Spring Equinox - how Beaker is that? And Michaelmas - that other annual celebration of defeating the powers of evil - at Autumn Equinox. So we're going to enjoy our Autumnal Equinox and look forward to the dying of the light.

But not tomorrow. You've all jumped the gun. Can you put everything back - it's not Equinox till Friday. We've got two days of summer left. Honest. So break out the bathing costumes and try to catch those rays.