Now is Mabon, season of balance -- the equinox, when day and night fall equal. It's the festival of the Harvest Moon, and Catherine describes one harvest in her opening story on picking blackberries and cobbling them into cobbler. Now the last of our gardens go onto our tables, or into storage.
At this time of balance, it seems right to look at the balance between the genders, and also the energy between and within genders. Does pagan and Wiccan ritual require gender polarity? Some argue no; some would defend yes. We present views on either side, creating we hope our own balance on this subject. But there is no right answer. Decide your own balance. This balance need not fall completely even -- one pan of your Libran pair can fall heavier than the other, and that is balance too.
Another story, by Sienna, looks at the benefits of balance within one's life. Bronwynn describes the balance and fullness that the music of bards can give to ritual, and Genevieve goes on to recommend the CDs of a number of bards. Lisa ponders the balance brought to her life by her work with the Unitarian Universalist Church and the community it creates for her.
Considering balance and community seems particularly important now, when evil acts have been perpetrated, many killed, much destruction done. I pray that we as a country and a world seek peace as well as justice, letting every consideration balance to the correct point before action.
Day and night fall even now, and we secure our harvest for the winter to come. Every day, the world enters a new age. May we be ready with provisions and a sense of balance for the age to come.