Ku do Hwìhwɛnu Zankpozekpan!
Greetings and happiness for the Fall/Autumn Equinox!
Today marks the swinging in of the Fall/Autumnal Equinox, which simultaneously marks the coming in of the season of Fall/Autumn in the northern hemisphere. The Ajã word for Fall/Autumn is Hwìhwɛnu – calming and is directionally associated with the North. It’s exact occurrence was during the 2 am hour of September 23, 2023 (their 9th month) eastern of the western time reckoning calendar, but at the 19th hour of Dokun 7, 6264 (our 7th month) on our calendar.
For us as Afrikans in this hemisphere, Hwìhwɛnu is a time for gathering that which you laid the foundation for at the start of Spring. One reason it is called “calming” is because of the satisfaction we should feel from our successful labors. Everything doesn’t happen in just a day, so this day only represents the start of the period of reward and reflection on that which we have successfully implemented.
As the leaves begin to fall, they teach us about the necessity of change and the shedding of things no longer useful. This is why the òrìṣà (Yọrùbá deity) Ọya – goddess of the winds and change among other things – is associated with this time frame of the year. Fortunately, captivity (“slavery”) could not stop the worship and veneration of this deity as we can see in Cuba, Brazil, other South American countries, Ayiti (Haiti) and other islands, and it’s resurrection here in north amerikkka since the 1950s.
In the sacred 9-day cyclical week called Gba Azan, the deity of the day that brings in the equinox is Ayìɖóhwɛɖó – a powerful African Vodùn goddess of wealth represented by the rainbow and/or the rainbow serpent.
For more info on how to approach these sacred cycles from an Afrikan perspective, please contact us at ekaabokilombo@gmail.com. A huanu kaka.