Autumnal Equinox And Other Fall Cultural Ideas For Amazon Merch On Demand
Fall is here and once again (as online merch salespeople) we get ready for the cooler days, the crisp nights of fall, and the spooky season which is fast approaching. Halloween is one of the best times to get our specialized items out to the masses as it’s one of the holidays that most embraces costumes and decorations.
But what of the time right before it? The point between the solstices, the Autumn Equinox falls on September 21st, marking the end of the warmer months? What is spoken of and celebrated then? And how can we provide apparel and other merch to celebrate as well? Let’s take a look at various types of celebrations of this season and see what we can come up with.
Mabon
Mabon is a very old holiday that goes by this relatively new name, which is possibly why you’ve never heard of it. There were originally six Sabbats observed by the ancient Celts as a way of observing the sun’s cyclical behavior and modern Wiccans and pagans recognize those and two others to make up their religious/calendar year.
Pagans celebrate Mabon to express thanks for the summertime food bounties, participate in the harvest, and pay homage to the approaching winter’s darkness. It’s also a time to get ready for Samhain, the pagan new year, or what the majority of people in the west refer to as “Halloween”.
Building an altar out of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables, especially apples, which ripen around Mabon, meditating on balance and appreciation, and sharing food with the community are a few ways to celebrate the holiday.
Merch Idea: Pagan Calendar Unisex T-shirts
Any ensemble will look great with this lovely unisex t-shirt, which will quickly become a favorite. Ideal as a birthday or holiday present for any pagans out there as it beautifully illustrates the calendar wheel and all eight Sabbats. Use this art in your Merch By Amazon designs.
Stonehenge
Tied to the celebration mentioned above, this ancient astronomical wonder is recognizable across the world. On the September equinox, some people who observe Mabon will assemble at Stonehenge in England to view the dawn. These events have grown in popularity and also take place on the March equinox, winter solstice, and summer solstice. Neo-Druids in particular congregate at the historic seasonal location to express gratitude for the crops grown through the summer and to make spiritual preparations for winter.
Merch Idea: Groovy 70’s-logo style T-Shirt
Moon Festival (Vietnam and China)
The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, is observed in China and Vietnam on the equinox of September. Usually it is observed on the full moon that is most close to the September equinox. (That day falls on October 1st this year.) Like many other equinox events, the Moon Festival honors the summer crop.
On this day, people celebrate by presenting their loved ones with mooncakes. Mooncakes are a delectable pastry with dried fruit, lotus, sesame seeds, or duck eggs inside. Moon Pies are given as gifts during the Moon Festival in the southern United States; Chuseok is the name of a similar event celebrated in Korea.
Merch Idea: Mid-Autumn Festival Harvest & Autumn Garden Flag
These flags are made of durable, thick 100% polyester fabric, which helps them withstand deterioration from regular usage. They are UV-resistant, have a sleeve hanger that fits typical banner/flagpole brackets, arbors, or stands, and the text is viewable from both sides. This is a vibrant, colorful design to celebrate this important time of the year.
These designs can be sourced and used in all your Merch by Amazon apparel options.
Navratri
In various regions of India, Navratri is a festival honoring the goddess Durga’s victory over a demon and her role in restoring “dharma” (regarded in Hinduism as a cosmic law underlying right behavior and social order). The victory of Durga, or Kali, is commemorated in several other states. Based on a locally well-known epic or legend, the conflict and triumph of good over evil are present in every example of this celebration across the country in which local variances are adhered to.
The festival begins around the time of the Autumnal equinox. Nine goddesses are worshipped over the course of nine days, stage decorations are used, the mythology is recited, the drama is acted out, and Hindu scriptures are chanted. The nine days are also a significant crop season cultural festival, with activities including pandal (a structure made of upright poles and a roof, typically of bamboo matting) design and staging competitions, family visits to these pandals, and public performances of Hindu dances of both classical and traditional styles.
The lehenga, a long skirt worn by ladies all over India, is one piece of the lehenga choli, a three-piece outfit. Lehengas are typically worn at weddings, festivals, and ceremonial events. They are fastened at the waist, leaving the midriff uncovered. They are typically decorated, patterned, or embroidered and paired with a form-fitting blouse known as a “choli.” In addition, the lehenga-choli is worn with a “dupatta,” which functions as a sari pallu and covers the head and midriff depending on the occasion.
Depending on the fabric and embellishments, it takes at least twenty days to complete the delicate sewing of a lehenga choli set. Because of the attention to detail, hand-stitched versions take longer.
Incorporate the colors and graphics of the season into your apparel designs.
The Snake Of Sunlight
At the March and September equinoxes, people congregate at the historic Mayan pyramid at Chichen Itza in Mexico. Many of the structures in the Chichen Itza complex are arranged in accordance with the movements of the sun, much like at Stonehenge. The primary meeting place for equinox celebrations is the great pyramid, El Castillo. At the exact moment of the equinox, a shadow forms on the main stairway that resembles a “snake of sunlight” sliding down the stairs.
Merch Idea: Kukulkan Imagery
Kukulkan is a Mayan mythological god. It resembles the Feathered Serpent deity, one of the most significant in Mesoamerica and associated with the planet Venus, wind, and water. The Maya word Kukulkan translates as “Serpent of Feathers.” According to some researchers, this god is the same as Quetzalcoatl, also known as “the feathered serpent,” who was a part of the Toltec and Aztec cultures.
Batik is a method of wax-resist dyeing used to cover an entire piece of fabric. Batik is created either by printing on the resist using a copper stamp known as a cap or by painting dots and lines with a spouted tool called a canting. The cloth can be dyed selectively by the artist by soaking it in one color, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if various colors are needed.
While Batik is not available as a Merch by Amazon category, the Kukulkan image can be printed on any Merch by Amazon item.
