The term equinox comes from the Latin æquinoctium which means “equal to night”. The equinox corresponds to the moment when the length of the day is equal to that of the night. Such a phenomenon occurs twice during the year, in March (spring equinox) and September (autumn equinox).​ Astronomically, the equinox corresponds to the moment when the sun is exactly vertical above the Earth's equator and will therefore rise almost very precisely in the east and set almost very precisely at the 'west. The spring equinox therefore marks the start of spring in the northern hemisphere, and the start of autumn in the southern hemisphere. The Autumn Equinox is represented by festivities linked to the harvest, the harvest and the transition from one state to another. On this day the sacrifice of the dying god is celebrated and pays homage to the sun and the fertile earth. But this festival is much more than that, it is a celebration of our ability to survive winter, to reinvent ourselves and then be reborn in spring.​