The Dance of Autumn; moving through the season of transition

Out in nature it is clear that things are dying. Brown, black and lifeless beneath the last burst of rich colour, and there is a sadness felt. A fear and a grief. And as we feel this grief, especially in a culture that doesn’t fully honour it, old pain often surfaces. Pain of past losses we may not have allowed full feeling and release. Lost hopes, dreams and   connections.

Our ancestry is not just the people of our lineage, but the events and experiences that mould us. We hold it all. It is a question of how lightly and how consciously. Whether we choose to act from those stories of old.

I love that this time of year offers space to honour what’s passed. A place where our beloved dead and our suppressed demons can arise, Halloween celebrations more fixated with the latter. It is a thin veil between the living and the dead. The last chance to gather living green herbs for healing and seeds for new growth before they die and are lost.

We have an annual autumn party. On my day-of-the-dead table I honour my grandparents. My storyholders. Elders from having spent a life of feeling, becoming wise to the cycles of birth and death, loss an emergence. Settled in the knowing that we are part of a whole. No separation.

When we listen to our inner elder, it is one who sees the potential in the new, rather than clinging to the old world.

I see that the waters are high at the moment. Rushing along the rivers and streams as I walk. The tears of all our losses. Nature knows release is a necessary part of a healthy cycle. The high winds that are rising will give that final cleansing. Helping the last of the leaves which are still clinging on. Letting drop those branches that have weakened from decay and are no longer providing service.

When we walk in the wind and rain, we can have our old cobwebs removed, let go of the last of what we cling to ready to lay fallow. For when we lay bare, there is space. And in that space, there is quiet. And in that quiet we can better hear our hearts wish.

But first we grieve. We grieve and we celebrate. Two sides of the same coin. Both necessary for regeneration.

Samhain is a celebration of the end of summer, the end of the harvest season, the end of another cycle. Winter is associated with death and darkness, as is grief. So, we stand between the light and life of summer, and the dark and death or winter. It is a thin veil where our own demons can surface as regret or grief for things past or fear for what is to come.

In remembering that we have rich ancestry that include many cycles of light and dark, many stories, many endings and beginnings, we also remember we can embrace both in wholeness. For a moment as we transition with the help of water and wind, we can let go and step forth into a renewal space with only those stories we choose to emerge from and take into the new cycle.

For conscious transitions allow us to move with more power and conviction. More freedom and ease. Then when winter comes, we can rest easy.

This season is very stirring. It can be a great whirling soup mixed of last seasons abundance and next seasons emptiness. Celebration and grief tumbling one over the other. Disorientating.

Connecting to the elements of nature is a powerful path to self-grounding. Harvesting the last of the apples, berries and nuts. An embodied discernment asking which fruit shall I keep, which shall I drop?

Let the wind sweep away whatever you are done with, let the rain release your tears of pain.

Moonwalk. Sit fireside. Smell the sweet scent of rotting apples as they release their nutrients back into the Earth. Invite in warmth, stories, love and laughter. Eat, celebrate and toast each other. For togethering holds us though this transition, just as the elements carry out their cleansing.

Autumn gathering. Autumn walking. Autumn feasting. Autumn honouring.

Nature knows the way, and the path can be danced together for a moment. When the veil is thin and we stand between two worlds. That of light and dark, celebration and mourning, death and renewal.

If you would like to company in moving through the season of transition, join us for a Wild Walk; https://www.healthneedsthyme.co.uk/wild-walks-with-sarah-jane this coming Wednesday and once a month following.