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With its fresh sunny mornings, beautiful rust coloured leaves, seasonal vegetables and wonderful changes in light, Autumn is a softly glowing, magical season. It is also a powerful time for us to learn from the wisdom of The Green World, showing us how to draw our energy inward and shed all that has served its purpose.
With many autumnal vegetables such as squash, pumpkins and beetroot ready for harvesting, it is also a time for us to reap what we have sown; the seeds of our actions, emotions, thoughts, work and words bear fruit.
THE NATURAL CYCLE OF RELEASE
We can learn a lot from The Trees and their innate wisdom. When a deciduous tree (one which annually sheds its foliage) lets go of its leaves, it appears to us as beautiful rust-coloured hues but there is so much more going on.
In the Autumn, a tree reduces its production of chlorophyll, the pigment in leaves that gives them their green colour, and this breaks down within the leaves to give way to other pigments with orange colouring, such as carotenoids. This happens because the tree withdraws its vital fluids from its foliage, pulling its life force back into itself, leaving concentrated natural sugars in the falling leaves. These carpet the ground at the tree's roots, ready to break down into mulch to feed it in preparation for new growth again in Spring. Not only do these fallen leaves benefit the tree but they are often pulled down into the soil by other creatures, such as worms, to use as food. In Nature, nothing is ever wasted.
LETTING OUR OWN LEAVES FALL
Often we feel that we have to carry our experiences, memories, thoughts and feelings around with us but some of these have served their purpose and are no longer useful for our long term growth. This also applies to our identity and the persona we create and cultivate, one that we reflect outward so that others view us as we ourselves would like to be seen.
Sometimes we feel that in order to respect our experiences we must continue to shoulder the burdensome aspects of them, carrying the difficulties with us always. But each experience serves a purpose unique to itself and to us - it is our teacher. It encourages us to learn from it so that we can discover more about ourselves, helping us grow. And like all harvests, we must extract the goodness, the wisdom, the nourishment and the teachings of our experiences, drawing them inward, and releasing the empty husk so that it may return back to The Earth for Her to transform it. It needs to fulfil another, no less important, purpose to be energetically and spiritually composted to feed the next cycle.
HONOURING THE PASSING
I posted this recently on VOLVA's Facebook, Instagram and X accounts. These were the words that came to me when I listened to Autumn speak. This is a very important message.
Before we can release, we must honour ourselves, the work, the experiences, the difficulties of what we are releasing. We must grieve. We would not consider beginning the process of letting go of anything that we have loved or invested our time and energy in without honouring its passing. This is no different. It is not easy but it must be done so that we can send it on its way with beauty, reverence and grace, preparing solid ground for the next stage.
Women go through many transformations in their lives - just like The Maiden, The Mother, The Crone, and the waxing and waning of The Moon; big, profound, life changing, challenging, sorrowful as well as joyful transformations. Many women feel that either they cannot or should not grieve for themselves. For some, this being possible has not even crossed their minds. This is the way we have been conditioned as women, to place the needs of others before our own and to consider that grieving or weeping for ourselves is self pity. It is not. I repeat this because it is important - sometimes we must weep for ourselves. If we are waiting on the world weeping for us, we'll be waiting for a while.
SEASONAL SUPPORT
At seasonal shifts, spiritual 'tune ups' are important. They help us understand the importance of being aligned with the seasons and Nature's cycles.
These are some of the VOLVA offerings I recommend working with in Autumn.
STUCK IN MEMORIES - MAJOR TRANSITIONS - GROWING AND EVOLVING
Letting Go teaches us that we can, at any time, let the 'robes' we wear fall away. Just like the butterfly, we can transform, shedding the cocoon to emerge into a version of ourselves. This organic flower essence is suitable for times when you have to make a large transition but are holding on to 'glory days', thinking perhaps a little too sentimentally of the past and holding on to it. This may also include a sense of losing physical beauty, sensual prowess, general influence and power and social status. This essence is also useful if you are holding on to grievances or experiences and situations where you have given your all, and you may find yourself stuck in a victim mentality unable to release the person you had to become to survive the challenges. It can be hard to relinquish the mindsets we've had to create for certain situations but this is what the gifts of the Green World are for, to show us the ways of grace.
ENTRAPMENT & APATHY - LOST IN CONDITIONING - AWAKENING
Rat Race offers a chance to awaken, to lift our heads from our lives of labour and energetic chains, to reconnect with ourselves, slowing down just like the season. This organic flower essence is a beacon of light. It is aligned with gold - from the colour of its flower to the Sun God and Fire element, it shines its hope. I feel Rat Race is very much aligned with Autumn, the season of slowing down, of drawing energy inward.
Rat Race can also be used as an ally for spiritual return. It is an incredibly useful essence for those who have substituted one set of damaging conditioning for another so it is an ally when breaking free of all 'schools and churches' that impose a set of restrictive, compliant and conditioned thinking to replace another. This is a common problem for spiritual seekers and very much a hidden danger in the world of spirituality - I have come across it a lot in my healing practice supporting clients. If this is something you are experiencing or have experienced, Rat Race works well as a companion to Trick or Truth.
SPIRITUAL SURRENDER - SOUL PURIFICATION - GENTLENESS FOR SELF
Sweet Surrender is a teacher of gentleness; this essence is our ally in self care. When we are so weary of struggling, we have to surrender because there is no other way forward. The struggle does not change things and so when we trust, we return to a state of innocence, of hope, of faith. In this world it can be hard to find gentleness, and if we have not experienced much of this in our life, especially as children, then the world can feel tough and something to be endured not enjoyed. Sweet Surrender is a wonderful essence to use as a companion to other essences.
LET GO AND LET GODDESS
Autumn is the season of letting go of those things that we know have overstayed their welcome but we still cling on to because, as we've seen here, we are in a vulnerable place. Autumn is a season of change, of fragility. Autumn is no longer The Mother and not yet The Crone. Autumn speaks to the middle aged woman. You need not be at that time of life to align with Autumn as She is the journey between two places and She understands transformation at any time of life. But She has a kinship with the woman moving from mother energy to hag wisdom.
Autumn understands how hard it is to let go of those things you have put so much energy, love and nurturing into. She understands the sense of feeling adrift, not knowing where the wind will blow you. She understands the importance of releasing something you birthed from a union of The Stars and The Clay, whatever that may be for you. Something which you have poured your love into must now be let go to forge a different purpose. But all is well as you are now encouraged to return to yourself. Like all worthwhile journeys of learning, it takes time. It may be one Autumn, it may be five. It takes what it takes.
Trust that The Goddess will hold you during this time. Surrender is never easy but let the Trees show you how. We are children of The Earth just as they are. Growth is an ever evolving, continuous process but in Autumn and Winter the growth is hidden. Just as the waters of the trees are drawn inward from the leaves, The Water of life flows through our bodies, aligning with the season, readying us for the journey below ground - The Winter - where we explore the shadows of the Underworld and the teachings of the Darkness. But we are not there yet. We need this space of transition, this place of gentle movement.
Honour your experience, learn its wisdom, thank it and let it go. Then you can rest, recuperate and restore, ready to put life into new growth when Spring tentatively appears, as She surely will.
Now is not the time for strenousness or strain, those seasons have passed and will come again. It is time to slow down. Warm yourself with spices, fire and friends. Move gently and breathe deeply.
Attune to Autumn. May She bless you with her magick.
Andrea
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IP and Copyright © Andrea Doran, VOLVA and Contributors | For personal use and information only - not to be reproduced in any form - see terms and conditions | Adapted and updated from the original post 'Autumn: The Season Of Letting Go': 20th September 2018
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