Autumnal Equinox ~ We Honor Ourselves When We Flow with the Seasons
Tonight, I am gathering with a group of women to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox.
I love the changing of the seasons and creating rituals to commemorate the shift.
I came upon this lovely responsive reading, penned by my friend and mentor, Joyce Rupp, OSM. It's from her book, The Circle of Life: The Heart’s Journey through the Seasons. This is a beautiful book, ripe with rituals, prayers, and songs for the turning of the seasons.
We'll be using this one tonight in our ritual. Perhaps it will touch your heart and guide you deeper ...
“I am the sun setting in the west.
I am the tree letting go of the leaves.
I am the harvest taken from the land.
I am the bird winging swiftly southward.
Spirit Keeper of the West,
I will enter into the heart of autumn.
I will bravely enter my transitions.
I will adapt to what needs changing.
I will freely let go and not hang on.
Come, Spirit of Autumn, and teach me!”
~ Joyce Rupp, OSM
Do any of these seasonal phrases speak to you?
What do you sense this season might be inviting you to?
I'd love to hear ...
(Image created by artist, Mary Southard, www.marysouthard.com)
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The countdown begins! There are only 5 more days to sign-up for Buddha Chick™, my new 10-week online course. Class begins Sept. 27 and goes through Dec. 5.
An amazing group of women is gathering and I bow to their beauty. What a pleasure to journey with each other in this way!
You are a “Buddha Chick™” whether you feel like it or not. She is an interspiritual gal with a calm demeanor and a smile in her heart, able to navigate the challenges of life with grace and ease.
I am looking forward to showing you how to embrace her. To let go of fear, worry, and anxiety—once and for all!—and sail through life with greater ease. To greet life, no matter how it shows up, with a relaxed body, clear open mind, and a warm, loving heart. It is absolutely possible to live in this way!
Please join me for this transformational course, complete with personal spiritual mentoring. Learn more about it here.
(Budda Chick™logo by Mari Gayatri Stein.)
An amazing group of women is gathering and I bow to their beauty. What a pleasure to journey with each other in this way!
I am looking forward to showing you how to embrace her. To let go of fear, worry, and anxiety—once and for all!—and sail through life with greater ease. To greet life, no matter how it shows up, with a relaxed body, clear open mind, and a warm, loving heart. It is absolutely possible to live in this way!
Please join me for this transformational course, complete with personal spiritual mentoring. Learn more about it here.
(Budda Chick™logo by Mari Gayatri Stein.)
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14 comments:
"I am the tree letting go of the leaves." is the seasonal phrase that takes me into deeper thoughts.
Sometimes I feel clothed in beauty, standing tall and confident...then when storms blow though my life I give up my leaves, I give up my beauty and confidence and stand naked and transparent...vulnerable.
It is in this vulneralbe state that I reach, with my tallest branches, heavenward for the Spirit who will renew my strength.
"I will bravely enter my transitions" is the one that speaks to me right now, but I love the entire poem. How wonderful that you can celebrate this transition with a group of women! Lovely -- and I love Joyce Rupp!
"I will freely let go and not hang on" proves it's not a coincidence I found you through Angela's blog. Hope you don't mind my adding myself as a follower. I think I'm meant to read your wisdom. Elena of My Quest
http://elena-myquest.blogspot.com/
A Bird winging swiftly southward - without doubt! *smile*
The tree letting loose its leaves resonates too.
I resist the departure of summer so much every year. I'm going to do my best to allow myself to relax and let the stream carry me along with the current, this time.
Like Carolynn, I, too, resist the departure of summer. I don't like cold and dark; I'm a daughter of sunshine and warmth. So the transition is not something I usually enjoy. The past 6-7 years, though, I've tried to work on this and to welcome this quieter time of year, this between-time after the joy-filled days of summer and the busy days of holidays. This is a harvest time, a gathering time. The sun sets lower, the light changes.
The entire poem speaks to me – I embrace the transition; the letting go; and the wisdom that autumn will bring. I am drawn to September – it is a month that is ripe with the richness of nature and the lifecycle. It is a month where beauty resides in what is seen and not see – in the falling of the leaves as well as the brilliance of their color and the death of my petunias *sigh*. I am not a cold/winter person though I embrace the seasons and the way they replenish and flow – it is a cycle that I love.
The following speak to me right now: I will bravely enter my transitions. I will adapt to what needs changing. I will freely let go and not hang on.
Usually I spend this time of year dreading the coming winter. I grew up in AZ so I'm just not good at being cold, and it getting dark so early. But because I'm so excited about your Buddha Chick course coming up, inside I feel like spring is coming instead of winter!!!!
Hi Jan .. I was thinking today when I was up with my mother .. that I need to have a few of your mantras printed out .. so I can read them to myself - as she quite often is peaceful to be still ..
So I'll do something in the coming days .. I prefer the early autumn ... only because it's still warmish! But then the go on with being ready to change and transition .. and that I do readily .. interesting .. then come Spirit of Autumn - teach me .. appropriate today ..
have a good rest of the week, especially today for your gathering .. with love and thoughts Hilary
"I will adapt to what needs changing" speaks volumes to me! What a lovely way to honor the equinox. I sat down, meditated and then journaled about what I will do for this "season" until the winter solstice - you know how I set goals four times a year with the seasonal change. I just love it!
Julie,
I appreciate how you say (so transparently!) the change of feelings, of seasons, in you. One moment standing tall and strong; one moment bending with the winds. Such is the nature of our lives and to grow with the seasons as teacher is most powerful!
It was a lovely evening. Thank you for the well wishes you sent. xo
Cindy,
Yes, Joyce seems to nail it, doesn't she, in such a poetic way. Hope your Equinox was moonful!
Elena,
Welcome, so glad you are here. I am glad the poem spoke to your heart!
Carolynn,
I am a summer girl too, so I know what you mean by resistance. I feel that also. Like you, I continue to vow to flow with the seasons and accept their unique invitations!
Rose,
We will travel in this way together, letting go, and embracing what is here. And, yes, not forget the bounty and harvest of all that fall offers. It is a delicious time of year in so many ways.
Ms. Exception,
Yes, it is the wisdom that is good to focus on. To listen carefully to hear what the season has to say...There are always surprises, yes?
Coleen,
I appreciate what you say. And perhaps it IS a spring for you, a time of new beginnings. This can actually come in a literal Autumn time, because new beginnings are also about letting go...
Hilary,
May this season find you easing into and accepting transitions with grace. I do think that printing out mantras are good for helping us stay on point...I have many on my refrigerator!
SuZen,
This is wonderful to know that you take real time to journal and reflect on the seasons and set new intentions for yourself. Very powerful and such a mindful way to live. Congrats!
so beautiful...I have to say the phrase "I am tree letting go of the leaves" resonated deeply for me....this does indeed feel like a time of surrender for me. A time of great celebration...seeing the fullness my life can be when I do not cling...when I surrender beliefs that no longer serve me (or others) I open to new possibilities. Freedom in the light of this joyous moon...the turning from one season to the next
What a beautiful reading. Each line gives hope for this time of transition.
Jan, you find the most beautiful artwork to accompany your posts. I love the light in this one.
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