As the seasons begin to change I notice my spirit becomes excited with joy. To indulge in different elements through the seasons is priceless. I feel and sense my ancestors. Visions of dancing around a fire. Singing and chanting in rhythm to the beat of their own drum.
From the new growth of Spring to the vibrant, flourishing of Summer and to the falling, waning and drawing in of Fall, and into Winter, where things return to rest, to compost, to mysteriously and ultimately be reformed into new life.
Autumn represents harvesting, abundance, a ripening of life. Life starts to slow down as darkness and light begin to dance in a different direction. The changing of the seasons reminds me that earth is continuously going through her own death and rebirth process.
This is the time to move beyond energies or situations that are no longer helpful to you and to make space in your life for something more purposeful. You may feel a real need for clearing out at this time, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually too. As you remove the clutter and debris from your world, you welcome in the energy of transformation.
The year is releasing itself, letting go with the kind of intense beauty that never fails to inspire awe in me.
These are the cycles of all life, all endeavor, all the stars and planets and interests and ideas…all follow this cycle of rising, descending, and rebirth to new energy, fresh life again.
There comes a point when the darkness and stillness of winter have a peace about them; we get a real sense of life waiting beneath the soil for re-emergence; there is a restfulness – a natural, easy pause after the out breath of the year – that centres and calms us.
Birth and death can be chaotic and dangerous transitions; they connect us to our most primal instincts and emotions, powering through us, gripping us. Despite our efforts to remain poised and in control, we can find ourselves broken apart by the experience.
This darkness teaches us how to recognise what must die and what must live in our lives. It can bring profoundly difficult realities, but its transformative energy gives us the opportunity to live a more authentic life.
Life/Death/Life is a term coined by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves, who says, “When we’re living in life/death/life, we’re actually connected to the truth of the rhythm of this life. We usually see things as being life or death, and really, it’s a consistently moving spiral.” Dr. Estes says, “The Life/Death/Life nature is a cycle of animation, development, decline, and death that is always followed by reanimation. This cycle affects all physical life and all facets of psychological life. Life/Death/Life is a journey of inner transformation and transmutation. It is the spiral of rebirth.
For every “light” energy, there is a corresponding “darkness” — just as every life cycle inevitably circles toward death. Neither is good nor bad — both simply present lessons for us to take on our journey.
As we learn to embrace the Life-Death-Life nature we are able to hold the space for the necessary deaths and surprising births with grace rather than resistance. In our culture, the Life part of living is supported, however, the Death part of living is too often misunderstood and feared. And yet, unless we accepting the dying embers from each passage of life, we cannot create sufficient space for new initiations to commence.
Death is always incubating new life...
What must I give more death to today, in order to generate more life?
What do I know should die, but am hesitant to allow to do so?
What must die in me in order for me to love?
What 'not-beauty' do I fear?
What use is the power of the 'not-beautiful' to me today?
What should die today?
What should live?
What life am I afraid to give birth to?
If not now, when?
Today I state the intention to allow life to provide me with being in Gratitude. May I love, learn, and grow with the changing of the seasons. May I follow my breath, breathe in the fall air, and exhale like a gentle breeze. I breathe in light I breathe out love.
I AM GRATEFUL.
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