Autumn

Autumn is a time of rapid change and transformation within nature.  It’s a mystical and magical season.

If you live on the part of the globe where the the season of autumn occurs, you will appreciate this reflection on autumn. Autumn is my favourite time of the year for its brilliance (it’s the antithesis of spring). The leaves on the trees start turning colour, as the trees and perennials prepare for the winter months. It is a beautiful, yet melancholy time. It is also a time when the moon displays its fullness in the short harvest months. There is little time to harvest and there is a lot of work in the garden and farmers prepare for their harvest markets. The hours of daylight decrease gradually and the evenings are cool. For me it is a time of memory of past months and years gone by in a blink of an eye.

Autumn, or fall as many know it, means hard work and stocking up for the winter. The squirrels start digging up the soil and plant pots to hide their chestnuts, as they make their winter nest beds. The winter birds start looking full, as their under down feathers develop. Migrating birds start their long journeys over the stretch of seas to warmer and tropical climes. Let us not forget the delicate, yet strong monarch butterflies that make their way to the Mexican forest to gather on mystical trees. Land, sky and on the seas turtles and whales make their journey to temperate waters. It’s an ancient dance of many creatures, large and small where the movement of life on Earth is busy. It’s a balanced dance between life and death.

Autumn is a time when I long to be reunited with my ancestors. Many cultures around the world honour their ancestors through ancestor worship traditions and honouring the departed or dead to garner protection and blessings. Autumn is a sacred time. We reap the fruits from our work and we rejoice in the harvest.