October and November are my months. I spend them wanting to start a coven, start a new book, or start a bar fight. There’s just so much electricity in the air, and it’s glorious! The catch is for about two months I feel alive, magical, and often…well…I tend to vacillate between mystical exuberance and dick-in-the-dirt depression.
Autumn is the season of harvest, and I find myself introspecting even harder than usual – even ruminating, which is not exactly healthy. The year is shifting from light to dark, from a time of growth to one of decrease, and it begs the question: How’s my own harvest going? What all did I try to grow in the light seasons, and what was the result? It’s both a literal and figurative harvest – fruits and vegetables, hopes and dreams, plans and schemes.
As you likely know, Texas does not adhere to the traditional Western European Wheel of the Year. I don’t consider Autumn a time of slowing down – growth slows down, yes, but the heat just broke. The lightness in the air calls for celebration, socialization, and fun, however you define it. My birthday being in November just adds to that call. Also, though, I find myself wanting to start new things because with the Summer finally over it feels like I can move again. If you’ve never lived in oppressive heat (you probably will eventually, let’s be real) you may not know how hard it is to accomplish anything – even things that don’t require being outdoors! The energy of Texas Summer is so heavy and still that until the Autumn thunderstorms start up it’s like the sky is your own personal weighted blanket…or shroud.
So if you find yourself feeling a strange mix of excitement and sadness, don’t worry – it’s totally natural. Autumn is in many ways the out-breath of the year – just look at the trees. After the heat of Summer they seem to sigh and just let go in that way that nature makes look so easy but humans always manage to complicate. Nature urges us gently to release the months that have passed and be open to whatever is next, but you and I both know how hard that can be for us two-legged meaning-making animals. Hence the introspection and evaluation of Autumn – before we can release the light part of the year we have to go into our memories, our lists and plans, and stand looking out over the fields for a while.
A Little Magic
Mix together some cinnamon and sugar into their own little container; add a crystal of some sort to the bottom of the container if you like and charge the mixture with feelings of comfort, strength, and discernment. Add a pinch to your tea, coffee, or other hot beverages in the morning, and as you stir and sip, feel yourself taking in that energy. If you remember and/or want to, think to yourself: “May I be like the Autumn trees, who know how to let things go with ease.”
(Whoa, I actually rhymed something, has hell frozen over?)