Welcome Autumn

September, the final month of the summer, and known as the fattening time to the Celts. is upon us. The ripe peaches of August are now replaced with the root vegetable harvest in preparation for winter. We’re past the Equinox, and anticipating Halloween, originally celebrated as Day of the Dead on October 31^st. It also marks the Celtic New Year, Samhain, and the beginning of the dark half of the Celtic calendar. Samhain festivals celebrate this transitional time of year for it symbolizes the liminal passage between the real and Otherworld; the realm of the ancestors that is thought to be more  accessible. Our familiar Halloween skulls and the sugar skulls from Mexico stem from this early tradition. Years later, skulls were replaced by the ubiquitous pumpkin, all of which were intended to frighten spirits away. For the Celts, the last feast of autumn was a time to cleanse the villages of evil spirits with fire and rituals, along with releasing prayers for a short winter.

In the modern world of 2020, we still honor this time of year in similar, yet distant ways. In the US, we’re anticipating a general election, raking leaves, tidying up our yards, and preparing for the upcoming winter. Our country is in flux, and the world in transition is an understatement. I urge everyone to return to the sacred traditions for this time of year to reconnect with the land, honor those who’ve come before us, and set intentions for a smooth transition as we head towards the Winter Solstice.

Tools for Transition

Many of us have already experienced tremendous upheaval and adjusted to the “new normal” imposed upon us since March. Personally, I don’t ascribe to the term “new normal” as it seems limiting and permanent. I’ve been working with folks during this tenuous time, and to say that turmoil is monumental is insufficient, to say the least. No matter what anyone’s personal or political belief systems tend to be, humanity as a whole has certainly been delivered quite a blow. The mental and emotional bomb added onto the stressors people were already dealing with has pushed people into a zone they didn’t know existed. This time in history will be written and talked about for generations to come.

So what do we do? We’ve all heard the trite expressions initially telling people to “just breathe” or “let go.” All the standard superficial new-age spiritual advice to increase your Yoga, meditation, self-care, self-talk, good intentions, watch your nutrition, exercise, get back to nature, take your supplements, on and on, ad nauseam. All of those tools were great for the first part of the year, but then fires broke out, violence ensued, things got worse, and it seemed like all the coping strategies, and good intentions ceased to be effective. Rationality unraveled, common sense dwindled, tempers flared, and optimism flew right out the window. Hair triggered reactions were seen everywhere from social media down to dinner tables, and then on every 24/7 news channel on planet. Comic relief emerged here and there from cleverly produced videos, but the effects were short-lived. Albeit there are always people who go unscathed during any crisis, but this time the percentage of people struggling is palpable. Personally, I can maneuver a lot, but even as a practitioner, I felt the effects for a couple months.

In my opinion, the experiences of 2020 require the enactment of an enormous balancing act in order to stay afloat, maintain a degree of sanity, and a stable perspective. Watching this play out over time seems illustrative of people, one by one, eventually losing themselves to some degree. Observed across the board, you can see the unraveling from leaders to professionals, and from businesses right down the line to each individual—the whole gamut. Core attributes like faith and trust are being pushed to the max. This is where balance comes into play. Everything’s spinning widely, and the only thing anyone can do is figure out how to reduce the spinning, float back to earth, and regain presence. Only then, can each individual determine what their priorities truly are, what they need or can do without, and determine how to effectively manage a high degree of uncertainty and confusion. Why balance? Balance is walking that fine line of keeping somewhat informed as part of being a responsible adult, and at the same time tuning out all extraneous noise. All the extra stimulus this year has been a veritable assault to the nervous system and psyche. Some people are naturally equipped to center themselves, but this year, I’ve seen the best of people needing to sit down and process it all. Trying to make sense out of nonsense will knock anyone off balance, and doing it under duress really puts us all to the test. This time, insight, processing and integration can really help where other techniques fall short.

I wish everyone happiness and health over the next few months, in addition to an election outcome where we can unify and bring out the best in ourselves and others. To thine own self be true—the details will fall into place on their own.

Real Awakenings Blog

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