Alone In Her Presence
The Harvest season is upon us: a time when the Earth relaxes into her most sacred space, a veil between waking and a deep slumber. Taking our cue from Earth’s most precious cycle, communities around the world will honor and celebrate this transition, welcoming ancestors and releasing into the roots of the Earth intentions towards Spring’s great return.
I am writing this column from a quaint coffee shop in Philadelphia, PA, dressed for the first time this season in my favorite cashmere sweater. It’s a little threadbare, a well-loved but also well-worn reminder of where life has taken me. Looking out the window, I see the leaves beginning to turn from emerald green to ocherous yellows and oranges. I see the squirrels’ tails becoming thicker with fur as they forage for food, the birds with their feathers fuller. All remind me that slumber is upon us.
We are in a gentle dance of the Goddess’ ebb and flow of life. Every year at this time I find myself able to relinquish the things that no longer serve me and invite the process of Harvesting the Self. Here is a moment to retreat, reflect, and reconnect with this time of transformation. Earth in her manifold wittiness reminds us that nature outside is manifesting with our nature inside.
The Blood Moon is rising today, and this lunar eclipse, like Earth’s changing season, is an example of how the universe can perfectly align. Let us embrace this powerful moment to create practices and set intentions. As we come to review any regrets, mistakes, or challenges made over the past year, our contemplation is offered to the Goddess as a learning opportunity. When we acknowledge behaviors and patterns, we welcome them to be replaced with more artful, graceful, or just actions in the future. What is the conscious, constructive, and compassionate life you want to manifest this Harvest season under the Blood Moon? I offer this meditation, an except from my forthcoming book, Weaving Moonlight: Lunar Mysteries, Meditations, and Magic for the Soul.
Harvest Blessings
Find a quiet spot, maybe in front of your altar or sacred space. Invite a moment of conscious breathing; feel your energy center and relax into the earth below you. Have an index card and a pen with you.
After centering yourself, contemplate the question:
- What do you have gratitude for this year?
- What abundance are you harvesting?
Write your answer on one side of the index card. Take a moment to invite more conscious breathing and consider one or two of these next questions, writing your thoughts on the other side of the index card.
Is there a mistake you made or regret you have?
- How did you learn from it? What steps will you take to behave differently in a similar situation in the future?
- What can you offer that will create more balance in your life?
Now take the card and burn it as an offering of the self to the Blood Moon. Welcome the transformation of fire, a symbol of purification, and the energy needed to create transformation. Watch the burning, feel your heart and soul align with the earth, sun, and moon in this Lunar rite. When it is done, acknowledge the stillness of the night and the time you took to connect with yourself and these intentions. When the ash has cooled, bury it in the Earth. Visualize that as Earth returns to slumber, your intentions for a positive life will return with spring.
The invitation is ours, unwavering, to manifest changes in our life: to return to love, to return to self, and to walk more resplendent in the world. Let us harvest the blessings and weave the moonlight of empowered surrender.
Alone In Her Presence is published on alternate Wednesdays! Subscribe via RSS or e-mail.
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