I just love this time of year…it’s a season of change, and being a person of change I always welcome this season with open arms. I know it is a time when I get to really shake things up, to dream, vision, let go and begin preparing for the winter journey within.
I have an opportunity to prune back the trees and growth within that may have become a tangled mess. While yes this is a task I welcome, it can feel very overwhelming…kind of like the way I felt walking into my garden this morning as I saw the heaping pile of vines and branches that my husband trimmed back yesterday…only there are so many more branches that need trimming I just wanted to collapse at the thought.
We can feel the same way when we think about the tangled mess we see when we reflect on attitudes, beliefs, fears, relationships, stories, situations, etc that interfere with our own growth. But when we recognize that feeling of overwhelm, the feeling of wanting to just collapse, it can serve as a fuel for the fire within…the fire that wants to transform that outwardly tangled mess into fertile soil for planting the seeds of our dreams.
That is the beauty and power of fall. To cut back the excess growth and allow it to fuel the fires of transformation.
Every year, in the fall season I do this both metaphorically and literally. I go into my garden, trim back the vines and shrubs and then use the cuttings as fuel for each of my fire ceremonies throughout the next three seasons. It feels symbolic of all the pieces I am shedding and trimming from own life…fears, frustrations, angers, hurts, judgments…all of the pieces that interfere with my knowing of my true self. I’m always intrigued by how the fall cuttings (still a bit wet with life) ignite slowly in the winter, through spring they ignite with a bit more ease, and then by the end of summer they rapidly burst into flame. I just love the symbolism…what is fresh is a little more difficult to let go of, to burn, but with time, what was fresh & wet dries and rapidly ignites. We transform what felt like a tangled mess into fertile soil and fresh new life within just a years time.
The tangled mess that we sometimes see at this time of the year is really just an opportunity for us to embrace a new level of transformation, growth and life. Are you ready to take that step?
I personally love fire ceremonies, and it is a ritual I do with every season change. With each ceremony, I prepare for it in a way that is reflective of the season. I would love to invite you to prepare for your fall equinox fire by:
1. Taking some quite time, preferably in nature, to reflect… What within your life feels like a tangled mess? Jot down some thoughts or perhaps put your pen to paper and just let everything flow until there is nothing left unexpressed.
2. Go into a garden or wooded area and trim back some of the excess branches or gather branches that have been dropped to the ground. Select some as kindling for your fire and then gather some items from nature to prepare as an offering for the fire that reflect your unique ‘tangled mess’ (I love gathering items like cedar bows, grapevine, pine cones, chestnuts, acorns, fallen leaves, small sticks, etc…just be creative). Also find an item to reflect the seeds you would like to plant in your life.
3. With each of the objects you have gathered, create a little nature alter to honor what this fire is symbolizing for you. I like to do this about 3 days before my fire, and I select a place within my garden…a place close to where I can revisit, and a place near where I will hold my fire so that I may take the items from my alter and offer them to the fire.
4. By beginning this process you are opening the energy for transformation. You may notice different ideas, thoughts, memories popping into your mind in the days leading up to your fire. If they are a part of your unique tangled mess, add them to your alter so that they may also be trimmed back.
5. Bring your awareness to how you would like to experience life differently. On your alter place an object that symbolizes what you would like instead…seeds of some sort are great as they are of nature and they symbolize the seeds you are planting for their growth.
6. When you do your fire ceremony, release each of the objects on your alter into the fire. As you do honor what is being let go and celebrate the seeds you are planting…you will be nurturing them through winter so they may spring to life in spring bearing fruit in the summer
Click here for information about how to do a fire ceremony
Have a beautiful ceremony!
& Shine Brightly!
Lori
I am trading in the tangled mess of health problems, experienced throughout this past year, into the fertile soil of wellness. I will gather all I can for clearing my Sacral Chakre. I would welcome your suggestions.
Lynda, Sounds like it will be a powerful fall equinox ceremony for you. After reading your note I was paging through my journal for something completely different and happened across something I recently wrote when reflecting on my own experiences with illness. I would like to share them with you: “Illness is a path to greatness – it opens a window inviting us to listen within, to acknowledge the stories that we’ve allowed to be our truth…often stories that don’t really reflect our truest and brightest self. There comes a time for us to reflect on these stories…stories we can no longer ignore. When we finally do, we are able to let them go, to release them so we can powerfully step into who we truly are…and who we are is love”
So I guess, with that said, my suggestion to you is that as you work with this clearing do so with deep love and compassion…unravel all of the stories and lovingly offer them to Mother Earth.
All the best & Peaceful Prehnite Dreams to you!
I’d love to know how your ceremony goes
-Lori
Thank you for your very wise words, Lori. There are many issues from childhood that need to be unraveled and released. Will you remind me which precious stones help the Sacral Chakra? I still wear the wonderful necklace that you created years ago. It is still filled with love. I think I’m needing jewelry for the Sacral Chakra as I prepare for Autumn Burning!
Hi Lynda…you’re welcome 🙂 Some great stones for the sacral chakra are carnelian, fire agate, smoky quartz (great for unraveling childhood), mookaite jasper, the huayruro seed…and I even like serpentine for sacral chakra. On the journey jewels website I have a beautiful …also, I’m not sure if this is something that would interest you, but I do also create personalized power pieces. If this is something that would interest you, I’d love to talk with you about that.