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.

A nature alter Chris & I found while camping

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