Happy Autumn Equinox (or Spring Equinox)! May you be Blessed with abundance & joy and good health!
Depending where on Earth you are standing right now, you are either anticipating days of warmth & light or you are preparing for darker, cooler days. Either way, as the sun makes its slow turn around Earth, it is a powerful time worthy of recognition. We like to mark these cycles with simple, meaningful rituals.
For those of us who chose to be receptive to our intimate connections with the movements of the Earth and who live with our feet firmly in the soil, and hearts pressed against the trees, our lives are often steeped in instinctual rituals.
And that brings me to the ecotrain Question of the week
What rituals do you have, and why are they important to you?
As we work to harvest and put away food for the winter, the Autumn equinox (and upcoming harvest moon) is an important time for us. We are blessed to live and work on the land. That said, we sometimes lose sight of our food fortune. This marked time and the rituals that we take part in, bring us back to a place of mindfulness and gratitude.
We bring meaning to this day by choice. Today is a magical, meaningful time to celebrate because we want it to be. It's all about perspective. For us the natural cycles are something that makes sense to us. Our heart tells us these moments should have our attention.
Our rituals are rather simplistic but they suit us.
Instead of being in a hurry, today I worked with care. I set my mind to appreciating and admiring the bounty that we have pulled from the soil. This land, the sun, the trees, the bickering chickens and the bees, it's all so incredible. Today is a good day to pay special attention.
It doesn't get more simple than laundry and it probably sounds like a strange ritual but there you have it. Today is the perfect day to hang washing on the line while singing 'Three little birds'. I do this because my grandmother loved to sing while she worked and it gives me a moment of connection with her. This simple work is balancing and meditative. The textures, the colours and scents are stirred together by the wind and I can't help but know that I am so lucky to be standing here.
Tonight when we go to bed our sheets will smell like the sun and the wind.
Once the laundry was hung I decided to sit in the greenhouse where it is warm. I was drawn to the drying beans and notice that several bundles were ready. As I work its easy to tune into the crinkling of the dried leaves, the snap as the pod opens up and then plink of the beans as they land in the bucket. Beside me some bees were working on the nasturtium and our resident greenhouse snake tries to stealthily slither past unnoticed.
I can't help but notice how few beans each of these big bushes provides. We've worked so hard to produce our own food. How many more bushes do we need to grow to fill our needs? There's a lot of time for thought and contemplation as I work.
Beans are the coolest food I can think of. Zen in a pod.
I can't help but marvel at one thing after another as we work today. I want to soak it all up and store the memories for winter. We both enjoyed snacking on the cherry tomatoes as we worked and will miss doing this now that frost has come. Baskets of tomatoes are all over the house as I write this. These tomatoes will be bottled up for winter with a deep appreciation. When we open that jar and catch the first scents, the memories of picking those tomatoes will flood back. Its a cycle of constant nourishment of the body and soul. there is a ritual to every harvest, especially when you are doing it all by hand.
We have chosen to celebrate both the Equinox and the harvest moon. The next three days will be ours to do with as we please but with intention and purpose. It's the intention behind the action that defines it, that makes it a ritual.
Our celebratory rituals are very modest and looks something like this.
I'll wash the bedding and hang it on the line so that the sheets smell like the sun and the wind when we go to bed tonight. The windows will be opened up (which they usually are) so that the house is filled with fresh clean air.
We'll wander through the woods and perhaps gather some apples and fallen wood. We'll look for chaga and try to find that fallen birch I've been hoping to find so that I can make some tea. Most likely we'll just walk quietly and enjoy the moment and/or I'll take photographs.
On the night of the harvest moon We'll mix up some fire cider or other natural concoctions and set them out beneath the moon light. We'll have a small bonfire and drink fire roasted cocoa. There is something about sitting around an open flame at night that brings so much contentment. Its even more wonderful when there is a bright moon glowing above us as the flames dance.
We'll enjoy a lovingly prepared meal that consists of only items that were grown or gathered on the land around us.
We'll make incense sticks and wreaths or whatever else strikes our fancy just for the pure joy of doing it. I like to wander around with a basket and gather up items to work with and my husband is more inclined to play his guitar. I'll hang herbs around the house inviting good energy in. Thyme is for cleaning negativity, sage for health and wisdom, Lavender is soothing and encourages compassion, Rosemary for purification and peace of mind. There are so many choices.
We are part of nature and as the seasons change so do we. We'll sit beneath the big harvest moon, reflect on the past year while also shifting our balance to the upcoming cooler season. It makes sense.
Good health and happiness!
Building a greener, more beautiful world one seed at a time.
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What a wonderful ritual1 I could almost feel the contentment as you did as you pleased and the added bit to do it with purpose really ups the anti. When Lovely way to celebrate the Autumnal (or spring) Equinox! I'll have to try it some time. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks @porters. We really are enjoying this time in the season. The moon was awesome last night and I've read that it is going to be something else on the 24th with the harvest moon.
Owe! Have to get out and catch some moon light on the 24th!
What a lovely way to celebrate the turn of seasons!
I tend to pay more attention to the solstices and equinoxs than many other holidays. I had hoped to do a post on the equinox but alas....
haha ...alas indeed. It is such a busy time of year. The holidays sure don't give us that same feeling.
The only real holiday I work at is Christmas. And it VERY much is what you make it. I make it a quiet, peaceful time to enjoy the lights and music. The farm work outside is done, and if I feel like it I will make seed orders during the month. Otherwise it's mostly quiet "me" time.
I used to try to have all shopping or gift making done by October, so I'd miss the craziness. But we long since have been unable to do gifts, so it became a quiet family time on the day. And I make the time from the end of November to January 1 my time, to celebrate as I enjoy.
Your version of Christmas sounds very nice indeed!
This is so beautiful. I envy you your rituals - how lovely that they thread the moments of your life together in beauty and reverence, especially for the natural cycles. xx
I always love reading your comments, posts, words. You have a way of making everything read like beautiful poetry.
Thank you. Now all I need is your photography skills and I'll have it made
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ahh! this was just the kind of post I was hoping to see.. not just some deep spiritual rituals but some good old back to basics! LOVE those pictures, and those zen pods loook So cool! I have a nice stick of stage myself someone gifted me a few weeks ago.. Special herb.. mmm <3
Oh it warms my heart to read your comment, thank you so much. When it comes to basic living, that's something that I know and feel confident in sharing about. Ritual and working with intention has become such a focus for how I live. My husband came into the greenhouse and saw how few beans I had in the bucket after an hour of work and immediately started thinking about efficiency and productivity (his corporate brain). I had to remind him that time does not matter.
Those beans are so lovely, They are Black Calypso Bean but I call them the harmony bean because they really look like ying and yang to me.
The moon looked good last night for the short period we saw it between clouds overhead. Your time of reflection is a wonderful tradition, many have lost living in cities @walkerland
As we move back into summer, we are grateful for good rains, hopefully better crops for the farmers this year. Certain regions in our country are still eagerly waiting for rain to arrive, not everyone is out of the drought yet.
Love love love this post. I feel we have alot in common. I love having simple rituals like washing and hanging clothes and watering my plants, it's so grounding! I love the changes of the seasons too but I do find the cold hard and when it's warm and sunnier I'm happier and healthier but still for me winter is super important for the cycle of my life and I don't think it be quite the same if I lived in complete tropical climate all year round.
gosh, I struggle to adapt to the cold as well, especially when the sky is grey and there isn't any sunshine. Early September I often struggle for a few weeks - that first bit of cold and the die off in the garden always brings me down a little bit. I think that's why focusing on the equinox and harvest moon and taking some time to enjoy things was so important. It helped to shake me out of that feeling of "impending winter" and focus on enjoying the Autumn.
I often joke that we should fly south for the winter but I think you are right, we might miss the four seasons. They have become an important part of our life. That said, I wouldn't complain too much if I was given the chance to live somewhere tropical for a few years. :)
Thanks for the nice comment - I does seem we have plenty in common.