Easing into Autumn

Goodbye summer. A statement that could be laced with sadness if it wasn’t for the gentle, loving arms in which we fall into each autumn. I find the change of season between summer and autumn to be the most beautiful, even welcomed as we naturally find ourselves needing to slow down from the summer buzz.

The day before the Autumn Equinox we woke to blue skies and sunshine and I just had this feeling that we had to be at the beach. After a more hurried than usual breakfast we found ourselves at an empty beach, a much-welcomed sight after the crowded beaches we’ve endured over the summer. A crowded beach fills me with so much unease; my senses get overwhelmed and saddened with the sun lotion explosion happening around me, the swarm of supermarket-food-picnics surrounding me and the overall overwhelm of man consuming nature from all angles. A perk of being school-free is witnessing the beach in the raw, of having the ocean as your playground and giving your children the freedom to roam as far and wide as they like and smelling the salty air, not piz buin! The sun warming our skins that morning felt like a deep, final embrace, and it turned out it was as the next day, on the equinox, we woke to grey skies and wind.

Thankfully the equinox brings more than grey skies, it brings a celebration, Mabon. A pagan tradition which is the counterbalance of Ostara, the spring equinox festival. Mabon/the autumn equinox is a time to celebrate the second harvest, a time to give thanks to the waning sun for the bounty it has provided for us over the summer days. The days from here on will get shorter and the darkness will overpower the light. The moon is also called the Harvest Moon during this time (familiar with the Neil Young song?), as the bright harvest moon allowed farmers to work late into the night to gather all their harvest.

You don’t have to be a pagan, or a farmer, or live in the countryside to start re-introducing these traditions back into your life. I say ‘re-introducing’ because it wasn’t too long ago that we were all so directly affected by the seasons and the harvests, and this time of the year especially, would show whether or not we would have enough to see us through the winter. The harvest, if good, would be welcomed with joy and appreciation and feasts would be made and shared with friends, family and neighbours as we celebrated our bounty. It’s only recently that we have an unnatural, never-ending stream of food stocking the aisles all year long. Incorporating these celebrations is a wonderful way for all the family to re-connect with what’s on their plate. To savour that first crisp sweet bite of an apple, and go onto utilising the apple and all its offerings in the coming weeks; apple crumble, apple juice, apple sauce, apple cake…(and the corn, squashes, pumpkins etc.) In the last 3 years I’ve woven the equinoxes and solstices into our family rhythm and it is so nourishing and awakens me to what’s going on outside of my window.

We are blessed with an orchard here at our community and on Saturday we began harvesting the apples. We organise and store them; both eaters and cookers, and these last us deep into the winter. We also gather all the fallen, bruised or too-small apples and juice them towards the end of October (my favourite day of the year at the community!)

We also harvested some damsons and a few of us gathered the following morning in my kitchen to make an apple and damson crumble for the rest of the community to share during a community forum which was happening the following day. My equinox weekend left me feeling deeply connected to my community, my food, my home and the earth. I want to encourage as many of you as possible to honour this change in season in whatever way you’re able to. Inner city parks will be turning golden and red any day now, a perfect spot for a potluck-picnic with loved ones. Greengrocers will have local fresh apples longing to be baked and enjoyed; cook with your children, cook with friends, with neighbours. Bake for the school and encourage some socialisation away from the curriculum. Be bold and knock-on doors of people with apples trees and offer to harvest for them in exchange of a bag of apples, there are so many abandoned fruit trees in peoples gardens these days (!) because it wasn’t that long ago that our grandparents grew what they could. Or if you aren’t feeling social for whatever reason, or are time restricted with current work commitments, then bring some of the outdoors into your home; create a shrine/nature table of fallen apples, yellow leaves and conkers and celebrate in your own way. Birthdays coming up? Then gift an apple tree, as I recently did for my dad’s 60^th birthday, a gift that will keep on giving and is symbolic for this time of the year. There are so many wonderful ways to get creative and honour the turn of the wheel.

Acknowledging these celebrations also provides time for reflections and intentions. This time of the year we can look back at the hopes and aspirations we set during Imbolc and reflect on how they’ve manifested. It’s a time to reap what we have sown, both in the physical harvesting sense but also in the spiritual/personal/emotional sense too. After a season of doing and growing (ourselves and the plants!), we can now pause, reflect and rest (ideally with a cup of tea and some crumble!)

In autumn I have less desire to be out there doing things, and suddenly become very fond of my home, specifically my kitchen. I have this need to cook and feed myself and others. To fill my home with warming scents and friendly laughter. Hygee, the dutch concept of ‘cosy-ness’ really comes into its own in autumn, as we find simpler joys; hot cacaos, baked goods, log fires…it’s comforting, nourishing, slow, simple. It seems miles away from the energetic social swarm we find ourselves in the summer months; parties, BBQs, weddings, hikes, swims, holidays…

We can learn so much from nature, we too are cyclical beings. We need to escape from this one gear approach to life, where we are burning the clutch. We watch as the trees so effortlessly let go of their leaves, and we to, have permission to let go, to bare all and stand strong and exposed.

I enter this season feeling grounded and proud. I have made some decisions this year that have honoured me, this blog being one of them. I have spoken much more openly to people about my relationship with anxiety and how it shapes my days. I feel a deeper connection to my home, my community and myself than I ever have done.

I have my slippers on, I plan on making another apple crumble this week and probably a large pan of squash soup and I commit to journaling daily to explore what comes up. Join me, in basking in the riches this season offers us.