Autumn Equinox - Journey into the Dark.

Equinox, the returning of the darkness, space for reflection and an opportunity to harvest what we have learned through the year.

I sometimes feel we put too much emphasis on focusing negatively on what needs to be lost, what if we connect with the divine to create wonders, surely the remaining stagnation and limitation would naturally begin to dissolve away, leaving space for creativity and expansion of positive change.

As we begin to unravel the events of our year lets take a moment to pause, what do we want to achieve from reflection? Do we want to spend time chastising ourselves for every little mistake, or do we have the wisdom to use experience as our teacher, using life as a tool for constructive change? Too often I encounter students who feel deflated by the less than linear progress they feel they have made. There seems to be an ingrained need to move forward at breakneck speed without spending precious moments of pause as a bump in the road sends them hurtling into a downward spiral of self doubt and disillusion. We all suffer this, a feeling that everything should continue on course, unstoppable, without any pausing for correction or review, directed to achieve maximum advancement in the shortest time possible. Oh dear! How very short sighted and completely untenable.

Life is cyclical, its very essence is birth, death, rebirth, in a constant turning that allows us to reassess, reset, move forward wiser and stronger. At Equinox we find ourselves immersed in the season of death. A liminal space of forward and backward visions, helping us to commune with the spirit realms for advice and support, physically seeing the natural world dying down, becoming dormant, seeding future growth in the colourful fruits which typify such vibrant and complete destruction of the old year. As if announcing to the beings who inhabit her realms that the Earth has completed another cycle, showing off her labours with a spectacular display of exuberant majesty. Leaving us on a high that must sustain us through the darkness.

Mother earth suffers set backs, years when drought, flood, human destruction, force her into stagnation and loss, does she punish herself and refuse to grow the next year? No! She returns, begins again making modifications, building immunity, putting her strengths into correcting the damage done, using it to rise stronger from the darkness. Think how much more we could achieve if we followed her lead. Unlike Mother Earth humans have the tendency to give in with no inclination to learn and grow. We begin a new venture, it goes OK for a while, then things begin to falter, customers dry up, we lose heart, blame ourselves for lack of business acumen, for lack of skill, and more often than not closing down the business and our minds, when we should be like Mother Earth pausing to find solutions not dwelling on mistakes.

Equinox is our pause, our time to celebrate the wonders we have achieved over the last months, even if they are small, they are achievements nonetheless. We should celebrate our strength in trying new things, having the confidence to move forward towards our dreams, to becoming who we know we can be. It takes courage to begin something outside your comfort zone. It takes tremendous strength of character to walk new paths even when we know others don't share our vision. It takes a brave soul to stand out from the crowd and put themselves forward as whatever they wish to be. Take a moment and let that sink in. 

As we move forward lets look on our year with wisdom, what have we harvested that will sustain us in the coming months? What do we need to celebrate as important stages of growth? Have we given ourselves the due credit for getting up and trying? This is our opportunity to revel in our own greatness, to see with wonder how we have walked new paths with courage and tenacity. There is no need to dwell on the negative, every step we take towards our goal is filled with uncertainty, yet we have done it and look how good that feels. Look how we stomped on our demons and flew to heights we never knew we could, it doesn't have to be mountains even the rooftop is a victory. Spend a little time journaling the victories, even the tiny ones, each one is to be celebrated as an achievement, setting the seeds for even greater ones to come.

Look at the stumbles, the things that didn't go to plan, see them from outside the emotional, look at the alternatives, the possibilities you can begin to nurture and grow in the darkness of the pause. They are filled with possibility, with wisdom if we allow ourselves to pause and look deeper. Immersed in the dark we can find the wisdom of them, find the light glowing in the belly of each seed of change. Here we become as Mother earth, gently abiding, gestating the wonders that will push through the dark as spring arrives. There is no rush, pause, heal, be.