Sowing Seeds

31 October 2020


We are now halfway between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice a time some call Samhain (pronounced sow-ein), a halfway point of the dark days, a halfway point of our resting and recharging that I talked about recently.  I am hoping, weather permitting, we can have a small Samhain celebration this week.

I know that this is also a time that some celebrate Halloween, I am not a fan.  As a child it wasn't as big an event as it is now, but people dressed up and had parties, I found it all rather terrifying, now, as an adult I don't feel a connection to it all. I know that so many do and have a great time dressing up and maybe also making mischief, it is really not for me.

We can really see the visible signs that the earth is slowing down, the leaves are providing us with their stunning visual palate turning the most beautiful colours and falling from the trees.  I love to watch the leaves as they make their descent, have you noticed that each tree's leaves have a different way of making their to the ground?  Have a look when you are next out and about amongst the trees.  They and other plants are nearing the start of their period of dormancy.

As we, in the Northern Hemisphere, continue to move further away from the sun our temperatures will continue to fall, bringing with it the frosts, that some might have already had, and later snow, some parts have already had some of this too.  These colder temperatures bring with it the death and decay in the plant world, an important part of the cycle of their life.

Whilst the earth is resting and recharging we can reflect on all that it has provided for us over the past year.  We give thanks, for the rain, replenishing the earth and sustaining life.  I know for some parts of the world rain is in short supply and in other parts they are flooding with so much rain.  We must learn to adapt our behaviour and how we manage our resources to be more resilient to the changes in the weather so that we are ready for droughts or flooding.  We give thanks for the abundant harvest from the earth, the food and medicine it provided to sustain our lives.  When we stop and think for a moment about all the food that we eat it has all been provided by our beautiful planet, it is so amazing.  We give thanks for the air that we breath sustaining our lives, allowing us to speak and sing.  This is another resource, like water, which we cannot live without and which we must adapt our behaviour.  I am so lucky to live somewhere with really good air quality the air tastes so different to me in built up urban areas, places that people are living and moving around in all the time.

While the earth rests we too should use this time to rest, giving us a chance to renew and replenish our energies.  We can use this time to think of new plans and new beginnings, for sowing the seeds of our future in our minds and storing it until the time of the light and warmth returning.  A seed of a something you want to do, to be, to learn or adventures you want have.  We are not going to use this time to set them in motion but to incubate them and let them start to take some shape.

We can also use this time to reflect or start to clear our minds of our fears, troubles or insecurities those thoughts that we go over in our minds.  It is a good time to start the process of letting go of them, perhaps by writing them down or drawing them, whatever way works best for you.  If you have access to a fire, perhaps in your house keeping you all warm, you could burn them as a way of helping you to release.


For Inner Tranquility
Quiet I bear within me
I bear within myself
Forces to make me strong
Now will I be imbued
With their glowing warmth
Now will I fill myself
With my own will's resolve
And I will feel the quiet
Pouring through all my being
When, by my steadfast striving
I become strong
To find within myself
The source of strength
The strength of inner quiet
Rudolph Steiner


Our strength, our inner strength is what will carry us through this period of dark, dormancy and rest. It will help us to release our fears, we have started that journey bringing them into focus and recording them, maybe you have burnt them in the fire, now we need to make peace with them to help us move on.

Our inner strength will guide us to a seed of a new beginning, one that we will take within us and allow it to sit there quietly, as a seed does in the earth awaiting germination and development.  When we are nearing the end of this important time of rest and recharging, allow this seed to come into focus in your mind ready for you to take forward into the Spring, the light and the earth warming once again.

9 comments:

  1. I'm not a fan of Halloween either, we didn't do anything as children, there was no such thing as trick or treat in those days but it was a well established event by the time my children were of an age to take part so we used to join in but I was glad when they'd grown out of it. Yes, we're definitely heading into winter now, it seems one day we're enjoying the colours and splendour of autumn and the next the trees are bare and the branches as glistening with frost, I don't think we're far away from that day now.

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  2. Lovely post. Halloween is pretty gaudy isn’t it! Samhain is much more in touch with the seasons and elements. I’m fascinated with our pagan past. Lulu x

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  3. Thank you for this thoughtful post. Many don’t like this time of year but I agree with you that it’s a time for reflection and planning quietly for the future. Enjoying small home comforts as the wind howls outside. I too agree about Halloween, other than eating pumpkin soup ;) Have a lovely weekend. B x

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  4. I'm loving the autumn; to me it's the best season of the year. A lot of people only see death and decay, but I don't see it as death, just sleeping. The trees and flowers don't die, they just sleep until the spring, my second favourite season. We don't care for Hallowe'en either. We haven't had any frost or really cold weather yet, though it's turned quiet cool and wet again. I'm feeling a little apprehensive of this possible second Nationwide Lockdown, we had to shield for 5 months last time. I think it may be necessary as it's not doing any good having different places at different levels. I shall need all my inner strength and peace to get me through it. J

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  5. I do like the idea of this time of rest and recharging....as an introvert I know this comes a bit easier to me than to many.

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  6. That is a really beautiful post. Thank you. X

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  7. I am not a Hallowe'en fan either. I would much prefer to be planning for next year's garden, taking stock and being thankful. We can only cope by having times of reflection and nurturing. A lovely thought provoking post.
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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  8. What a beautiful, insightful post. I did enjoy it. I don't do Halloween either, I really dislike all the fireworks, pets, wildlife and domestic animals are terrified.xxx

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  9. Beautiful post! Thank you for the Samhain insight! (being American, it's all Halloween for what seems like months on end here) I love this time of the year, spending some time to tuck my garden in for winter, leaving some seed heads for the birds. There is such comfort in the change of seasons!

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