Autumn Time
What a surprising harvest! Some things I hadn't intended to plant are in abundance in my basket. How curious.
Others I had hoped to grow have withered under blight and harsh conditions. There is stillness here where fear had taken root. And compassion grows wild where someone else once planted meanness. I dare to claim the immediacy of my birth right--Joy--which had been postponed indefinitely in favor of taking the long road promising joy it at its end.
The Witch in me cackles hearing whispers about Joy being fluffy and froo-froo. This knife remains sharp as ever. And this thing called Joy is just another edge too sharp for some to walk.
Everything is up for review from the place I call home to the people I call family to the gender I have oriented myself toward. Health, hearth and spiritual practice are all shfiting subtly and deeply.
This year, the cutting back that came with the first fruits of Lammas was severe. I am grateful and relieved to find all that remains is necessary, desirable and true. I remain a Witch who Creates and Unravels; One who Speaks and one who holds Silence for Them that require it; One who Sees and Spins that Sight into clear and shared Vision. As importantly, I raise these children up in love. As importantly, I open the doors to my house to share abundance which flows past the boundaries previously agreed upon.
Now, the fields within lie fallow and darkened. Waiting. This balance point--time outside of time, really--is a reminder to count blessings, give thanks, breathe deep of the crisp clear air and the gathering darkness in releif. Surefooted, I step forward into starlight vision and Being.
There are some fruits still in need careful tending before they are brought to harvest and a good portion of the old gardens laid to rest. Being a child of the Winter, this sliver of time before me holds the Promise of Darkness where the seeds themselves are born and the strange fruit of the Craft is coaxed forth under cover of stars. Even now, I call Those who have gone before to my bosom, begging Strength and Wisdom, Courage and Compassion, Will and Surrender.
An old song winds it's way through all my thoughts:
Autumn Time
Red leaf falls
As the weary sky
looks over all
Demeter proudly walks the land
The dying grasses in her hand
Blessed Be the Harvest. May your baskets overflow. May the Darkness fulfill your Desire.