My Sense of Autumn

Each autumn, I do a second deep inventory to look at what within should be released as it is no longer serving a purpose, what emotions have been harbored that are not resonating within my own frequencies.  What do I need to “weed” out of my internal garden so to speak.  I also gather the harvest, reflecting on the bounties that are within my life and give gratitude for the gifts life has offered so freely to me.

I do this inventory through a walk of the spokes of the Medicine Wheel.  Though it is a process that has shifted and evolved over the years, it is at the very essence simply a spiritual accounting of my mandates.  It is a reflection of the inter related connection that as human beings we have with all other living things in the Universe.  It is an inventory of where my own imprints and energy signatures that I am leaving upon the Earth and upon others.  The walk is done in the autumn as this is a time of pruning, cutting away in nature; as well as the bountiful harvest being gathered in the fields.

The wheel reflects the change in seasons, the cycles of life.  In the West, which is the autumn of life, it is a time of year where the sun is beginning to fade and go beyond the horizon more often. A time when many of us begin to contemplate our life. It is the hour of dusk when we withdraw inward to begin the reflection. It is also the time of harvest. All the work we have done during the Summer now received. A time for grateful hearts to be remembered. It is also a time for cutting back the growth that has grown wild. Removing and cutting away the parts of life that will need to be released so that new blooms may come in the spring.  A time to release just as the leaves fall from the trees.  It truly is the time when true introspection can takes place.

It represents the twilight of life.  The West is the time of adulthood. In the year it is the fall, when things come to maturity. The have reached the phase of their development where physically they can not grow any more. Just as an adult. Innocence and curiosity giving way to wisdom and experience. It is the time in life when we begin to realize how little we really do know.

It is a time of fear and darkness. The sun sets and the color of the west changes from the bright red to a blue or deep purple into blackness. Darkness. It is a time to look within. Discover our own fears. To reflect. The West is a time for self discovery of who you really are. As begin the fall and discover what things we like, what things we do not like about ourselves and understand that the power is within ourselves to change. It is time for our spirit or soul to emerge.

The power animal of the West is the thunderbird. Nearly every Native American tribe known show the thunder bird in its art and imagery. When time was beginning and all things shared equally and all lived in complete harmony, there was one that had nothing to give but the beauty and the sound of its song. The simple ness of the thunder bird is its power.

Thunder beings are part of the autumn. The dark skies filled with thunder and lightning. The red hawk is now the thunder bird. It does the bidding of the rains and gives the gift of the blood of life.

This is where the rain dances came into being. The Thunder birds simplistic song and dance across the sky that brought the blood of life - the rains are imitated through the rain dance. But through this power and gift, also comes fear and destruction. This is the true nature of the power of the West.  The West wind can help bring balance and equality.

It is in this autumn time I find myself again.  Now in the twilight of life where all the knowledge of my adolescence begins to transform into wisdom.  Where priorities in life become clear.  Where when leaves fall, I can simply celebrate the changing colors that create the landscape rather than clinging to the last breaths of summer in the air.

So, once more, autumn arrives and once more I begin the process of a deep spiritual accounting.  This year autumn is a quiet internal celebration of life and for that I am grateful.