I look up from stirring sauce and my eye twitches. The cherry tree has disappeared and the window is black.
Is the shadow beyond the glass a someone or a something?
Then everyone comes home, piling in.
Summer closing down has me suspicious and unbalanced; “off”, panicky or crotchety; disoriented. Starting and stopping things. Literally, the world tilts as I walk to the garden and it feels like falling.
Do you feel it too?
Psychic Stress and Pumpkin Spice Magic
Wouldn’t you think the equinox balancing of light and dark/day and night would be leveling for us? Doesn’t it seem right that we’d be settling down, feeling more equilibrium, not less? But we’re not. People I talk to say the same things:
“I feel edgy.”
Or, “I’m not myself. I feel itchy when I meditate and I can’t sleep.”
And: “I’m not getting anything done; I’m stalled and not sure what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Doreen Valiente writes that September (and March) “the months of the Equinoxes (are) periods well known to occultists as being times of psychic stress.”
Yes.
Fall/ing
Mabon/The Equinox is Thursday. Night and day will be the same number of hours. Darkness has been creeping up on summer two minutes at a time and I am connecting to the ancient panic of women who feared the season’s change. The lush, fertile abundance is going away and did we do enough to get ready? Will we be warm enough? Will something in the darkness make its move? Will we survive the winter?
The veil between the worlds is getting thinner. You may see things or people through the veil, or you may feel the tilting of the earth.
This energy might not belong to you at all but to the time of year, the culture, the country. The world is shifting and we feel it in our bones and blood.
And, it’s not up to you to balance or fix it.
Kindness is Medicine
Be kind to yourself. If this is the only ritual you do this week, kindness is a full, beautiful and complete one; a solemn, joyful, holy act.
Find the right medicine for you: shed tears in the bathtub; have a pumpkin spice latte and allow yourself naptime. The Great Wheel turns: birth and death and birth again. Inch into the lengthening dark. Your body will tell you how.
Forgive yourself for wasting time playing games, or running yourself ragged; for nesting, or procrastinating and resisting. This weird frenetic energy is both symptom and cause of what’s going on around us.
And if you’re centered and balanced, hooray! Reach out a hand to a friend and share your equilibrium, lucky soul.
A Mabon spell to try:
You will need:
Candles in harvest colors (or black and white)
A blanket, sweater, jacket or other talisman to wear when you need protection or support.
Bread or other non-gluten bread-like food
Wine or grape juice or other fruit beverage
Notebook or grimoire and pen.
To do:
Light your candles and breathe to get centered.
Put on your garment or talisman.
Close your eyes in meditation. Imagine you are surrounded by a glorious, white, healing light. It surrounds and protects you, allowing in only love and what will serve you best.
Allow the garment (or other item) to be infused with the light of Divine comfort, power and strong positive energy.
When you feel completely “infused,” make a list of ways to be kind to yourself and promise the Goddess and yourself you will do those things.
Actually write it as a commitment. “I promise I will…”
Write down when and how and get specific about the details. What feels “kind” to you? Do you need someone to help? Who?
How hard is it to give yourself permission to ask for help? Is it hard to imagine being kind to yourself?
When you’re ready, close the grimoire and feel the release. The words on the page no longer preoccupy you. Let them go.
When you are ready you can have your feast with the Goddess.
Take the bread and eat it, giving thanks for those who harvest the grain. Drink from your cup and give thanks for the grape and the fields and the summer sun.
Always leave a bite and a sip on the altar as a gift to the Goddess. Or better, serve Her first.
Before you extinguish your candle, ask for a message now. Watch the flame and listen.
Extinguish your candle safely or let it burn down completely. Don’t leave a candle unattended.
Wear or use your garment or talisman when you need it. As you put it on, imagine you are clothing yourself in light and peaceful energy.
Nb: This works for other things: for example if you are an introvert but have to go out to a social event you dread, imbue your clothes, jewelry, shoes, make-up, whatever with the energy you need to be social, outgoing, less shy, etc. I used to put on a whole personality for this. I named her Fanny…
If the ritual/spell is too much, just go with kindness is magic!
Sharing Love and Blessed Be,
Diane