Now that the prayer cootie drama is behind me, I'm looking forward to the Autumnal Equinox for more reasons than it's the evening of my birthday. Although I will admit that adds to the excitement. I haven't heeded the message the cards gave me a couple of weeks ago but it's ever on my mind. This weekend will go toward cleaning house in preparation, setting up my Autumn altar and lots of study and knitting. This is how I plan on getting through this cold I'm doing my best to catch. Once the house is clean, I'll park myself on the couch and do nothing more...aside from some healthy cooking. Zach and I have both reached that moment when you're ready to start something new. We've never reached it at the same time before so we decided we'd better strike while the iron is hot.
He's going to help me set up the altar outdoors since there will most likely be no more mowing for the season. Or at least only one more at the most. And he's going to do hard labor getting the second garden turned and cultivated before winter sets in. And next weekend we'll harvest the tobacco for Tom. I'm saving some of the leaves...the best ones...as an offering both for the land spirits and for the Indian Mounds outside of town when we celebrate Samhain.
I'm also determined to spend more time in crafts. The cards have long been telling me to do that and I really must heed their advice. Photography should be something I include in that group of crafting. I got a new camera for Beltane and haven't used it yet. Zach has but I haven't.
I've also been picking up a few Halloween decorations. We never celebrated it while Zach was growing up because I had been taught that it was an "evil" occasion but I'm more excited about it than Christmas. I can't afford everything but I picked up a lantern, a spider for Zach's room and a battery-operated candle for the window sill. I plan on using that for my Samhain vigil as well. I keep a candle lit in the window sill from Samhain until Yule. Just something that came to me...nothing I read or heard that was something that was done. I think of it as a vigil for the ancestors. It also is good discipline for me and helps me set up good habits for ritual. The candle I used last year was vanilla scented and I had headaches the whole time.
ANd so it's time for me to go lie down while supper is cooking and the laundry is finishing. I'll call it a night pretty soon so my body can heal from this cold. I need to learn to stop pushing myself and let myself rest when I need to. It's prejudices from long ago that if I give in to this fatigue, I'm being weak and I need to re-set my thinking and be more aware of what my body is telling me.
So much to learn.
BB
He's going to help me set up the altar outdoors since there will most likely be no more mowing for the season. Or at least only one more at the most. And he's going to do hard labor getting the second garden turned and cultivated before winter sets in. And next weekend we'll harvest the tobacco for Tom. I'm saving some of the leaves...the best ones...as an offering both for the land spirits and for the Indian Mounds outside of town when we celebrate Samhain.
I'm also determined to spend more time in crafts. The cards have long been telling me to do that and I really must heed their advice. Photography should be something I include in that group of crafting. I got a new camera for Beltane and haven't used it yet. Zach has but I haven't.
I've also been picking up a few Halloween decorations. We never celebrated it while Zach was growing up because I had been taught that it was an "evil" occasion but I'm more excited about it than Christmas. I can't afford everything but I picked up a lantern, a spider for Zach's room and a battery-operated candle for the window sill. I plan on using that for my Samhain vigil as well. I keep a candle lit in the window sill from Samhain until Yule. Just something that came to me...nothing I read or heard that was something that was done. I think of it as a vigil for the ancestors. It also is good discipline for me and helps me set up good habits for ritual. The candle I used last year was vanilla scented and I had headaches the whole time.
ANd so it's time for me to go lie down while supper is cooking and the laundry is finishing. I'll call it a night pretty soon so my body can heal from this cold. I need to learn to stop pushing myself and let myself rest when I need to. It's prejudices from long ago that if I give in to this fatigue, I'm being weak and I need to re-set my thinking and be more aware of what my body is telling me.
So much to learn.
BB
Those battery operated candles rock! They look so real and are perfectly safe to leave on for extended periods of time.
ReplyDeleteYou sound very good in this post Kathy. I think the vigor of Autumn is biting you in the ass with almost every other blogger I read. I mean biting in the ass in a good way ; )
ReplyDeleteDebra, they really do rock! While I really love the flickering flame of the real ones, this is a great substitute when I can't attend the candle all the time. Plus in the head of summer when it was too danged hot to add more heat to the room.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dark Mother. I do think Autumn wakes me up. I get all nesty and really enjoy all the winterizing and preparations. Plus I love, love, love Samhain. It's right there at the top of my favorite festivals. I love that connection with those beyond the veil, and love that there is a dark season between the old year and the new one. I think that's as it should be instead of walking from one room into another. It's a period of deep reflection for me and I love it.
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