If I had to choose a favorite season it would be autumn. The colors and the light are so amazing, and there is a sense of big change coming. Life force energy is returning to the roots now and preparing us for winter.

Although the second harvest time is waning, we can share deep gratitude for everything we have and everything we experienced this summer, and for the entire year really.

It is time to weigh and sort the seeds and berries …

What worked? What are you no longer willing to tolerate? I love this question because it forces us to examine what we have been putting up with or doing that doesn’t make sense anymore.

Those of you who know me know how much I love symbols and their metaphoric meaning. I recently refined my Gorgeously Healthy Life Portal Wheel, which is a fun and enlightening way to foster better health. I’ll be sharing more about that later with you. For now, think of the symbol of the square — Nutrition and Rest — Earth and Goddess Gaia as torches of light for this season.

Angeles Arrien’s work in cross-cultural symbolism was a big gift to us and an influence to me personally. In her book The Four-Fold Way, she lists some questions for this season that are worth pondering.

• Who have been the most significant teachers for you in your life?
• What wakeup calls have you had recently?
• What is helpful in breaking old harmful family patterns?
• What family traditions are worthy of keeping?
• How have you handled loss in your life?

This last question is particularly relevant for most of us because of the pandemic the last couple years and the many losses and changes that have been thrust upon us.

This season is not without its trickster energy either …

Sometimes we can only laugh at the absurdity of our original plans and thinking. We are all being challenged in new and important ways and never has it been more important to stand and align with one’s values.

This season, figure out how to balance the scales for yourself and mirror nature’s own division of light and shadow, which strike perfect balance at this autumnal equinox, or Mabon.

We are both light and dark, and humanity is flawed, just as we all are. So I encourage you to give up judging others, or yourself, as good or bad. Practice blurring the boundaries a bit.

What really matters to you now? Now is the time to take stock and list objectives you still want to attain, mentally adjusting to work with them next year.

Meanwhile, keep connecting with nature and spend time in the open air. Gather some leaves or herbs, and if you are so inclined, make some herbal medicine. This is more than just a symbolic connection to the land from which we spring. It is the land to which we depend and will return.

Happy Fall, Goddesses!

Gay