The winds have changed, and the northerly breezes ushered in a spell of autumn.
If there were a metal weathervane on our rooftop, it would have spiraled around and around and landed on fall!
With shifting winds, new patterns unfold. Birds migrate each night overhead while we nod off to sleep. Thickets of goldenrod fill the hedgerows. The neighborhood owls hoot and holler at the waning light. And early autumn awakens a bit of magic within me.
With that, I offer this playful poem.
Spell of Autumn
By Stacey Hayes
Magic golden glints of light
shadow seekers
dusk, then night.
Sticks and bark
and moss and moon,
autumn wrens and sparrows swoon—
on shifting winds and cooling ground
swirling, spiraling round and round.
Dancing fungi, bursting seeds
The inner and outer
weave and weave.
Embracing me—
spell of autumn,
bed of leaves.
Autumn Journaling Prompts:
Reflect. Root. Release.
These words kept coming to me as I thought about both the dramatic and subtle changes that fall brings. You may want to journal about these themes or simply use them to guide a conversation with a friend or loved one. My hope is that making space for reflection will offer nourishment and intentionality as you honor the season you are in.
Reflect
Fall is full of transitions. Birds coming and going, the gradual changing and dropping of leaves, new weather patterns, and lengthening nights.
What might these changes stir in you?
Root
What traditions, rituals, or rhythms root you this time of year?
What nature element symbolizes rootedness for you (tree roots, soil, stone, others)?
Release
What may you need to release to make space for the gifts of this season or the present gifts in your life?