Autumn is my favorite time of year, although Mother Nature’s indecision right now makes it difficult to know when to put on or peel off, pun intended . . . “how do you like them apples?”. “A time when darkness overtakes light, and nights grow longer than days. It marks the second station of the year. It is the time of calling, ripening of the harvest, a prelude to a wakening at Samhain. If it is warm at the autumnal equinox, the season should be fine. The goddesses Carpo and Carman are deities of autumn and poetry, respectively.” What’s more, Fall is a time of energetic alignment, somewhat akin to spring equinox, though in this case, beginning to rest, rather than awakening. At this time, We balance Our Selves as We prepare for rest and inner work. Turning Our clocks “yinward”, so to speak.

I remember an anthropology class I took way back in college that included a required text-book entitled, Other Fields, Other Grasshoppers. I remember leaping right into the open view that book espoused for warding off Our tendency to become ‘ethnocentric’ in one’s fieldwork with diverse cultures. Moreover, Carl Jung always struck me as in alignment with this kind of energy as a psychologist and a therapist and inspired me to follow suit by laying my cards out on the table. I’ve heard it said that one should “write about what you know.”  In the spirit of that, I’ll focus on what’s going on with the weather (dialectically pronounced weathah) around the way in the neck of the woods I sit. However, I would also like to acknowledge that I’m not reporting on merely what I see through my physical eyes, as I practice letting go of identification with my humanity, while awakening from my own slumbering ‘inner space’. In fact, as We officially transition from Summer to Autumn here in Our Northern Hemisphere on Mothership Earth, I’m inspired to Fall back and trust that the dying leaves will catch me in a gentle and loving Gaia safety net. Ah, the ‘Web of Life’, as Chief Seattle once spoke of in His wisdom. Wilting flowers, falling leaves, watching children playfully running and jumping through piles of leaves, temperatures waxing and waning (perhaps conjuring up sneezing), as Light and Dark are equally One, albeit diverse expressions of that Oneness, in the Great Cosmic Wheel.  I hardly think Steve Perry could hit a note as High as D Sharp in a Harmonic Convergence of acoustical journeying. Paradoxically, I heed Chuck D spittin’ a Public Enemy number one message to the Military-Industrial Complex, “don’t treat my highs too high or my lows too low” . . . Doesn’t Mr. Miyagi’s martial arts wisdom strike a chord when he says to ‘Danielson’, “balance is about all of life.”?

On this Autumn Equinox, I am reinvigorated into Bee Leaving the forecast may be dimming, though when I keep my ear to the ground, I can still hear Summer whispering to stay light on the feet and drink in the nectar of life. Although the subsequent funeral procession that accompanies Fall might be the death of me, I am also fairly certain the changing tides won’t be the last time I commit suicide–from the Shamanic death of the old self perspective. I wonder if Kafka’s main character in The Metamorphosis would have come out of his shell if had he embraced a Groundhog totem in learning a ‘death without dying experience’ and realized We are not as alone as We might feel from time to time? In every moment of breath, there is death and re-birth–a trumpet sounding its call sure, but a new star shining brighter on this New Morning. Maybe it’s just a little more colorful during this time of year, especially in Northern New England that showcases my favorite time of year that welcomes “leaf peepers” trotting from around the Globe. In fact, I look forward to the Fall, Halloween, All Soul’s Day and All Saints Day–especially given the “thinning of the veils” and watching them lift so that it’s a more open time to commune with Our human family members whom have passed on. It is a great time to honor Our ancestors and thank them for their sacrifices in clearing space for Our evolutionary impulse toward “walking in a Heaven that We can finally see.” And that Heaven on Earth happens when We are present with Our Selves right Tao, as We gently let pass any devilish fixed ideas and egoic attachments to future projections.

In the remembering and forgetting, I try to remind myself to focus on the positive aspects of life, to see the ‘silver lining’ and remember the Sun and Moon are merely hiding when We can’t see them dancing with One another. Moreover, I know the ‘Voice of the Trauma’ quite intimately and realize how easily seductive it is to pay attention to the doom and gloom scenarios that accompanies the unfolding human drama. However, I agree with the ancient wisdom that says, “know Thyself” and also Master Yoda’s understanding in self-awareness when He said to Luke, “you will know, when you are calm”. When We give Inner Peace a chance, We co-create Heaven on Earth, one step, one moment, one individual at a time. When We take this step toward Our True Self, We step in alignment with Nature, with the Universe and We know Oneness.  When I observe the Nervous Woodland Creatures going Straight Outta Woodland, this time of year, I think they can dig on what I’m saying–especially since they seem quite present being so nuts. Perhaps Red Squirrel is really just saying, “G’Day Mate”, merely cloaked in His sentinel bravado? I know I am my own Boss when I sing to myself, “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

Finally, in recent meditations on Turkey medicine, I remember to give thanks for the shared blessings and harvest Turkey brings to Us–especially during Autumn. What would happen if our “senators and congressmen please heed the call” of Turkey to offset “rampant consumerism” and realize that “there’s enough and we can all win.” So, maybe 28 billion is slashed for yet another weapon of mass destruction, followed by yielding on blowing it up to see if it’ll produce a mushroom cloud. Now, maybe I’m just being a fun-gi, but I don’t think it’s too much of a sacrifice for the Military-Industrial Complex to cut some of that spending and reinvest that savings into healthcare and education and more importantly, a more balanced systemically oriented budget that values Universal capital. What would happen if the pyramid on the Almighty Dollar looked more like an equilateral triangle than the sinking ship that it looks like right now? I see Turkey’s medicine as somewhat akin to “birds of a feather, flock together” as We transition into a New Age and Paradigm. Now that’s a Sunny harvest I can digest . . . especially when Full from a Moonshadow.

I Hopi You Are Well,

Ari