Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower – Camus

The Wheel turns. The air is crisp and the sun shines softly with the clear white light that can only mean fall. It is a blessing for us in the Pacific Northwest as we move into our rainy season, when every ray is precious now.

We must now look to our own inner light. The pure sustaining light of Gratitude. Thanksgiving is connected to the harvest festivals and the second harvest is in, time to give thanks for all of our bounty. To celebrate life, family and community and all of the hard work that it took to complete another cycle of the Wheel of the Year. To look within at our inner harvest to see what it is that we have reaped.

Mother Nature goes into a deep sleep these cold fall and winter months. The trees are singing their winter song, freely giving their leaves and remind us to let go of what we no longer need. Plants, animals and insects go to ground, dormant for the season until the first snowdrop, our harbinger of Spring, bursts forth with the song of a new Spring.                                                       

What seeds will you plant?   What will you reap? What will your song be?    Life does not simply happen, it responds.

As we gather in Thanksgiving this one day of the year, I sit in deep gratitude that Earth Mother and her children, and my own children, have taught me to give thanks continually and abundantly. To walk in gratitude, mindfulness and respect. Gratitude for all living beings, for the natural forces and the elements, gratitude for Spirit, who has show us that we are one Spirit, one mind, one heart beating with the pulse of Earth Mother.                                              

Blessings on this Thanksgiving. May all that you cherish bring you great joy.

Mar uh Tha mo chridhe – as my heart is

Heathir

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings,
turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” 
―William Arthur Ward