EQUILIBRIUM and Equinox Reflections

What nature teaches us about balance and why it can be important to break out of it in order to experience life fully

Taking a sip of my iced Cacao, which is more like a slushy Cacao Ice (went a bit over the top with the ice cubes and my sister in law’s power blender), I am also taking a big sip of summer. That part of summer that makes you think you missed the height of it. Still super hot, sunny days but the bedsheets are not soaked in sweat anymore, the evenings actually bring cooling relief and the trees -  oh the trees - they start changing in their sunset gowns.

I see mustard yellow and burnt orange coloured leaves amidst the lush grassy greens.

And I am writing about the autumn equinox - which, believe it or not, is around the corner, just under a moon cycle away! 

The height of summer really has passed but left my desire for it to stay.

Why does it feel as if summer hasn´t fully arrived? Or arrived only to pass through?

Why am I waiting so passionately every year for summer to take my breath away in a close embrace only to be clinging onto the sunny rays when I know autumn took over already?

As soon as the leaves start to fall and nights grow longer, I used to fear January already. Usually I would last until then, enjoying witchy October season, Samhain celebrations, winter solstice and Christmas but with the “New Year” it felt like I arrived at a wall of ice only keeping myself warm with thoughts of possible journey into distant warmer countries or anticipating spring and summer through planning and dreaming about faery dances in the woodlands.

Celebrating the seasons, Celtic festivals and folk customs really helped me shift my perception and therefor reaction to nature´s change.

Change is inevitable. I think this a lot and wrote it in my last share, too.

What we often miss is the preparation for change or we avoid change altogether, maybe not rationally. Subconsciously a part in us might send us warning sign, fearing the new, the unknown or the time of the year when we used to experience discomfort.

Another phrase I say a lot:

Don´t base your future expectations on your past experiences.

But what can we base them on instead?

On Balance.

Equilibrium

Nature comes with roots and branches. With soil and sky. With night and day.

Therefore when we embrace the seasons, we also get to embrace parts in our PSYCHE (a whole other article will be written on that soon, psyche, the whole mind and soul and her love story with Eros, love and desire).

When we reject certain seasons, we most likely reject parts of ourselves, too.

It can be a rich reflection to think about which seasons you prefer and why. And how those that you value lesser or even fear or simply not find as appealing can reflect unconscious shadow aspects that are longing to be integrated.

What nature teaches us however is that nothing is as black and white as it might seem.

Without the preparation underneath the ground in winter, we wouldn´t have the fruitful expansion above the earth in summer.

Without the abundance of fresh leaves, flowers and seeds in spring, we wouldn´t have matter to compost nor leaves to fall from the trees in autumn.

The seasons are intertwined and prepare themselves. And so can we prepare ourselves to change accordingly. Within and without. External change might look like re-organizing the wardrobe, get the wellies from the attic and put the summer shorts away.

Internal change can look like taking small pockets of time to pause and slow down. Feeling the summer heat and energy pulsing in your veins still. And using it with discernment for the activities and projects that have priority and will stay with you through the upcoming months. Withdraw from making too many plans and instead meet yourself more frequently.

Imagine:

You are digging a deep hole or find a mysterious cave under a waterfall. During the time leading up to Autumn Equinox, the sun light still streams in and makes it easy and enjoyable for you to explore the pathways, leading to hidden lagoons and mountain tops. You find cosy corners for bookshelves and cushions. A big cave for bonfires with trusted friends. The shadows on the walls are not scary yet, and you get to welcome them and have interesting conversations that reveal what was once buried underneath. As you gain more confidence in venturing into your inner cave system, you start to make it lovable. You decorate with dried flowers and bring fruits from the last harvest of the year, store jams and pickled veg jars. The darker the days and the longer the nights get, the more candles, rugs, chandeliers and paintings do you bring and start to nest within.

Imagine: Winter is here and you arrived, too.

Because really, we are usually unprepared for this dark season because we try to cling onto summer for as long as we can and then crash land into winter. When we could embrace the changing of seasons with an appropriate change of self, internally.

Shadow Integration is a great way of preparing yourself and preventing seasonal mood dips. The more we get comfortable with our own dark sides, the more we can appreciate nature´s darkness.

Because we are nature. And learning from our external environment, really is learning about ourselves.

EQUILIBRIUM CEREMONIAL CACAO DIETA

13 Days of guided Cacao connection & devotion to your shadow work and creative expansion. From New Moon to Full Moon we journey together through the EQUINOX portal.

Shadow Work and Creative Expansion are two sides of one coin and like nature´s seasons interdependent. We will both go deep and reach high, ground down and uplift because ceremonial Cacao holds us through our full spectrum of human emotions and potential.

And the best of it all? It will equip you with methods and inspiration to courageously (full heartedly!) into winter season! 

Especially for those of you who lean towards seasonal depression it will be immensely beneficial to engage into a Cacao Dieta with inner work. We start September 17th with an online ceremony and devote daily to a personal cacao ritual, which can be as quick or long as you desire and can fit in your day to day. everything will be recorded, so that you can repeat what deserves more time when you have it.