A rose in fall

I can really feel fall now--can you? The air is cooler, the mornings seem a bit dimmer, and I am turning on the lights in my office in the late evening. I have spoken before about how I feel myself beginning to turn inward, but now that sense of taking stock is very present. I think our animal siblings making sure that they have enough food for the winter. I think this is an impulse we still have, even if we get our food at the grocery store, not from our own storehouses.

At our circle last month, we asked for a teaching for this time of year, to guide us in this process of turning inward. My spirits spoke to me about balance in different areas of life. I am still sitting with this teaching, looking at what feels like too much, and what feels like not enough. Balance isn't something we achieve, it's something we continue to find, and lose, and find again.

I took the picture below last week, as I was becoming more and more aware of the cooler air and shortening days. This rose stands at the side of my driveway, all by herself. She is almost 6 feet tall, well over my head. She reminds me that this is a season of transition, of balance, sitting between summer and winter. Here I am, she says to me. The flowers are still here. Don't hibernate yet!

I am grateful for the still-warm days, and for the cooler nights. I am grateful to put on a sweater and then take it off. Much gratitude to the changing seasons, which take us on a path of discovery.

We are all essential

I have been thinking about relationship, and the relationship we have with our environment. This leads me to think about the relationship we have with our spirits. As I get into the part of the year when I am teaching more of the healing methods, I am often asked why the spirits don't do the healing themselves--why is our effort necessary? We are essential to the equation, but how?

It should come as no surprise to us that humans have an impact on our environment. We see the impacts every year, as the environment changes in response to our actions. Just yesterday, we had (unexpected and unforecasted) catastrophic rains in the western part of Connecticut, with some areas receiving 15" of rain. And yet, even as we recognize the

impact that all of humanity has on our planet, many people feel helpless and hopeless, as they consider how miniscule their own individual impact can be.

When we work with the spirits, our own impact is far greater, because we work with their power. As someone's wise uncle once said, "with great power comes great responsibility." That can be the responsibility to act, and to bring healing; or the responsibility to honor our ethics and not to act, because the action we would take does not align with our principals of compassion and autonomy.

When I have asked my own helping spirits why humans practitioners are essential for healing, I have gotten multiple answers, each opening up new avenues of exploration. What is on my heart now is the idea of reciprocity--that there is something sacred in asking for help, and something sacred in offering it. The compassion required to help someone else mirrors the compassion of the spirits, and reflects how we grow in compassion when we deepen our own work with compassionate spirits.

I encourage all of you who know how to journey to explore this for yourself--why are we essential?

In relationship with weather

Well, it has been hot!

My body does not cope well with heat or humidity. When we have these heat waves, I find myself cooped up inside, often uncomfortable even in the air conditioning.

Also this month, I watched my friend and fellow faculty member Anthony's city on the news as it took a direct hit from an early hurricane (he is ok, I checked).

It can be easy for us to judge or be angry at weather when we have these intense events--events that are becoming more and more common. With this in mind, my circle worked this past month with weather, and asked to receive a teaching. We received similar messages, that we are not separate from weather, and that weather is inside us, is a part of us.

Animism, from which shamanism comes, teaches us about the interrelatedness of all things, and that everything that is is alive. When we become angry at the world, this becomes reflected in our relationships with ourselves. It is important to see ourselves always as in relationship, and to acknowledge our impact on the greater systems of which we are a part. This comes from human action in many forms, including the spiritual.

I invite you to notice your relationships with the spirits in the world around you--all spirits, not only those you like, not only those with whom you are comfortable. We do ourselves a disservice when we push away parts of the environment, because in doing so, we disown a small part of ourselves.

As the days grow shorter and the nights grown longer, notice the turning inward, notice the return to focusing on relationship within you. When we nurture these relationships, we heal ourselves, and we heal the planet.