Lest you think it is all gently flickering beeswax candles and magical Spotify playlists over here at my house, let me share with you a few details about last Tuesday night.
As I was popping into my mom’s living room for a quick chat (her house is connected to our house), I heard a blood-curdling scream from the kitchen overhead that immediately started my heart racing. I waited a moment to try to assess the seriousness of the situation (my mind went to stove burns and cooking knife injuries) then I decided I needed to find out what was happening. I only had to reach the bottom of the staircase to hear enough to figure out that what sounded like a tragic emergency was….my teenage children fighting over a TURKEY MEATBALL. Don’t even ask why, it still doesn’t make any sense.
I returned to the living room and told my mom what was happening and I swear I saw her nod knowingly at the little stuffed monkey that she keeps perched on the back of her couch. That monkey is there as a coping mechanism for living in such close quarters with us. She uses it to remind herself when things get crazy, “that is not my monkey”. Then she wisely goes about her life without getting caught up in the drama as I often do. (Someday soon I’ll fill you in more on how I live in a home of manifesting generators representing every elemental configuration of the zodiac- oh boy!).
And now, on to the irony. Remember last week when I shared about how my back used to go out every fall but I figured out how to stop that from happening? Well… guess what doesn’t help? If you said blood-curdling screams over turkey meatballs, you guessed right! My back has been twinge-y all week. Ugh.
BUT, the good news is that our lessons are rarely linear. They are usually more like spirals, with each dive into the lesson spiraling deeper into what we need to learn about ourselves. So I’m not freaking out about my back like I used to. And I am using it to be curious about what is really happening for me right now. Not TO me, but FOR me.
What this looked like for me was one part deep self-care and one part deep trust that the universe would have my back (literally) to help me through this week. I spent a good part of Friday night in the tub with Epsom salts and lavender essential oil, listening to a beautiful restorative yoga playlist that Anjali recommended in her recent new moon class. (You can find that playlist on Spotify, it’s called Radically Restorative with Alex Bauermeister.) This helped bring me back to myself and relaxed my tight back muscles considerably.
On Saturday, I declared myself unavailable for anything except rest. I wasn’t actually sure this would work out well but this is the part where I trusted the universe would find other people to take care of whatever needed doing and... it worked. This may sound impossible to you but it is actually part of a deeper practice that I have been playing with for several years now. I’ll be teaching about this in an upcoming course I am designing and I’m excited to share more about it with you soon. For now, I encourage you to experiment with deciding you are not available for something and try trusting that everything will be fine.
After a full day of rest, I started feeling more like myself again and I was able to tune more deeply into the magic of these autumn days.
Today we move (gently) into the second week of our 40 Days of Autumn Magic journey. This is often when we can really feel the tension between the natural call to slow down and the pressure in our modern lives to keep pushing forward.
The Extra Boost of Magic behind Days 8-14 of the Guide- Spiral Deeper with Us
Let's dive into a few of the secrets behind the guide that will help you understand why Days 8-14 of our 40 Days of Autumn Magic are designed to align perfectly with the season and with the moon phases to give you an extra boost of magic as we journey through Autumn together.
If you are following along with the guide in 2020, the Autumn Equinox falls on Tuesday, September 22nd. Inside the guide, we talk about the meaning of the Autumn Equinox in the context of the Wheel of the Year. But since I wanted the guide to be able to be used for years to come, I left out some of the details about the phases of the moon and the astrological signs the moon is in during the 40 days of the guide in 2020.
But, rest assured, the guide was created with these very influences in mind. Read on, because here is where you can spiral deeper into the experience by understanding a little more about the cycles and influences of the moon and stars during Days 8-14 of the guide.
On Days 8 through 14 (September 29- October 5, 2020), the moon is reaching her peak with a full moon on October 1st. We are moving from the energy of taking action on our desires and intentions into the energy of connection, visibility, and release. Here is where the bright full moon shines her light onto what needs to be seen. This is a beautiful time to allow yourself to be visible and to see what might need to be released in your life to support your continued growth.
On Days 8 and 9, the moon is in the water sign of Pisces, a sign of SPIRITUALITY and COMPASSION. We are tuning into our connection to the mystical realm and working with the energy of water, which is the energy of emotion and creativity. A deeper inquiry on these days could be, what type of connection and visibility would feel most compassionate and kind to my heart right now?
On Days 10 and 11, the moon is full in the fire sign of Aries, a sign of LEADERSHIP. We are working with the fire energy of transformation during this full moon and it may shine a light on things that you’ve been avoiding seeing. This might be a confrontational time so keep your focus on your self-care. An opportunity for deeper inquiry here may be to ask yourself- what isn’t serving me that I can take a gentle step towards releasing or transforming right now?
On Days 12, 13, and 14 the moon is in the earth sign of Taurus, a sign of SENSUALITY and PRACTICALITY. We are feeling more grounded as we work with the energy of earth, and tune into more steadiness and patience. A deeper inquiry now could be, where can I be more patient with myself in my life right now as I take practical steps towards creating my desired future?
Remember that while the moon moves through the astrological signs every two and a half days, shifting the energy and influences, it is in a phase of connection, visibility, and release for these seven days of our journey as it builds towards and then releases away from the full moon. It is a beautiful time to be brave in our self-inquiry and to explore what it means to do that with deep compassion for and gentleness with ourselves.
Check back next week for a deeper dive into Days 15-21 of the guide as we continue to slow down and move towards the darker days of late autumn.