2. The Dark Half of the Year

At the Autumn Equinox, the energy is in balance. But this is only for a moment. Our hemisphere of the Earth is continuing to tilt away from the Sun all season long. As it does, the days continue to get shorter.

The Autumn Equinox is the moment when the energy shifts from more daylight to more darkness. This is where we move from the light half into the dark half of the Wheel of the Year.

With this increasing darkness, the seasonal energy makes a significant shift inward.

As we move into Autumn we’ll begin to see more & more signs of nature drawing it’s energy more deeply inward. The trees draw their sap down into the roots & prepare to release their leaves; plants draw their energy down into the Earth, as the stalks above die away; animals prepare for their winter hibernation. Everything is drawing inward.

As the days get colder & the nights get darker, we humans are also drawing inward – we spend more time inside. Gone are the long evenings spent outside, lingering in the lengthy daylight.

This month the seasonal energy is supporting you, helping you to draw back into yourself & focus your attention inward.

3. A Time for Introspection

SOUL SELVES

This month we turn our focus inward. It’s a time to reflect on what our Soul Selves need to feel balanced & aligned; to look at the ways we’ve grown over this growing season; what we’re harvesting from our spring & summer efforts, and what we’re ready to let go.

Since the beginning of the year you have been growing. Whether you realize it or not, the seasonal energy has been at work in your life & there are ways you have been stretching & growing all throughout early winter, spring & summer.

Think back to Imbolc (Feb. 1; Aug. 1 in the southern hemisphere) – a time when new life begins buzzing deep underground. When the very first seeds of new life begin to awaken within us & in nature. What was happening in your life then? What were you dreaming about?

GROWTH

It’s incredibly meaningful work right now to spend time exploring how you’ve grown since the beginning of this growing season. What experiences have you had? How have they shaped you? Pushed you? What are you harvesting from all your work this year.

Because Autumn is harvest season. This is the time to celebrate everything the Earth brought you this growing season: all the amazing fresh fruits & veggies, all the fun (and even not-so-fun) experiences you had, and all the things you’ve grown because of them.

This is the time when we gather our harvests in preparation for the cold, barren winter months ahead. And the way we do that in our personal growth work, is through introspection & meaningful reflection. This is important self-care this season. It’s important to create time & space in your life for things like journaling, meditating. This will help you uncover ways you’ve grown that you might not even see yet.

experiences

Begin by reflecting on all the experiences you’ve had over the past season. In Summer your work is to soak up as much Sun & Summer fire energy as you can – your Summer adventures & experiences are fuel for the cold months ahead. What were your favorite Summer adventures this year? What experiences are you most grateful for?

And also: what experiences really challenged you? Where did you struggle? Can you uncover what these things taught you? How you’ve changed? In what ways have you had to stretch & grow because of them?

All of your Summer experiences – even the challenging ones, even the ones that feel negative – were here to teach you. They were here to give you deeper clarity. Can you find gratitude for all your experiences this Summer – the good and the bad?

Cultivating deep gratitude for your Summer experiences creates rich soil for your Winter dreams to take root.

Reflecting on the ways you’ve grown over the past many months helps you recognize the things you’ve outgrown. Identifying the things that no longer serve you, helps you begin the important autumn work of letting go.

4. Letting Go

A significant part of Mabon & the Autumn Equinox is allowing yourself to let go. In order for the trees & the plants to continue to grow & evolve, this is the season when they must let go. For the trees, this means dropping old leaves, so next spring it can sprout new leaves – new life, new growth.

We must also do this work in our lives, in order to continue to expand & grow. Autumn is the season for looking inward & doing the work of releasing old stories, false limiting beliefs you’ve held, things that no longer serve you – things that are hindering your personal growth & evolution. This is the season when we take a hard look at these things, so we can finally whack them down & cut them out of our lives.

In the coming season you have the opportunity to finally let go of old patterns, destructive habits, limiting beliefs that are holding you back. Just like the Autumn leaves, you’re preparing to release those things that no longer serve you.

This is the season for chopping down old ways of being so they can be composted, and new growth can take its place next Spring.

This month you’re laying the groundwork for a huge shift in the weeks & months ahead. You will not leave Autumn the same person you are going into it. Expect transformational!

THINGS TO FOCUS ON during mabon:

• Restore balance where you need it.
  Examine balance in your life. Where do things currently feel out of balance? Are there routines that were neglected over summer? What can you do to return balance to these parts of your life?
• Create time for introspection.
  All energy is shifting inward this month. Part of restoring balance to your life is shifting your focus to your inner world, after summer’s months of outward-focused energy. Set time aside for personal work & inner exploration – this is important self-care this season.
• Cultivate gratitude for your summer experiences.
  In summer your work is to soak in as much sun & summer adventuring as you can. These experiences are fuel for the cold months ahead. They’re here to teach you, to give you clarity. Expressing gratitude for these experiences will help you learn & grow.
• Reflect on what you’ve learned & how you’ve grown over summer.
  All your summer experiences, even the negative ones, were here to help you learn, and stretch yourself, and grow. Ask yourself: what lessons did I learn over summer? How did I grow from my experiences? What did I learn from my summer harvests? This work helps you grow stronger & begin to recognize what you’ve outgrown & need to release from your life.