The Summer Wanes as Fall Arrives
We are into the final weeks of summer........and can see it too. Some of the trees out by me are releasing leaves, and I've even seen a few small splashes of color on others. The seasons are definitely in transition mode.
With the Fall equinox, we have a time of balance. It is the point where daylight and darkness are equal, but the darkness overtakes the daytime, and for the next six months, will "rule" the calendar.
The earth is heading towards her rest, the soil cannot yield anything more that is productive. She must rest, replenish. What crops are still in the ground will be her final gifts to us when they are harvested in a month's time. Meanwhile, various trees and bushes put forth a blaze of color that takes our collective breath away, a poignant reminder that they will soon be bare and sleeping themselves.
Surprisingly though, it is still a time of celebration, for the second harvest is gathered, early squashes, grapes, more corn, nuts, and apples. the cattle that have been pasturing all summer are brought back to the farms and evaluated, as are those that stay on the farm. Chicken eggs are gathered and enjoyed either on their own or in recipes calling for them, for after the equinox, without artificial sunlight, they will stop laying until Spring. The last of the summer vegetables, like tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and zucchini are brought in with some them getting canned/preserved for enjoyment during the winter.
This is truly a time for transition, the end of summer fancies, and the beginning of winter preparations. This transition is more than physical though, it is also mental, spiritual and emotional too.
For this, we look to the rune EIHWAZ. It is the rune of the yew tree. Eihwaz has it's parallels with Yggdrasil, the world tree in the Heathen Cosmos. A yew is also know as a needle-ash, and Yggdrasil is understood to be an ash tree. It is long lived, with some species believed to be nearly 4,000 years old, and grows in a unique way, it grows trunks from within the original root bole.
Because the entire tree, except for the fleshy part of the seed, is poisonous, even to just be handled or worked with, it has strong associations with death. Ironically, the bark contains taxol, which in recent studies has shown to be effective against certain types of cancers, and the wood is strong yet, flexible, and so was the preferred wood for the English longbow. Death, to life, and life, to death.....balance.
It was also thought to have been planted in cemeteries, but as it was common for the Christian church to take over and build on once sacred Pagan and Heathen groves, it stands more to reason that the trees were there long before the buildings and just left in place, well, that and the fact that the yew has associations with the Otherworld. Ironic isn't it, that the yew is in the evergreen family, and yet has associations with death. So while we have continuity on one level, there are endings and release on another.
Eihwaz is the needed transition that we must face, and cannot change. It calls upon us to keep ourselves rooted and grounded, but still encourages and asks us to climb up its trunk and into the crown so that we can scan the horizon. This allows us to get a wider perspective, to understand that while change cannot be stopped, as long as we know where our center is, we can adapt. Eihwaz is a force of survival and protection which spurs us to take action. It reminds us of the bigger reasons of why we do what we do everyday. It calls us to understand that releasing is healthy, even vital to our survival, for it allows us to clear out the old and open out space for the new to come in.
So on the days you may not always feel motivated, let Eihwaz help you remember the big picture.
With the Fall equinox, we have a time of balance. It is the point where daylight and darkness are equal, but the darkness overtakes the daytime, and for the next six months, will "rule" the calendar.
The earth is heading towards her rest, the soil cannot yield anything more that is productive. She must rest, replenish. What crops are still in the ground will be her final gifts to us when they are harvested in a month's time. Meanwhile, various trees and bushes put forth a blaze of color that takes our collective breath away, a poignant reminder that they will soon be bare and sleeping themselves.
Surprisingly though, it is still a time of celebration, for the second harvest is gathered, early squashes, grapes, more corn, nuts, and apples. the cattle that have been pasturing all summer are brought back to the farms and evaluated, as are those that stay on the farm. Chicken eggs are gathered and enjoyed either on their own or in recipes calling for them, for after the equinox, without artificial sunlight, they will stop laying until Spring. The last of the summer vegetables, like tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and zucchini are brought in with some them getting canned/preserved for enjoyment during the winter.
This is truly a time for transition, the end of summer fancies, and the beginning of winter preparations. This transition is more than physical though, it is also mental, spiritual and emotional too.
For this, we look to the rune EIHWAZ. It is the rune of the yew tree. Eihwaz has it's parallels with Yggdrasil, the world tree in the Heathen Cosmos. A yew is also know as a needle-ash, and Yggdrasil is understood to be an ash tree. It is long lived, with some species believed to be nearly 4,000 years old, and grows in a unique way, it grows trunks from within the original root bole.
Because the entire tree, except for the fleshy part of the seed, is poisonous, even to just be handled or worked with, it has strong associations with death. Ironically, the bark contains taxol, which in recent studies has shown to be effective against certain types of cancers, and the wood is strong yet, flexible, and so was the preferred wood for the English longbow. Death, to life, and life, to death.....balance.
It was also thought to have been planted in cemeteries, but as it was common for the Christian church to take over and build on once sacred Pagan and Heathen groves, it stands more to reason that the trees were there long before the buildings and just left in place, well, that and the fact that the yew has associations with the Otherworld. Ironic isn't it, that the yew is in the evergreen family, and yet has associations with death. So while we have continuity on one level, there are endings and release on another.
Eihwaz is the needed transition that we must face, and cannot change. It calls upon us to keep ourselves rooted and grounded, but still encourages and asks us to climb up its trunk and into the crown so that we can scan the horizon. This allows us to get a wider perspective, to understand that while change cannot be stopped, as long as we know where our center is, we can adapt. Eihwaz is a force of survival and protection which spurs us to take action. It reminds us of the bigger reasons of why we do what we do everyday. It calls us to understand that releasing is healthy, even vital to our survival, for it allows us to clear out the old and open out space for the new to come in.
So on the days you may not always feel motivated, let Eihwaz help you remember the big picture.
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