How do you bring yourself into alignment with the season?
Which season?
If you are in the northern hemisphere you will be in autumn right now, and approaching Halloween, Samhain, the festival of the dead, at the end of October. So here’s something for you.
If you are in the southern hemisphere you are in spring and approaching the festival of peak greening, which the Celts called Beltane.
Imagine this
It would seem strange if people in the northern hemisphere were obeying some commercial directive and decorating their houses with greenery in honour of new life at the end of October when their season is in late autumn.
Would you think it equally strange when people in the southern hemisphere obey a commercial directive to celebrate the festival of the dead right now when our season is in late spring and full of life?
Weather
I am a great fan of the weatherman Philip Duncan. He stands in front of a screen where cyclones and anticyclones, airflows and storms are depicted on the satellite map. He seems to understand the flow of the wind, the drops and rises in temperature and is adept at interpreting the elements.
But best of all he holds the big picture. He doesn’t get distracted by the current storm, the current low, or the current high. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand where we are in high spring, he describes a pattern of storms and lows, changeability from day to day and then reassures us by saying ‘this is classic spring weather.’
And so it is. Just as in the northern hemisphere drought and stability is classic autumn weather.
How to align with spring
In Aotearoa, how might you align with the true weather season and resist getting hijacked by the commercial Halloween?
First, make a choice to align with Te Ao Māori. There you will find cultural knowledge about what is happening in Aotearoa in Whiringa-ā-nuku. This whakataukī (proverb) captures the essence of the season:
Ka whakaniho ngā mea katoa o te whenua i konei
All things now put forth fresh growth
Second, gather in all that is happening around you, tune in to the season, and celebrate!
Some ideas for celebration
Tell stories of love and attraction: Hinemoa and Tutānekei, or the lovers and the shellfish (told in Dancing with the Seasons (pp.167-168)
Create an altar or shrine to the season, with mānuka, kowhai, tarata, tītoki or whatever is flowering in your area. Breathe in the sweetness of spring.
Anoint yourself and others with essential oils. In Te Ao Māori fragrant perfumes were traditionally made from tarata or tītoki flowers and used to impregnate moss that was worn around the neck. If you crush tarata (lemonwood) leaves in your hand you will smell the fresh scent. (see above).
Hold picnics outdoors; that’s the safest place to meet according to the latest information about virus transmission. Maintain a safe distance. Let the breeze blow between you.
If you want to party, make it a green celebration with a keynote of green food, green costumes and creative energy, full of growth.
Create a ritual
Hold a ritual where you tap into the movement of the sap, the growth in nature, the surge that will sustain you and move you forward.
If you are in lockdown, your imagination can still leap up and grow wings. Don’t go down the rabbit hole of the dead. Stay in the green grass of the living.
Light a candle. Put flowers in your hair.
Share what is seeking to grow in your life.
Share what is inspiring you in this season.
Share what creative intention you will offer to the buoyant flow of spring
When you align to the season of spring, your immune system perks up in response.
You move with a bounce in your step.
You feel hopeful.
You respond to new ideas, new ways of living.
You are resilient.
Seasons blessings,
Juliet
For guidance in aligning with the season you are in, my Seasons’ books are there to help you.
Dancing with the Seasons is a personal guide to the seasonal flow.
Celebrating the Southern Seasons is the classic resource book.
Sun, Moon, and Stars will give you inspiration for celebrating with your family or whānau.
I totally agree with what you are saying. Our spring growth here in Central Otago is brilliant and so much appreciated after a long cold but still beautiful winter. So sad that commercial pressure results in children and whanau celebrating Halloween at this time of year. As we front up to Covid it would feel so much better to be thinking about and celebrating growth and wellness. Thankyou Juliet.
Jenny 🌸
Yes, you are so right Jenny. Growth and wellness are especially what we need to focus on in this time of Covid. Spring is such a hopeful season, and we all need some hope right now. Thank you for your thoughts. Central Otago must be beautiful right now.
Thank you for this beautiful newsletter, I walk through out local cemetery every day on my way to the beach, it is just stunning, everything is waking up, the blossoms are coming out, so too the birds are doing their sexy thing 😄 a very busy time 😄 and the flowers are just everywhere, so so magical, love to start my day this way ♥️
How beautiful, a cemetery full of life! Thank you Debbie for this magical picture.
It was so refreshing to read this, Iv been a fan of your work since I was a babe, my mother passed down your books to me. It has really helped to guide me as an individual now that she’s gone, I love aligning with our seasons correctly and yes the commercial side does throw a dystopian like swing into things. I have created a garland of kowhai, to celebrate but also a reminder of growth. I would love to meet you one day and if you ever hold a workshop aligned with your book southern seasons please let me know. Thank you for holding this space for us all.
Keri-Mai, how lovely that my books were passed down to you by your mother! I love the image of a garland of kowhai. Thank you so much! If I ever hold a workshop you’ll hear about it through the Newsletter.
A beautiful reminder Juliet, thank you. I’ve been reading your Celebrating the Southern Seasons for inspiration. As someone who hails from the Northern hemisphere it has never felt ‘right’ to celebrate Christmas, a drawing in for the deepest, darkest part of winter, in the midst of summer. I now go with the inner wisdom and celebrate the winter solstice and midwinter. Of course, Christmas is still happening around us in December but it is quite liberating to make it one’s own rather than complying with commerce. Please keep writing! I always enjoy reading your thoughts.
Thank you so much Emma! I love hearing about your intuitive alignment with the southern seasons.
Thank you Juliet. Beltane has always been my favourite time of year. I love the greening of nature, the red of roses, and when you stand with your feet on the grass, you can feel the life in it! This year to honour the season, I’m taking part in NaNoWriMo and the challenge to write a whole novel manuscript in a month! So using the quickening of Spring to birth and nourish a growing manuscript.
I know that those in the Northern Hemisphere are partaking in the late Autumn/early Winter and will have their own reasons to enjoy writing, but for us here in the Southern Hemisphere, what a great way to encourage Spring into our lives, by offering up a bountiful batch of words to hopefully share with the world!
Yes, the life in the grass! How fantastic to use the spring energy to go for it with your writing. May the words flow. Thank you Penny.
Juliet, this is a beautiful letter to my heart. I love the provocation you start with, to wake up the mind to the absurdity of the commercial rhythm. For me it’s autumn and the changing colours of trees is stunning. We had a very wet summer but a glorious autumn. I will remember your spring ritual and will follow your suggestions when it comes our way. Love, Shelly
Shelly, how lovely to hear from someone in the northern hemisphere! A glorious autumn is always a special treat. I hope you spotted the link I put in there for you in the north? – it’s right at the beginning, and is about the alignment of Samhain and autumn.