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Seasonal Writing
Essays and reflections for living in relationship with the natural world.
A growing collection of writing on the Five Elements, folklore, mythology, astrology, and the changing seasons, tracing conversations between nature, psyche, culture, and the ways we live.
Farewelling Winter
As we enter the final weeks of Winter’s Yin cycle, we reflect on the intense inner work and transformation that has shaped our hearts and minds. This period of introspection prepares us for the potential and renewal that Spring brings, allowing us to open fully to the new season's energy.
Exploring the Watery Depths
The Water Element symbolizes both calm and abysmal depths, guiding us inward during Winter's introspective cycle. Through metaphors like Alice's fall down the rabbit hole, we learn to embrace the uncertainty of self-discovery and find clarity in the depths of our own being.
Celebrating Imbolc
Imbolc represents the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It is the stirring and awakening of the energy of the Yin deep cycles of Winter and Autumn when the dark hag, the Cailleach, shapeshifts into Brigid the Maiden.
The Water Element
Water serves as the center of life, bridging life and death, balancing extremes in nature, and guiding us to humility during Winter. Its slow, steady presence helps us reflect, align with purpose, and embrace the calm sea of balance and wisdom as we navigate life's challenges.
Finding True Stillness
Within the Yin energy of Winter lies access to profound stillness and openness. Like a lake reflecting the clouds, this season invites us to embrace quiet and clarity, creating the space for new potentials that will emerge in Spring.
Embracing Obstacles as Growth
When hardship, obstacle or defeat make us small it can feel like the very winter of things. This is a Water Element message of optimism without judgment, and the silver lining we have yet to see. On the pathway of the seasons and the Taoist way we discover; it is all good.
Embracing the Water Element
Winter’s wisdom in the Water Element invites us to live without boundaries, embracing the unknown and travelling light. This season teaches us to let go of the past and open to new possibilities with the freedom of a wanderer, discovering growth in discomfort and adapting to what lies ahead
Introducing the Water Element
Of all the Five Elements, Water is the hardest to truly know. Governing the kidney and bladder channels in the back of the body, Water holds a mystical depth that can’t be fully grasped, urging us to surrender, trust, and embrace its transformative flow
Autumn's Lessons
Autumn teaches us to embrace the lessons of loss, death, and divorce as we prepare for winter’s rest. Through Taoist principles and the Metal Element, this article explores how grief leads to deeper self-awareness and renewal, making way for spring’s new beginnings.
Embracing Late Autumn
Embrace late autumn’s nourishing energy as we near the winter transition, reflecting on what sustains us spiritually and physically. Align with the seasonal wisdom to release old patterns, nurture what brings meaning, and prepare for winter’s deeper introspection
The Seasonal Journey
Consider the Five Element Theory as a spiralling path—a ladder to the stars and a journey through life's layered cycles. Far from a single-dimensional wheel, this journey reflects an unfolding labyrinth, guiding us through experiences that elevate us on our uniquely evolving path.
Samhain & the Five Element Theory
The energies of Samhain invite a descent into the Yin half of the year, marking the transition from Autumn to Winter. This period encourages us to reflect on endings, loss, and dissolution, reminding us that everything begins and ends in the darkness of nature’s cycles.
An axe in the forest
The eclipse portals are powerful gateways, like cosmic slingshots, calling us back to the core of our original sincerity. Through the Metal Element’s energy, we find moments of return and introspection, shaping our intentions and commitments for a brighter, more aligned future.
The Metal Element & the Eclipse Cycle.
The status quo of our lives, shaken from the inside out feels the thunderous shift on the horizon as Autumn's quest for purity rings throughout the valley of the eclipse portal asking us to reflect on how we got here, and where we will go next.
Embracing Change in the Autumn Phase
Life among the distilling currents of Autumn calls us to harvest, purify, and refine through the Metal Element. This season offers us an invitation to let go, embrace change, and uplift each other as we look ahead to a new cycle of spiritual growth and strength.
Harnessing the Power of the Metal Element
The Metal Element in autumn promotes self-examination and personal evolution, urging us to reflect on internal and global imbalances. As the season changes, Metal’s clearing energy reveals truth and brings courage, enabling us to move forward with clarity and purpose.
Harvest
The Earth element reminds us to recognize how far we’ve come and to honor the feeling of completion. In late summer, we celebrate the harvest of our experiences and growth, expressing gratitude for the abundance around us.
Late Summer & The Earth Element
Late summer’s Earth Element invites us to reflect on the fullness and completion of the season. It teaches us about balanced nourishment and self-care, turning cravings into meaningful growth. As we embrace the lessons of this cycle, we pause to appreciate how far we’ve come.
Year of the Water Rabbit
It's a year of peace, stability, and diplomacy, ideal for resolving disputes, finding common ground, and making strategic investments. But it’s also a year of quick shifts, hypervigilance, endings, and exciting new beginnings
Rabbit to Tiger
The imperial Tiger promised a year of courage, adventure, action, and of a patient hunter with a keen eye on the prize. Something it delivered in spades, just not quite the way we imagined.