Dear Ones,

Welcome! Can you feel it?

The potent magic of Autumn in the air. The tips of the trees are beginning to turn various shades of amber and crimson. There's a sense the Earth, the Great Mother, is holding her breath before her exhale, plunging into the dark depths of winter.  

Autumn is the harvest season. A time of thanksgiving. A time to come together, to gather those closest to you to share in the harvest, celebrate another productive season, and enjoy one another's company and the fruits of your labor. While we don't know exactly how our ancestors might have honored the Autumn Equinox, this stillpoint of light and dark, it most certainly would have been an important moment in the cycles of nature.

As we rebuild our relationship with Earth's rhythms, this turn on the Wheel of the Year invites us to spiral inward and root down, remembering our roots and re-weaving those threads that still connect us with to those who came before, whose bones and blood are of the earth, that same earth that calls us home. We’re invited to gather together and commune with our own subtle & energetic bodies as well as those of our ancestors, our guides, and the Earth herself.

This invitation to root down deep into the Earth is an ancient calling, one which still sings through our bones and our blood. Often it feels as if we’re too disconnected from the land to hear it, but it’s still there, just as loud as it ever was. We simply need to practice hearing it. To re-member who we are and go deep within to hear those whispers between our bodies and the Earth.

Each meditation, prompt, recipe, and tidbit of history or lore in the Sanctuary is a little ritual unto itself. An invitation to slow down and savor the moment, our bodies, our hearts, and our minds.

“TCM encourages us to understand the seasons as a continuum of shifting energy, and ourselves as a living part of these seasonal experiences.” - Estuary Herbs

Here’s a little roadmap for our elemental and energetic explorations over the next few months as we delve into some Autumnal magic and medicine…

First, we’ll discover the energetics of late Summer/early Autumn, the realm of the Earth element and its organ energetics, the Spleen and Stomach. This is a time of transition between the Fire of Summer and the Metal of Autumn. It is a potent in-between time with profound medicine to be gathered within. There will be prompts, recipes, and embodied meditations to come deeper into contact with what all of that feels like in your body and how to harmonize your inner elements with those of the Earth.

As we deepen into Autumn, we’ll shift into the Metal element and the organs of the Lungs and Large Intestine. While the late Summer season embodies the energies of digestion and assimilation, true Autumn embodies those of discernment and release. This is a time of shedding, clearing, and preparing for the deep regeneration that happens in Winter when you’ve cleared space to sink into your roots.

Throughout these months, you’ll gain a greater awareness of why these energetics and rhythms are vital in nourishing your body and spirit, and how it supports you in harnessing your potency, your gifts, and cultivates resilience.