Update to the blogger note which I wrote last night...fortunately it has been fixed!
"Dear blogger...it's really sad to have a whole program that lets us down, nobody is able to post comments anywhere suddenly on Friday morning, Sept. 4, 2026. I wonder how long before that will be fixed...or will it? Please, blog people, if there are any people still running any of it. Please make this work again!"
I'm sharing all of the following newsletter because I woke up this morning thinking of time as a spiral. And so was this author. There's really nothing new under the sun.
From the Earthaven Ecovillage newsletter published Sept. 1, 2026
Their beautiful photos didn't download as they were PNG files.
Juncture: A Fall Equinox Ritual
The essence of autumn’s approach lives in the arch of elderberry branches as they hang heavy with fruits. We can feel it coming as the quality of early-morning light becomes richer and deeper. The lushness here shifts to a dankness, and the momentary mission of the plant world begins to move from growth toward decay.
Sometimes the seasonal cycles are presented as a wheel that turns. It's a beautiful image, but without including the path upon which that wheel travels, or the space through which it spins, the metaphor is incomplete.
Natural cycles include an exquisite synergy of returning and revival, repetition and novelty.
The wheel turns: summer follows spring, autumn after that. And at the same time, each moment is new territory, a returning to something familiar but with new eyes and more mature comprehension.
[The author likes] to think of time not as a bullet-train speeding ever forward (as modern life might suggest), or a perpetually spinning circle, but rather as a spiral. Each revolution brings us back to touchpoints that are familiar, giving us a chance to notice what about us and the world around us has changed and grown.
The solstices and equinoxes are moments in time that align with the repeating rhythm of relationship between Earth and Sun.
These ecological points of contact have been honored and celebrated by nearly every human culture from every corner of the earth, for thousands of years. Some say, and I agree, that they reflect key moments in the cycles of each breath, each day, and our whole lives.
We can all honor these touchpoints in the spiral of time with rituals, even if we didn’t grow up doing that, or don’t think we know how.
In the words of beloved Earthaven ancestor, Kaitlin, Priestess of Cycles, “Ritual is a human need. The more conscious we are with ritual and ceremony in our lives, the more grounded our lives become. Ritual is part of everyday life. Consciously ritualizing transitions and cycles can support us to be fully present and embodied in this world.”
How do you feel moved to ritualize the upcoming equinox and the changing of the season? Maybe something as simple as lighting a candle when the sun sets and greeting the coming darkness. Perhaps something more collective, like gathering friends around a fire to sing and share words of gratitude for what has grown and come to fruition in these past few months.
As the fruits ripen, the creatures build warm nests, and the fertile dreaming night grows to envelope more of our days, may you know peace and wellbeing.
of summer,
Rachel Fee, Member of Earthaven Ecovillage & Marketing Manager for SOIL
Chloe Leiberman, Co-facilitator of The Re-membering Retreat
Re-membering Retreat co-facilitator Chloe Lieberman will be leading an online ritual to mark the coming autumn on September 17 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
If you feel called, join us for Juncture: A Fall Equinox Ritual. She will guide a simple process of grounding and reflection, and invite your heart and voice into the circle to honor where you’re at on the spiraling path.
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Earthaven Ecovillage is located near Black Mountain NC. I have visited several times, and some good friends live in this intentional community in their Earth Ship style home.
I hope things don’t spiral out of control. 😄
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend.
Some wise woman suggested spirals a not only a good metaphor for our lives, but that they weren't just 2 dimensional, as are our lives, but a three dimensional image of our changes. I like sharing that to move beyond what we just can walk upon, but now might swim deep into, or perhaps fly a bit.
Delete...it's fixed and I;m try to catch up. Alan Ostmann's image is a work of art!
ReplyDeleteI'll never catch up. But I clicked the button, "notify me" in my attempts to enter a comment yesterday on at least one blog - so I'm getting some interesting comments that were posted to another blogger. That's more than I need.
DeleteI don't think I'm a ritual person. Not in the sense of doing anything to honor the changing seasons or, in fact, anything of that manner. I don't think I got the gene. I suppose my rituals are more related to the garden. The ritual of planting certain things at certain times. Also, the much smaller, regular rituals of how I go about my days. Not the same, I realize.
ReplyDeleteI don't like empty rituals...like so many churches seem to have. There may be comfort for some in repetition. For me I like having my whole array of senses given something pleasing in a ritual...sometimes like sitting around a campfire might do...focusing attention but still not demanding.
DeleteIt was your post that informed me the problem was not on my end! I wondered if I violated something.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope we have fall this year. I don't think I am a ritual person. I think I do like traditions. In my mind a tradition is something we enjoy doing every year. A ritual seems more like something we have to do whether we like it or not.
I spent an hour assuming it was my problem. But then noticed nobody else's blogs had comments either. So glad it's fixed now. You're right, traditions and rituals are assumed to have those meanings...but when I want to make a new ritual to share, then it's certainly not mandatory. Come to think of it, mandatory sounds darn patricarchal!
DeleteHello Barb,
ReplyDeleteI am happy to be able to comment again. I love the image and this post. Have a happy weekend.
Now I need to go post to you Critters site...I have been running around a bit today!!
Deletelooks like commenting has been sorted
ReplyDeleteI found out quickly how much my friend bloggers are part of my daily routine! Just reading about them reminds me of FB but without any likes or angry emoticons.
Delete