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.
