Dear friend,
Thank you to all of you who responded to my question in the previous issue. It is great to know that this Newsletter is getting read and appreciated. You’ve helped me complete my harvest.
And thank you to everyone who is reading this. I hope you enjoy this Samhain issue.
Although the weather is still very mild, the nights are drawing in and the autumn colours are more intense. The Earth is getting ready for winter, gathering the Summer’s growth to herself and keeping its riches for the growing season to come.
As the famous yin-yang symbol shows so clearly: everything contains and is contained by its opposite. The dying leaves of autumn are food for the new growth of spring. And everything that is fresh and new carries within it the beginning of death and decay.
Today’s meditation will take you deep into the darkness, beyond the veil, to find what seed of light is held within.
I would also like to introduce you to one of my most constant teachers. Oriah Mountain Dreamer and I have never actually met, but her books and her Facebook updates keep drawing me back and inspiring me. I hope she will do the same for you.
And for this season of darkness mixed with astonishing colour, I would encourage you to celebrate the humorously spooky side as well. Dress up as your most evil witchy self. Carve a pumpkin. Be spooked by the children who come trick-or-treating at your door. Balance the seriousness of this time with play and laughter.
Blessings of the Ancestors to you and yours,
Hilde
## In this issue
– Deep in the darkness – a meditation
– Oriah Mountain Dreamer – a source of inspiration
– Ways to help Westacre and win a Tarot reading
## Deep in the darkness – a meditation
This is the time of year when everything invites us to look at the darker side of life. Plant life is dying. The darkness grows. Soon, frost will edge the fallen leaves, precipitating the decay of all that once was green.
As we align our life with the cycles of Nature, it is good for us to look at our own darkness, at the parts of our lives that caused tears, at the parts of ourselves that compound suffering when it comes our way, at the circumstances that hurt.
The purpose is not to hold on to these things, but to truly feel them and let them go, like an autumn leaf on the wind. But autumn leaves are not just discarded. They are transformed into rich nutrition for what will grow next year.
Go to your usual place of meditation. Even when the frost does come, I prefer to work outside, wrapping myself in layers and my warmest coat. Choose a place where you can be comfortable and undisturbed for some time.
Sit down and take a few deep breaths. Let your body relax with each breath, letting your consciousness descend towards the Earth.
Let your roots and your mind touch the nearest tree, or a tree you know well. Let yourself feel the fallen leaves all around. Allow yourself to just be aware of the tree’s process of letting go of the year’s growth.
Call on your strength to be with you. It doesn’t matter how you experience this. You could simply feel your own life force hum within you more clearly. Or you might feel the tree you are with extend its protective aura around you. Or perhaps an animal or another spirit will show itself to your mind’s eye. Just let your strength be what it is.
When you feel settled, bring to mind something that has been difficult for you this year. It could be an illness, a loss, a relationship of any kind. Just hold it lightly in your mind.
Centred with your own strength, allow yourself to feel. Allow any feelings that surround this patch of darkness in your life to arise. Don’t judge it. Don’t hold on to it. Just sit with it. Be aware of how you feel. Allow the feeling to move through you any way it likes. If things get hard, call on your strength for support.
You will notice that, as you practice, these feelings slowly dissipate. They may wash through you and into the Earth. Or they may be borne away in the wind. Just notice what happens. Stay with the process as long as it is meaningful to you.
When all the feelings have passed, you are left with just the issue you are working with. Let your mind’s eye see it, right in front of you. Don’t force anything to appear. Just let the first image or impression come and stay with that.
As you watch, the image resolves or transforms into a luminous gem. This is the essential part of the issue that can feed you and teach you. Allow all other impressions to gently fall away, like leaves in Autumn.
Reach for the luminous gem. Just hold it in your hand for a while. There is no need to try and work out exactly what it is. The forest plants have no need to know the name of the nutrients that feed them. Just allow it to be its luminous self.
What would you like to do with this gem of inspiration? Will you absorb its light? Take it away with you in your pocket? Leave it by the tree, to find again another time? It is your choice.
When you are ready, give thanks for the teaching and the protection you have received. Let the images fade and return to your place of meditation.
Make yourself a cup of tea and a snack. Write down what you have experienced. And trust that the luminous teaching of your life’s experience will feed you for years to come.
## Oriah Mountain Dreamer – an inspiration
Twenty Years ago, a woman wrote a poem that went on the inspire many people. And as the Internet expanded, Oriah’s The Invitation was shared across the world.
The poem is a wonderful invocation of a life lived with intense awareness of ourselves and each other. Oriah went on to write three small books that are full of personal stories of her own faltering attempts at living that very Invitation.
You will find a lot of parallels between Oriah’s writing and my own. She has been a constant inspiration to me ever since I first read her books. We will both speak of acceptance and letting go of efforts to improve ourselves. And both of us speak of the beauty of life in its everyday extraordinariness. Only, of course, she says it so much more beautifully than I ever could.
You can find The Invitation poem, a link to Oriah’s blog, and an explanation of her rather New-Agey sounding name on http://www.oriah.org/
## Help Westacre spread its story
The Westacre Facebook page has been languishing at about 96 ‘likes’ for a very long time. It gives you daily updates on the Westacre Project, blog posts from the Project Blog and my own weekly writings, and since recently a cute animal of the day – my attempt to make up for a lack of cats in her life.
I will give away a free Tarot reading to the 100th person to ‘like’ the page. Depending on your location and preference, this can come to you in person, over Skype, or via e-mail.
http://www.facebook.com/Westacreproject
If you want to find out more, our contact details and our presence on social media can be found here:
http://www.westacre.org.uk/contact