Autumn

SEPTEMBER 2026 -

As the Season turns and begins to whisper of dark times, we are reminded of many different gifts to come. We recently finished the Shamanism, Death & Life course, and felt again the joy of opening to what this dance brings us. Working with the Spirits can help us in any situation - to see more clearly, to feel more steady, to step more surely. During this course, we wrote many poems, and we share one with you here that came to Jonathan. We hope it will be nourishing as you wal…

OCTOBER 2025

Sometimes we are waiting to become

The world is turning

The trees somewhere between yellow and green

and our hearts reaching out to regain balance

The old is departing, the new is arriving

but right now we are here

in a moment of held breath

We cannot go back, nor race on too fast

We stand here, and do our best

to listen more deeply to what is growing

** SHAMANIC INSPIRATION:

At the turning points of the year, in the changing of the seasons, we are invited to pause and…

OCTOBER 2023 -

SEPTEMBER 2023 -

Here in the Harvest times, so much is given and on offer. Life is abundant and it is a wonderful time to glory in the gifts of nature.

But how do we see what we are offered? How easy is it to acknowledge it with an open heart? How much do we allow ourselves to receive what is given? Can we rejoice in the act of receiving, as a natural part of life? Can we allow ourselves to open more full to what is on offer now?

When we open and allow ourselves to receive, it can be easier…

AUGUST 2023 -

As we go through Life, it can be hard to keep up. So much is happening and it is not easy to take it all in and stay present. 

At this time of year - the beginning of the Harvest season - fruits ripen and offer themselves. This can also be true in life, and it is good to gather what has been given. This way we can more fully receive the goodness of what is already with us, and make sure it will sustain us for the future. 

Now is the time to remember. We can linger a while and op…

NOVEMBER 2022 -

Sometimes we need extra support to help us walk through Life. To help us keep going, help us find our way, to help us to heal and grow.

Where do we find this support, and how do we recognize and receive it when it comes?

A way to begin is to open to the Healing that is right here, right now, even though we may not be aware of it. Learning to come into contact with it can be both surprising and life changing.

Healing Spaces are waiting to hold us and gently guide us. Maybe …

OCTOBER 2022 -

As leaves let go and branches remain, a different view emerges. In its nakedness, Autumn brings an opportunity to see more clearly where we are. Here we can stand in an essential way, with our life as it is now.

The ideas and plans and hopes we might have for this day, or for tomorrow, can rest a while. In this time, nothing new needs to grow. Instead we can let that which is finished to fall away. And stand, like Trees, not reaching for anything, but letting leaves go and danci…

SEPTEMBER 2022 -

Walking through this time of year, there is much coming to fruition: berries, nuts, fruits, pumpkins, beans and corn. This is the end of a cycle that has been working deeply all year – and also a beginning, new seeds forming already now for the future.

In our lives too, certain aspects are ripening. Maybe a process or project we have been sowing, hoeing, watering and weeding, is now growing into maturity. It can be an important moment to mark.

How do we recognize it? How do w…

AUTUMN 2012 -

A golden Autumn day. In the Sun’s warmth, the frost on the oak leaves melts to mist in the crisp air. Change. Life is so full of the unexpected, the things we feel to be “good” seeking balance with what we feel to be “difficult.” The main work of the shaman is that of healer, yes, but healing in a bigger sense, of being the one who dances with the rhythms of life and finds ways to restore the balance.

The shaman is the one people turn to in times of change. So the shaman must als…

AUTUMN 2013 -

Today I woke up thinking about Time. I always start thinking about Time in the Autumn as the days grow shorter. Time - there is never enough for everything. But is that true? Busying this morning I heard myself thinking: “I’ve got to catch my breath.” Catch my breath! Sitting down, I felt my breath – breathing in – breathing out.

There is time for everything, I thought, starting with time to stop. How easy it is to blame other things, like “no time.” But there are no “other thin…