Autumn: The Return
We have arrived at the threshold of Autumn.
The Summer, or Fire Phase, that brought Nature into full flower has completed its work. On July 28th, exactly 36½ days after the Summer Solstice, we crossed the threshold into the Autumn, or Metal Phase. This marks the midpoint between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox and the beginning of the harvest season, a time long celebrated with the festival of Lughnasa.
Over the coming weeks, you'll notice the light becoming softer, the days slowly growing shorter, and the first hints of autumn appearing in the landscape. Gardens begin producing seeds. Fruits ripen. Trees slowly draw their energy inward.
We have crossed the threshold into the Autumn/Metal Phase of the yearly cycle.
Since the Summer Solstice, the hours of sunlight have been gradually declining. Yang has begun its slow descent while yin steadily grows. Throughout Nature, life responds to this changing movement. Plants set seed. Trees draw their energy inward. Animals prepare for the colder months. Human beings harvest, preserve, reflect, and gather the richness of summer into memory. Every living being participates in this rhythm.
The movement of the Metal Phase is the return. The expansive energy of summer is transformed from the outward expression of blossoms into the inward expression of the seed. In Nature, we see this as plants setting seed. The life force that only weeks ago was expressed through flowers and abundant growth is gathered into a tiny vessel that will carry it safely through winter until the conditions for new life return.
As the outward energy of summer continues its inward movement, we naturally become aware of what is passing. We feel the shortening days, the end of vacations, children returning to school, gardens fading, and another season of life coming to completion. The emotion that accompanies this movement is grief.
Grief is the natural response to letting go. It arises because something has mattered. It is the emotional expression of the Metal Phase, just as setting seed is Nature's physical expression of the same movement.
When we allow ourselves to feel that movement rather than resist it, the experiences of our lives become something we carry within us and give our lives meaning. Like seeds held safely through the winter, they sustain us until the cycle begins again.
The Metal Phase also brings discernment.
Just as the harvest separates the wheat from the chaff, this season naturally draws our attention to what is worth carrying forward and what has completed its purpose. We may find ourselves reevaluating commitments, relationships, possessions, or the ways we spend our time and energy. The Autumn/Metal helps us clarify and prioritize what truly nourishes our lives and what no longer does.
The organs associated with the Metal Phase are the Lung and Large Intestine. The Lung governs our ability to receive life through the breath. The Large Intestine governs our ability to release what is no longer needed. Together they embody the rhythm of taking in what nourishes us and letting go of what no longer does.
As Nature gathers and preserves its life force within the seed, we gather the experiences, relationships, and love that have nourished us and carry them within ourselves.
When we bring conscious awareness to the reality that we are Earth in human form, we can flow and flourish with the rhythms of the seasons.
