autumnal equinox

Wisdom

Posted on by Erin Touponse

Wisdom is found in the deep & dark places.

It does not lie in a comfortable bed. It does not line the easy path. It sits within the folds of unraveling. It can be found beneath fear & shame. It lies at the bottom of pain & suffering.

Wisdom is a hard fought comfort that comes when we are stripped bare and brought naked & prostrate to our truth.

To be reborn we must search out the wisdom that hides within us. Do not be afraid of the hard road- this is the task of our living- to uncover our truth and find the essence of our being.

Embrace all of yourself today and know the journey ahead is a sacred one.

Mabon blessings

Posted on by Erin Touponse

9/22/22- Mabon- September Equinox- The Autumnal Equinox (also called Mabon) is a harvest festival celebrating balance, the natural cycles of death and transition, and gathering the rewards of what we have sown during the year. It is a time when night and day stand in equal duration and in perfect equilibrium- dark and light, masculine and feminine, inner and outer- all in balance and in peace. Mabon stands on the very cusp of transition; so from today on, the year edges towards completion as the darkness defeats the light. The cycle of the natural world begins to come to an end and we are called upon to release what has passed with gratitude and acceptance.

This harvest includes giving thanks for the lessons that we have learned over the past year. Mabon’s symbolic call to thoughts of balance allow us to take the space we need to ponder what should be released over this next quarter as the leaves slowly fall from their branches and the touch of winter’s cold fingers grip the landscape.

Change is inevitable; find your own space to acknowledge and accept that which is no longer. Give thanks for all the blessings and lessons learned from the year and find joy in the cycle of nature that reminds of us our own divine natural experience and inevitable passing. Remember that life remains in this moment; what has passed is but an echo and the future is not guaranteed- embrace the present for peace and stability; hope and constancy.

Today, take time to meditate on the balance between light and shadow that lingers within you. Write a list of all that you are grateful for in your life now and that which you wish to release as the Wheel of Life turns towards endings and darkness. Remember that all things are impermanent and this impermanence gives way to freedom and change. Breath deeply and accept what has passed, what is passing and what will soon become.

Art by Irkallan

On Mabon- the Autumnal Equinox

Posted on by Erin Touponse

The Autumnal Equinox (also called Mabon) is a harvest festival celebrating balance, the natural cycles of death and transition, and gathering the rewards of what we have sown during the year. It is a time when night and day stand in equal duration and in perfect equilibrium- dark and light, masculine and feminine, inner and outer- all in balance and in peace. Mabon stands on the very cusp of transition; so from today on, the year edges towards completion as the darkness defeats the light. The cycle of the natural world begins to come to an end and we are called upon to release what has passed with gratitude and acceptance.

This harvest includes giving thanks for the lessons that we have learned over the past year. Mabon’s symbolic call to thoughts of balance allow us to take the space we need to ponder what should be released over this next quarter as the leaves slowly fall from their branches and the touch of winter’s cold fingers grip the landscape.

Change is inevitable; find your own space to acknowledge and accept that which is no longer. Give thanks for all the blessings and lessons learned from the year and find joy in the cycle of nature that reminds of us our own divine natural experience and inevitable passing. Remember that life remains in this moment; what has passed is but an echo and the future is not guaranteed- embrace the present for peace and stability; hope and constancy.

Today, take time to meditate on the balance between light and shadow that lingers within you. Write a list of all that you are grateful for in your life now and that which you wish to release as the Wheel of Life turns towards endings and darkness. Remember that all things are impermanent and this impermanence gives way to freedom and change. Breath deeply and accept what has passed, what is passing and what will soon become.

peace and love,
erin

welcoming october

Posted on by Erin Touponse

Today begins October and the slow march from the heat of summer to winter’s snow. This is a time for gathering resources, aligning the heart with the head, and giving thanks for all the lessons, both good and bad, that we learned over the past year.

There can be no change without growth and growth sometimes requires pain. Pain is that all encompassing elixir that burns away those things that are no longer working; making room instead for the “new” that will provide alternative ways of looking at life and reality.

Many years have found me hiding from the ceremony of pain because I was afraid of feeling it. I would pretend it wasn’t there- turning my head from it’s echoes in hopes that I could remain safe within the prison I built to protect myself. Only this year have I really been able to let go and release myself from the self-imposed blockages that kept me from truly seeing the truth of my life, who I am, and who I am meant to be.

Life’s journey is meant to contain all colors and shades… from light to dark, from up to down, from above to below. Today I give thanks for my bravery in facing the shadows that linger within me; and I give you strength to face yours in the same spirit.

love and light- October blessings to you all.
-e

on self acceptance

Posted on by Erin Touponse

Living in the North East gives me such a perspective on the inevitability of change in life. The Autumnal Equinox has passed and so begins the long journey into darkness; though, I cannot say that I am saddened by this cyclical alteration. Each aspect, or side of our personality, gives us additional clues to who we are, and how we can mend the broken pieces of our consciousness as we make our way to becoming our highest and best self.

So today, my thoughts drift to the shadow side of myself. In the past, I have often opted to avoid these dusty places within my heart out of fear… fear of seeing things that would bring shame, or pain, or sorrow. I hid from the more “raw” areas that lay out of reach. However, there is no light without dark; there is no up without a down; no yin without a yang. In accepting these more difficult aspects- like past traumas, abandonments, or even our own wrongdoings- we are able to more fully embrace that which is also part of our human experience.

Today take the time to hug and nurture those shadow sides. Through acceptance of things that aren’t as pretty, or as joyful, or as peaceful within the “self” we are able to more fully accept the reality of who we are… and in doing so- release our own thoughts and how we think of other from the judgement that binds us into lower vibrational living.

love and light