September always feels to me like an opportunity for new beginnings. It may come from the cultural trappings of the academic year. From young, most of us in the UK would be beginning a new phase of our lives in September – although for me it would usually only really mean new stationery!

I also feel like the end of the summer holds the energy of new beginnings from days of old. Although the sun is still warm, there is no doubt that the summer is coming to an end. We may no longer feel it like we once did, but the coming Winter was a time of scarcity. All being well, nature provides well for us at this time of year. Having collected the herbs of summer we can now start to collect the fruits of Autumn. Foraging can be so satisfying and provide you with free remedies to take care of us through the colder months. Rosehips make a great syrup to keep you well through the winter tide, being full of vitamin C, and the elderberries once black*, make a wonderful syrup for when you are suffering with a cold. Sloes are great for gin, becoming ready at Yuletide, and rowan, full of vitamins A, C and D, make a tasty bitter jelly to eat with cheese.  I often combine them all with plums to make a gorgeous hedgerow jam. I highly recommend looking online to find hedgerow recipes that suit you and your palate best. (*be sure all elderberries that you use are black. Any lighter and they may contain toxins.)

It is understood that dusk was once perceived as the end of the day – hence the phrase “fortnight” (meaning fourteen nights) as a way of describing two weeks. The rest taken at night time would be the start of the day not the end. This makes sense then if you think of Autumn as a new beginning, the end of the busy day before the rest time of Winter. It puts September as just before dusk – that magical, liminal time of twilight , not day or night, when sensing the magic around us can feel its most natural.

Autumn equinox, on the 23^rd of September, is a time of balance at this point of the year. The Sun moves across the sky from NE and NW at Summer Solstice, to SE and SW at Winter Solstice. Autumn Equinox is the midway point of this journey, placing Sunrise at due East, and Sunset at due West, and making the day and night of equal length – hence the name “equal night.” It makes this time feel like a tipping point before the nights become dominant over the days and the days get cooler.

Some traditions who follow the Wheel of the Year take the influences of the agricultural heritage of our seasons and place the second of the three harvests with the Equinox. The first is at Lughnassagh , at the start of August, the last being at Samhain. Our meditation group mark these three points of the year with a journey to The Grove – a guided meditation that I wrote to mark these points of time. I thought I you may like to join us! The first two visits are the same, but the visit at Samhain is slightly different. I shall hopefully blog that at the time. This version is the one appropriate for September.

The Grove

Close your eyes, take a deep breath in and make yourself comfortable

As you release that breath, feel yourself begin to disconnect with your surroundings

Allow your breathing to become deep and slow, at a pace that’s right for you

And prepare to paint the picture of your new surroundings in your mind’s eye

You are standing in the countryside and before you is a 5 bar gate, with a stile

Climb over the stile and begin to walk along the country lane that opens out before you

It is flanked by hedgerows and trees and you feel sheltered and peaceful here

The Sun is warm on your skin, but the wind is a little stronger now, and you can sense that this warmth is not here for long today

The birds are busy in the hedgerows and their birdsong serenades you as you amble along

The wind is whispering through the leaves of the trees

Continue your walk and as you do, enjoy the peace, the warmth, the sounds of nature around you

The hedgerows are brightly jewelled with berries. There are the bright orange of the rowan, the deep black of the bramble and the shiny scarlet of the rosehips. All were once beautiful flowers, reflecting the gentle nature of Spring, but now they nurture our bodies as well as our soul, and bring forth this nutritious harvest to care or us through the colder months.

Continue your walk

This is a time of harvest, of reaping what we have sown. As you enjoy this amble, reflect upon your year so far. Are there parts of your life from which you can reap the rewards, are there parts that could do with a new burst of energy? Is there a balance that you could bring into parts of your life, reflecting the light and dark of equinox?

You begin to observe that the lane is changing, and before you are many trees, and you can just see a clearing beyond them. At the entrance to this grove stands the Grandma Elder tree, the guardian of the grove. She too has the delicate flowers at springtime, but is now gloriously emblazoned with her black berries, again reflecting the balance of light and dark at this time of year. We have no offering for Grandma, so leave these berries untouched, but bow in acknowledgement of her ancient wisdom and power, and enter the grove.

Before you are two stones. One lower flatter stone and a taller stone. A seat and an altar. Walk across to these stones and take a seat. In this space, with the circle of tall trees all around you, close your eyes and enjoy the energy all around you. Know in your heart that you are safe. Feel the energy of the earth, the energy of this time of year, all around you.

Relax. Rest.

Stay here a while, before opening your eyes.

When you do , you see that something is on the altar. It may be a symbol, or an object. A reminder of some sort. Take note. Observe it in detail. Sense any messages that may be there for you, and emotions that it evokes. Take as long as you need…

….before you turn and leave the way you came, without looking back.

Bow again in thanks to Grandma Elder and continue along the lane. Observe again the beauty of your surroundings, the bird song, the buzzing of a drowsy wasp, the colours of the decorated hedgerow.

You are back at the gate, climb back over the stile, and return into your physical surroundings. Make notes of anything that stood out for you.

What does September mean to you? Do you forage and have some favourite recipes that you make at this time of year?