Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this special time. I have observed the 8 festivals for many years and my relationship to each of them has changed over time - and rightly so. When I was younger I relished the journey into the dark time and the promises of introspection and rest found there. Then, I had a time of resistance spending my energy on yearning for the brighter days of Spring. Now, once again I'm grateful for the richness, the challenges and the gifts of the season. This period from Samhain to Yule is really the most special part of the year.
Lovely to hear this. That yearning for spring and summer was one of the reasons I started making the almanacs, to find something special in each moment. And yes now I too love that turning inwards that happens at this moment. So glad this chimed with you x
Such a huge fan of The Almanac & the Ffern podcast Lia - what a treat to have a substack option now too! Moving with the seasons slows me down so beautifully & I especially love this time of year. The word ‘gathering’ describes it perfectly. 🍁
Loved this first video, Lia. I realise that I’m feeling very much that I don’t want to be sociable at the moment. The feeling of gathering in is powerful. Just at the end of an sociable and hectic couple of weeks and it feels all kinds of wrong! Lovely to mark the celebrations joyfully, but otherwise enjoy some rest and calm.
Thank you, and yes the season gives you full permission to take a step back, light a few candles and get cosy! I’m pretty introverted and though I love sociable times too, I really need this drawing in after a period of being out there. Thanks for your lovely comments x
Thank you so much for this. I celebrate this time of year by sharing stories about my ancestors. I have done my family tree and a couple of years ago I wrote all the names on luggage labels and hang them on an old oak branch, to literally make my family tree. Then each year I pick a name and invite that ancestor to come dine with us. I like to imagine what life would have been like for them.
This is really beautiful. And I imagine it really encourages you to think of them as real, fallible, imperfect human beings with all of the quirks that entails. That sounds very special. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Lia, I've enjoyed your insights very much on this very dark & wet Halloween evening. I had a long sunny walk today through the woods & then visited the victorian cemetary in Highgate. A spiritual time to be there and I came away inspired by all the creative people buried there Hope you have a fruitful and creative few weeks.
I really enjoyed this video. What a treat to supplement your almanacs and As the Season Turns episodes! This is my favorite time of year, followed closely by darkest winter, so I'm feeling a sense of abundance for the days and weeks ahead of us right now. We're staying in a house that shares a back garden with several others, and last night we had a potluck gathering to enjoy a fire. Our resident gardener set out herbs for each of us to make personal offerings if we so chose. We had a similar burn at the fall equinox, and we already have the winter solstice on the garden calendar. :)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this special time. I have observed the 8 festivals for many years and my relationship to each of them has changed over time - and rightly so. When I was younger I relished the journey into the dark time and the promises of introspection and rest found there. Then, I had a time of resistance spending my energy on yearning for the brighter days of Spring. Now, once again I'm grateful for the richness, the challenges and the gifts of the season. This period from Samhain to Yule is really the most special part of the year.
Lovely to hear this. That yearning for spring and summer was one of the reasons I started making the almanacs, to find something special in each moment. And yes now I too love that turning inwards that happens at this moment. So glad this chimed with you x
I can totally relate to your experience, Nemaine. The promise of introspection and rest captures it perfectly.
Such a huge fan of The Almanac & the Ffern podcast Lia - what a treat to have a substack option now too! Moving with the seasons slows me down so beautifully & I especially love this time of year. The word ‘gathering’ describes it perfectly. 🍁
Doesn’t it. I really love the idea of gathering in the ancestors, but also ourselves. Such rich lessons to be learned from all of this x
Loved this first video, Lia. I realise that I’m feeling very much that I don’t want to be sociable at the moment. The feeling of gathering in is powerful. Just at the end of an sociable and hectic couple of weeks and it feels all kinds of wrong! Lovely to mark the celebrations joyfully, but otherwise enjoy some rest and calm.
Thank you, and yes the season gives you full permission to take a step back, light a few candles and get cosy! I’m pretty introverted and though I love sociable times too, I really need this drawing in after a period of being out there. Thanks for your lovely comments x
Thank you so much for this. I celebrate this time of year by sharing stories about my ancestors. I have done my family tree and a couple of years ago I wrote all the names on luggage labels and hang them on an old oak branch, to literally make my family tree. Then each year I pick a name and invite that ancestor to come dine with us. I like to imagine what life would have been like for them.
This is really beautiful. And I imagine it really encourages you to think of them as real, fallible, imperfect human beings with all of the quirks that entails. That sounds very special. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Lia, I've enjoyed your insights very much on this very dark & wet Halloween evening. I had a long sunny walk today through the woods & then visited the victorian cemetary in Highgate. A spiritual time to be there and I came away inspired by all the creative people buried there Hope you have a fruitful and creative few weeks.
What a perfect Halloween activity. Just magic! And I hope you enjoyed a cosy evening too. Thanks for commenting x
I really enjoyed this video. What a treat to supplement your almanacs and As the Season Turns episodes! This is my favorite time of year, followed closely by darkest winter, so I'm feeling a sense of abundance for the days and weeks ahead of us right now. We're staying in a house that shares a back garden with several others, and last night we had a potluck gathering to enjoy a fire. Our resident gardener set out herbs for each of us to make personal offerings if we so chose. We had a similar burn at the fall equinox, and we already have the winter solstice on the garden calendar. :)
Oh that is wonderful! What a gorgeous set up, and how perfect. A little jealous here…I must do something like it for winter solstice myself.
Thank you Lia - so so so glad you’re here on substack! Something to look forward to for sure x
Thank you lovely Jo, you have been an inspiration in this! I love how you are building up your community here, and I fancied having a go too… xx
There’s such a fascinating range of readers and writers - welcome and I really enjoyed your video: can’t wait for the next episode !