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Now that we are well into our traditional Harvest times per the calendar, I thought it might be germaine to discuss the need to do things,”By the Book,or traditional calendar”, or by what is actually playing out in Nature in your particular neck of the world.

I think we all would attest to the idea that different seasonal changes bring about inner changes within us. We have an inner, intuitive Wisdom which is directly connected to our weather patterns and Nature's changes that tells us when it's time to start getting the wood stacked up, the sweaters unpacked, and begin the “process” of change that occurs in whatever climate or culture you reside in. Wives tales, ( well, maybe just this wife's tales,lol), say your chin hairs get thicker and bristly, and this is a sign as much as the dog or horses getting thick coats.

This year in northern Michigan, we had a very poor growing season, and didn't sustain enough warmth and consistent sunshine to keep gardens and crops going past August. Rain, rain go away!! The ticks were an army unto themselves this year, CRAP IN A CAULDRON!!

My garden is already well done, with the exception of a few hardy tomato plants. My pumpkins vined and flowered tenaciously, but did not fruit at all. <}:(  Such as it is…it is. Now we are already winding down into low 70's to 60 * degree weather, and down in the 40's at night.

In my Baltic style tradition, I would normally celebrate Dagotuve's or Fall equinox/Harvest in late September.Wiccans and others may recognize this as Mabon or Harvest Home. Personally, for me it is here right now. I will still be doing a special ritual for the actual equinox, for it's own significance to me, but for second harvest purposes I must let my inner “knowing” guide my practice. Nature tells the truth in every moment, and She don't lie or try to trick us. She just IS exactly as we find Her, wonderful and terrible, beautifully barbaric, mysterious only to those who keep their spirits and senses shuttered to Her Wisdom.

How is it in your neck of the hollow, and will you be looking at calendars or checkin your chin hairs?

Calendar events help us keep track of our time and stay in step with one another. The equinox and solstace dates are signifificant in their own right. And so are the moon phases. But… just because a long dead pope decreed September 21 is the first day of fall doesn't mak it so. Maybe that's the first day of fall in Rome <smile>.

What's happening in your own neck of the woods is all that really counts. A bit of snow or a hard frost is not the real marker, either. What is actually happening to life around you? I've been in this neighborhood more than 60 years and here life starts stirring at the beginning of February and so to me… spring starts in February! I noticed one year that the same signs showed up in Ann Arbor (just a few miles south) a day earlier. That sorta emphasizes the differences in the neighborhoods.

There is a lot more to this discussion if we care to continue.

with Her love,

Bill