The Wheel of the Year as a Spiritual Psychology for Women
Autumn Equinox is about the mid-life phase of a woman’s life, and also about the poignant seasonal turning toward winter and inward time. We encounter opportunity for personal assessment, asking ourselves pointed questions as we explore the psychology of harvest-time. We can name ,ground and ritualize our harvests for the year: things that have come into being, that have gone well, things for which we are grateful.
The autumn of a woman’s life occurs at mid-life, and if she and this time are honored and respected, it can be the harvest of a lifetime, helping us set our course for the rest of the year or for the rest of our lives. We name those things that we still truly desire, which need more tending to bring them into full Harvest. Maybe there are aspirations in dormancy – resting or waiting to be reactivated under the right conditions. Autumn assessments encourage us to be aware of people with whom we have had conflict, and consider working to clear things up before the Inner Time. We have opportunity to grieve our significant losses in ritual , to honor those who have died – to start fresh.
Woman at mid-life often are tired of focused care-taking of others and ready to concentrate on their own needs and desires. Fall Equinox time calls us to go voluntarily into the Deep to attend our inner pursuits and do import soul work. Nature is withdrawing… and we go with her.
The Inner Time Deep is opportunity to tender our woundedness, our depression under patriarchy and in the face of calamities on the planet, our beloved planet home. We go toward Hecate; the name given to our inner Wisdom, where we listen, reflect and heal.