‘Mother’ Earth Element
The Nurturer | The Peacemaker | The Provider
Late Summer can be a time of nostalgia, of looking back over the summer, celebrating and embodying all that we have grown within ourselves, in our relationships and in our projects as we prepare for the colder months ahead through our ‘harvest’. The sun begins to yield and soften and there are hints of Autumn approaching, that familiar scent which corresponds with the schools returning, as memories rise to the surface from Autumns passed - for me the memory of new pencil cases and notebooks still fill me with excitement today, something my inner child ‘Virgo’ loves to reminisce over!
Late Summer, or the ‘Indian Summer’, a kind of 5th season.
It’s a transitional time. An in-between. A clean slate within the arc of the wheel of the year.
The earth calls us home to remember our roots and gather our energies. To return to a place of stillness between the expansive Yang of Summer and the Yin of Autumn. Nourishing the core of ourselves and our homes to prepare for the cooler months ahead.
Late Summer is also at the same time as Virgo season, it's always interesting to look into the cosmic (astrological) wheel within the seasonal wheel. It's time to call on our practical nature. During this time you may wish to have a de-clutter and create more order at home and re-evaluate our projects.
Some of us may feel burnt out following the summer fire season if we over-extended ourselves? I know I did this week, I’ve needed to retreat and restore. I had a migraine for 3 days and had to cancel plans, this was the physical manifestation of my body and soul calling for rest, asking for no plans or ‘to do’s, just to be. A quietening, a softening. If we choose to ignore our bodies they force us to slow down in order to listen to our inner rhythms in order to re-align. How are you feeling at this time? Is your body communicating with you? What does it need? Are you listening deeply to the whisperings within?
The Archetype for this season is the nurturing Mother. Call on this energy to give yourself the support you need, to take care of ‘you’ through simple, practical rituals. I believe self-care raises our vibration and our self-worth and in-turn our ability to co-create with the Universe (something at the heart of Lacy Phillips work - it's worth checking her out, I love her manifestation principles).
This is how I’m tuning into my inner mother essence to tend to my needs right now:
Eating well
Walking in nature, working my legs on inclines for strength and stability
Going to bed when I’m tired
Honouring my feelings
Periods of unplugging from tech (this has been a huge breakthrough)
Watching Netflix (guilt-free)
Running healing baths with crystals, oils and epsom salts and performing a DIY facial while I soak.
Leg inversions to support lymphatic drainage
Napping when I feel like it
Feeling the Earth beneath my feet (see visualisation below)
Splurge your list of activities to make yourself feel looked after and cared for.
When you feel your cup is full and over-flowing how can you share this mothering energy with those you love, what little things can you do to embody generosity and kindness and to let someone in your life know how much they mean to you? When we feel at home within ourselves with a calm and nourished centre we feel much more able to give and care for others and our planet, so it’s our responsibility for the highest good to keep ourselves topped up.
"They call me Mellow Yellow." - Donovan
Yellow is the colour of Late Summer Season. The organs associated with Late Summer and the Earth element are the stomach and the spleen.
The stomach’s job is to take in and digest so we feel well fed. The stomach relates to our feelings of worth, if we eat well and nourish mindfully we feel better in ourselves - how can we bring the Mother archetype into our meal times? During summer season we welcomed cooler (Yin) foods and drinks to calm the fire (Yang) element, the salads and fresh watermelon went down a treat. If we continued to eat cooling foods it would create ‘damp’ within the body, which we don’t want to fester in the colder months and cause mucus and congestion. Now that we are preparing for Autumn/Winter we can begin to introduce warming and sweeter foods. Hello, sweet potato!
Pause…. during eating to allow food to digest, the stomach doesn’t have teeth (as my teacher, Louise Allen says).
I’m also interested with how learning, thinking and analysing is in alignment with the energetics of the stomach. What do we want to absorb academically (‘Food for Thought, literally’)- are we reading/listening to/watching things that light us up? Are there things in our lives that we’re struggling to ‘digest’? Are we feeling full and satisfied or is our soul hungry to learn something new?
The spleen is responsible for filtering our blood and plays a major part in our immune system as well as lymphatic drainage. This is a fantastic article on the spleen - foods to eat/avoid to support it as well as lifestyle. https://www.gaia.com/article/ways-to-support-spleen-health
For more information on the Late Summer and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine):
https://www.wuweiwisdom.com/late-summer-health-tcm-taoist-tips/
To align to the seasonal energies I use the Rhythm Of Beauty ‘Autumn’ Flower-essence infused products within and on my skin for constant, daily support and nourishment. Louise, the founder, launched these on the Leo new moon. See our IGTV conversation on the recent Leo New Moon and Late Summer Medicine on @soulbeautyrituals. The Autumn skin-soul range is available now at https://www.rhythmofbeauty.co.uk/
Final Thought:
Be like a tree.
A beautiful visualisation to practice is during a standing meditation (preferably barefoot on the Earth) imagining having roots growing down through your feet, feeling a sense of being anchored, grounded, steady and stable. Then allowing your arms to begin to float and gently sway as you extend and expand. Carrying this feeling into our lives, strong and stable yet flexible and free.
Wishing you a smooth, gentle journey through the Earth element and a bountiful harvest and Happy Birthday to my fellow Virgos.
Sadie
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