Autumn Equinox 2019: Pausing on the Threshold

Hello Friend,

As we enter into the Autumn, through the Threshold of the Equinox, I offer you a short story I wrote about this moment in time:

Persephone Prepares to Descend
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She walked through the woods, alone on the path she was so familiar with. Silence accompanied her. She remembered being a young girl and playing in these woods with her friends. They were grown and lived in the village. These days their husbands came here to gather firewood. But there was no one here today, just the occasional squirrel burying its treasured harvest of acorns from the nearby oak trees. The leaves were turning their autumnal colors of red and yellow and brown. Occasionally, one would fall. The falling leaves reminded her of the tears her mother shed as they said their goodbyes and once more parted ways.

As she walked deeper into the woods and the waning light, she was focused on the tasks ahead of her. Soon she would be united with her husband and there would be a whole other life ahead of her as she descended into the depths of the Earth, into the depths of her Soul, into the depths where life and death meet and transformation occurs.

Ahead, she saw the woods thinning and coming to an end. Ahead she saw the cavernous mouth of the cave that would take her to her other life. Soon she reached the boundary between the forest and the cave and there she paused. Once she crossed this Threshold, she would descend into her other life. She took a breath and made ready.

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The story of Persephone and Demeter is considered a “nature” story, a story of the seasons, a story of hope, a way to understand the cycle of life/death/life. I regard it as a metaphor for life and the changes that occur, as we dance between our inner life and the outer world we live in.
 
The season of the Autumn equinox is a Threshold. In this moment we stand in the brief balance where day and night are equal. We prepare to move forward into the time of year when the hours of the day hold more dark than light. This time of year symbolizes one's relationship with one's inner world. It is an invitation.
 
Here are some of my reflections on Threshold as a season, as a pause, as a moment of reflection:
 
Threshold is the line where we approach change, something new, something different.
Threshold is the place where we pause between the past and the future.
Threshold holds the vision of opportunities, challenges, choice.
Threshold invites inquiry.
Threshold can be a precipice from where we jump out of our comfort zone into something new.
Crossing the Threshold is a choice.

The Threshold is a place where we can pause, look ahead, ask questions, reflect. Threshold can be a line that we may do nothing more than simply look across. Or, it may be a line that we choose to cross into something known or unknown. Sometimes, we are simply carried across a Threshold by something like a change in the season.

When we pause at the Threshold, we have a choice. One can either commit to returning to where one has come from, which has the advantage of digging deeper where one is or one can blaze a new trail by moving ahead. 

To stay in a place that is familiar and comfortable is a choice. Don't judge it. Every moment of our lives is a teacher, a place to learn more about ourselves. As we learn, we grow. 

Here are some questions for you to consider in your journal:

How are you like Persephone?
Where in your life are you standing on a Threshold?
As you look behind to where you have been, what gems, what jewels have you harvested from the past that will serve you in in your future?
What are you letting go of as you stand on this Threshold?
What lies ahead for you?
How can you prepare?
What is the importance of pausing before you take the next step into change?
What does pausing on a Threshold look like for you?

When you approach your Threshold, whatever it may look like for you, may you stand upon it with awareness, awareness of the beauty of its offerings, its opportunities.
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May you enjoy the seasons of change within your life, always. They are not always comfortable but they are always kind. 

​Sending Love. ❤️