âNature is not a place to visit. It is home.â - Terry Tempest Williams
Physical Setting & Preparation
Find yourself in a place where Octoberâs arrival is palpableâsurrounded by trees whose leaves have begun their magnificent surrender to flame, or beside a window where the changing light reveals autumnâs deeper palette. Sit with your back supported by something solidâtree trunk, wall, or chairâfeeling the earthâs support rising through your spine. Rest your palms open on your knees, receptive as empty bowls waiting to be filled with Octoberâs particular medicine. Let your breathing slow to match the rhythm of leaves detaching from branches.
Opening Invocation | Fosgladh
Damhair, mĂŹos na gliocais - October, month of wisdom
October opens her arms to receive me, and I step across the threshold from Septemberâs golden ending into this deeper mystery. The air tastes different nowâsharper, tinged with woodsmoke and the metallic promise of frost. Each breath carries the scent of transformation: apples fermenting beneath trees, leaves composting into rich earth, the wild perfume of decay that feeds new life.
Tha mi aâ ruighinn dachaigh - I am arriving home
The Mother Earth spreads her October cloak around me, woven from crimson maple and golden oak, from the silver breath of morning mist and the deep burgundy of late roses. I feel her pulse beneath my feet, slower now, drawing her energies inward for the great work of winterâs dreaming.
Body of the Working | Corp
Today the currents of touched and resentful flow through my being like two streams converging in autumnâs valley.
Tha mo chridhe air a bheantainn - My heart is touched
A deep tenderness moves through me like dawn light filtering through amber leaves. I am touched by Octoberâs quiet beautyâthe way morning dew clings to spider webs like scattered diamonds, how the slanted light transforms ordinary meadows into cathedrals of gold. The Motherâs gentle hand rests upon my soul, and I feel touched by the privilege of witnessing this sacred season, of breathing the same air that has carried the sighs of countless autumns.
This tenderness penetrates my defenses like warm honey flowing into the cracks of dry earth. I am touched by small kindnesses, by the persistence of late-blooming flowers, by the courage of trees that give their beauty freely even as they prepare for winterâs harsh embrace. Every nerve in my body vibrates with sensitivity, as if autumn has stripped away my protective layers and left me raw and receptive to wonder.
Yet beneath this soft vulnerability, something harder crystallizes.
Tha mi diombach - I am resentful
Resentment rises like bitter sap from roots too long ignored. It is the accumulated weight of small slights and larger betrayals, the soulâs angry response to a world that often seems indifferent to beauty, careless with the sacred, dismissive of the tender heart that dares to care deeply. The Mother Earth herself knows this resentmentâthe way mountains frown at cities that scar their faces, how rivers run muddy with the anger of forests clearcut and wetlands drained.
Tha mo fhearg naomh - My anger is sacred
I taste this resentment like copper pennies on my tongue, feel it burning in my chest like coals that refuse to be extinguished. It is not petty grievance but righteous fury at the violation of what should be protected, the sacred anger of the mother bear whose cubs are threatened, the earthâs own rage at wounds inflicted without reverence.
Yet as I breathe with Octoberâs rhythm, I discover that being touched and being resentful can coexist, can even serve each other.
The Deep Working | An Obair Dhomhain
Thig a-steach gu cridhe na firinn - Come into the heart of truth
Descending through layers of feeling like autumn rain soaking into thirsty soil, I find the place where tenderness and resentment merge into a singular force for protection and healing. Here, in the Motherâs deepest chamber, I meet the source of both compassion and fierce boundary-making.
The Motherâs voice rises from the bedrock of being: âBeloved child, see how the trees are touched by autumnâs beauty yet resent the first harsh wind that strips their leaves. Feel how your tender heart that opens to wonder is the same heart that rages against its destruction. Your capacity to be moved by beauty creates your power to defend it.â
I breathe with the rhythm of sacred seasons, feeling how my touched and resentful aspects work together in the great labor of caring for the world. My tenderness keeps my heart open to what needs love; my resentment provides the energy to fight for what deserves protection.
Tha mo chaoimhneas aâ toirt neart dhomh - My gentleness gives me strength
In this place beyond ordinary duality, I understand that my resentment is not the opposite of being touched but its fierce guardian. The deeper I am moved by beauty, by kindness, by the sacred, the more fiercely I will defend these treasures against those who would destroy them. My tender heart and my angry heart are both expressions of loveâone receptive, one protective.
The earth beneath me pulses with this same rhythm: the soft acceptance that receives rain and the hard resistance that refuses to be eroded. My emotions become tools in the greater work of tending the world that needs both gentle nurturing and fierce advocacy.
Afterthought | Smuain Dheiridh
Take a moment to contemplate:
How does the Mother Earth teach you that the heart touched deeply by beauty naturally develops the strength to resent its destruction? What moves you so profoundly that you would feel righteous anger at anyone who threatened it?
Closing Blessing | Beannachd Dheiridh
A MhĂ thair DhĂ mhair, thoir dhomh cothromachadh - October Mother, give me balance
As I rise from this deep communion, I carry within me the integration of tenderness and protective anger. My feet find the October ground beneath them, my breath fills with air that carries both the sweetness of ripening fruit and the sharp edge of coming frost.
Tha mo chridhe bog agus cruaidh - My heart is soft and hard
I move forward into Octoberâs deepening mystery with a heart that can be touched by beauty and moved to resentment by its violation. Both are sacred responses, both serve the greater work of love in action, of caring that has teeth as well as tears.
Beannachadh na duilleagan tuiteam - Blessing of the falling leaves
May this balance of tenderness and protective fury serve not only my own growth but the healing of a world that needs both gentle witness and fierce advocacy. May my touched heart inspire others to notice what deserves reverence, and my resentful heart teach the sacred duty of protection.
SlĂ n leat, a chiad latha DhĂ mhair - Farewell, first day of October