"The wound is the place where the Light enters you. Don't avoid your suffering, go right into the middle of it and receive the message." — Rumi
Physical Setting & Preparation
Gather objects that represent cycles of decay and renewal - fallen leaves in various stages of decomposition, pieces of weathered driftwood, stones worn smooth by water, or fruit at different stages of ripeness. Arrange these in a circle around you and sit among them, feeling yourself as part of the endless cycle of transformation. Let your fingers trace the textures of change.
Opening Invocation | Fosgladh
A Mháthair na h-Atharrachaidh, Mother of Transformation, I join the great wheel as September turns toward the threshold of balance. Three days hence, light and shadow will meet as equals, and I prepare my spirit for this sacred crossing.
Your soul carries the deep ache of melancholy, a bittersweet sadness that colors the world in shades of beautiful loss, while simultaneously bright curiosity sparkles through you like stars emerging in twilight sky, wonder at what mysteries each moment might reveal.
Teagaisg dhomh ciall a' bhròin bhinn - teach me the meaning of beautiful sorrow that opens the heart to deeper seeing.
Body of the Working | Corp
The objects of transformation around you tell stories in textures - the papery whisper of dried leaves, the silk-smooth surface of water-worn stone, the yielding softness of fruit surrendering to time. Your hands read these tales of change while your nostrils catch the complex perfume of decay becoming fertility, endings becoming beginnings.
Tha gach rud ag atharrachadh gu bith air a' char eile - everything is changing into something else in the eternal dance.
Your melancholy sits like autumn mist in your chest, a gentle sadness that sees beauty in impermanence, that finds meaning in the very transience that breaks hearts. The earth mother whispers that melancholy is not depression but deep feeling - the soul's response to recognizing the precious fragility of all beloved things.
Your curiosity lifts like morning light through fog, the irrepressible wonder that asks "what if?" and "why not?" and "what comes next?" The mother shows you that curiosity and melancholy are partners - one mourning what passes away, the other excited about what approaches. Together they create the poignancy that makes life worth living.
Tha bròn is feòrachas a' dannsa còmhla - sorrow and curiosity dance together in the heart that feels deeply.
Feel both emotions as seasonal wisdom, each teaching what the other cannot teach alone about the sacred nature of change.
The Deep Working | An Obair Dhomhain
Descend into the earth mother's composting chambers where all of life's discarded pieces transform into the rich black soil from which new forests spring. Here, death reveals itself as the ultimate creative force, breaking down complexity into simplicity that can become anything.
Tha mi a' dol sìos gu ionad na h-atharrachaidh far a bheil bàs a' tionndadh gu beatha - I descend to the place of transformation where death turns to life.
In these depths, melancholy transforms into appreciation - the ability to feel the full weight of beauty precisely because it cannot last forever. Your curiosity becomes the force that drives evolution itself, the universe's way of exploring its own infinite possibilities through conscious beings like yourself.
The earth mother's healing rises through layers of composted experience, carrying the nutrients of every joy and sorrow you have ever known, transforming them into the soil where new growth can take root. Feel ancient wisdom entering your cells, the knowledge that nothing is ever truly lost, only changed into new forms.
Chan eil dad air a chall gu bràth, ach air atharrachadh - nothing is ever lost, only transformed into new expressions of the eternal dance.
Your melancholy and curiosity merge into the deep peace of one who understands that change is not the enemy of love but its most faithful servant, constantly creating new ways for beauty to express itself.
Afterthought | Smuain Dheiridh
Take a moment to contemplate:
How might melancholy be love's response to impermanence, while curiosity is love's excitement about the endless creativity of transformation - both honoring the sacred dance of change?
Closing Blessing | Beannachd Dheiridh
Beannachd na h-atharrachaidh ort - blessing of transformation upon you. Mar a tha na duilleagan a' tuiteam gus ùr-fhàs a bheathachadh, mar a tha gaineamh a' tighinn bho chreagan air a bhleith - as leaves fall to feed new growth, as sand comes from mountains ground to dust, so may you trust the sacred process that makes all things new.
May you walk with the wisdom of seasons, knowing that every ending carries the seed of beginning, every loss creates space for undreamed gifts. Until transformation calls you forward again.
Slàn leat anns a' chaochladh sìorraidh - farewell in the eternal changing that is the only constant.
So many wounds.. I must be full of light! Alrighty then!