Crossing the Threshold
“A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres… it cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up..”
—John O’Donohue
mountain mahogany seeds; San Gabriel Mountains; Sept. 2023
I spent this morning in my garden where the Queen Anne’s Lace has all gone to seed.
Summer blooms surrender into fall as tiny seeds. Promises of life held in a husk of death.
In these final days of late-summer here in the northern-hemisphere, we are in the space between. The co-mingling of light and dark, life and death. The place of both/and.
I felt this keenly this week as I sent a flurry of birthday cards to loved ones in the wake of the death of my 94-year-old grandmother and the 2 year anniversary of my father-in-law’s passing.
Life and death, grief and hope converge. And love is the thread that binds them.
This transitional time from the light half of the year into the dark half was seen as a thin place by my Celtic ancestors. A time when the space between the spiritual and earthly realms was blurred. A time of visioning, remembering, and listening deeply to a different conversation.
These weeks where summer bleeds into fall plunge us into a seasonal “ecotone,” a space not quite this or that where the mix of energies and life forms creates a riot of diverse and surprising aliveness.
Where do you feel the merging of life and death, dear one? How does this seasonal threshold call you?
The fading light invites us to stop and listen to the currents that move unseen under the surface of our lives.
As the fire of summer dims, we draw in to tend to our own fire.
It is time to gather the harvest, stoke the fire of our discernment, and carefully sort through the bounty of seeds that summer is now tossing abundantly into the waiting earth.
Queen Anne’s Lace seeds and flower heads
AN INVITATION
On this threshold between the seasons, what if you took some time to listen to the wisdom within and beyond? What might it mean to cross this sacred threshold with intention?
You might choose a liminal space to amplify your experience.
Perhaps under the darkness of the new moon this Thursday. Maybe seated in a garden where you can witness the growth of summer surrendering to the coming autumn. Or maybe under the wide sky at the gateways of the day–sunrise or sunset–where light and dark dance in gorgeous displays of color.
Here are some questions to scatter like seeds into your open heart:
What growth and expansion did the summer bring you?
What seeds have you gathered from the last 9 months?
Which seeds are meant as nourishment for now? On what are your feasting?
Which seeds need to be released back into the earth? Which are no longer yours to tend or carry?
Which seeds should be saved carefully for a future planting season? Which are for a time not-yet?
How does the gathering darkness call you to live in this season of your becoming?
Blessings of this space-between be yours. And may the wild seeds of your heart find good soil in which to land.
Pssst….know someone who might like this post? Pass it on!
Tending to these inner “seeds” is an important aspect of the work I do as a 1:1 Soul Companion. Click to learn more.
Hello, dear one. I’m Stephanie.
As a Soul Companion, educator, and sacred space holder, I am passionate about deepening our connection to the earth, our bodies, and the divine mystery that dances in all that is.
Let’s journey together into the sacred wild!
