Many of us have heard that eating seasonally not only supports your body and its rhythms at different times of the year, but it also supports the earth and the local farmers and makers who help make it possible for you to enjoy delicious strawberries in the late spring and summertime.
A handful of years back I realized that living by the seasons was the key for me to connect with myself more deeply, and the wise ones who came before us - those who were in harmony with the cycles of the year, and a wisdom that lives in all of us no matter how long it has been since we’ve connected to it. The depth of seasonal living never really quite landed until that moment in 2016 in an earth wisdom course with Abby Tucker. I realized I hadn’t truly every welcomed each season, and learned from it. I was simply in a state of not really understanding what to do about the changes I felt to my mood, energy and vitality at different times of the year. I wasn’t fully conscious of the shifts and how I changed with them. Sure I understood that I would get crankier if the fog in San Francisco became thick for weeks and months on end, and my spirits would lift when the sun came out - but that was about it in terms of knowing what I needed for “self care” at those times when I felt challenged by the season.
In addition to the bigger seasons of summer, fall, winter and spring, we have what I’ll call “mini seasons” each month through the phases of the moon, and our energy too waxes and wanes with the tides of the moon. And another “mini season” can also be observed through the hours in a day with morning being like spring, mid-day like summer, late afternoon and early evening like fall and late night like winter. We are being invited into a relationship with this seasonal or natural flow in many different ways. Over and over again. And it is the key to our thriving.
Before our modern culture, and the horrors of white supremacy and colonialism, living in connection with the seasons was how you stayed alive. It was also connected to ritual, ceremony and a deeper understanding that we are one part of the whole web of life (and not the center). You had to know when to plant, when to harvest, and to allow the land to lay fallow. Now in our world we’ve mostly built our lives a bit or a lot out of sync with this ancient, yet ever present and powerful rhythm. Seasonal awareness not only holds the key to our survival but also our thriving. The thing is we cannot be stewards of this earth, our bodies and all of the other beings we share it with until we align back in the rhythm of the seasons. There is no hack. The way through is in. We do not need another technology - right now we need to wake up to the wisdom that is already within us.
There is a season for birth, growth, harvest and death or letting go. And many portals in-between these big thresholds of spring, summer, fall and winter. Take a minute to reflect - have you ever noticed your energy, moods and abilities shift or change at different seasons or times of the year?
How many times have you tried to “hack” or shortcut your sleep, or realized you are more energized or more sleepy at certain times of the day? What would happen if you listened instead of pushed against those signals? Life would begin to unfold and feel quite different. And our society is not setup for your thriving in this way for a reason. This is why seasonal attunement I believe is one of the if not the most powerful form of activism.
When we were divorced from the Indiengeous wisdom of place, time and season we lost our ability to cope and to thrive. We lost ritual. We lost community in that way.
Our modern economy has us in a perpetual state of summer - with growth, production and full abundance as the expectation. Summer is a beautiful place, but one that cannot last without the depth of winter as its polarity, the waning in fall and the re-birth in spring. There is a reason the term “burn-out” has a connection to the element of fire - the dominant force of the summertime. Nothing is coincidental.
I believe there is a part of us that knows living by the seasons is one of the fundamental answers to living a more balanced life. And the key to living more joyfully too. If we can learn how to honor the ebbs and flows of the year, and learn from the wise plants, trees, animals and other people including Indengenous folks, first Nations people and wise humans who’ve integrated the wisdom of the seasons, a state of thriving will begin to unfold for all of us. And it will look, feel and be very different from what we’ve experienced before.
We’ll rest more. And realizing our thriving requires it. We’ll also be more connected when we do create.
We are nature. As above, so below. As within, so without. And when we connect in with the shifts happening we attune to our power as well. That’s the kind of power that will change each one of us. And our world.
About the Author : Crystal Marie Higgins is a lineaged Initiated Priestess in Celtic traditions, an Initiated Witch, as well as a Yoga Teacher, an Herbalist and an Ethical Marketer. She has been in devotion to earth wisdom, the cycles of the moon and the seasons since 2012. Crystal’s intention is to awaken our consciousness toward the radical practice of attuning your life and the flows of your creativity to the seasons of the year, the cycles of the moon and the wisdom found in the everyday. She is a lover of the plant realm, being outdoors and engaging in sacred rituals. You can learn more about her at crystalmariehiggins.com, and her passion project seasonalherbalbox.com.