There was a time when when we all lived in tune with the seasons. There was no beginning or end, just an ongoing cycle where one season blended into the next, each turn of the season preparing us for the next stage.
Lugnasadh (August 2) to Mabon (September 21) is the time between first and second harvest.
The days are getting shorter as we near the time of equal night again. There is a sense of urgency as we still have much to harvest but the light is waning. The children's help will be gone as they get ready to go back to school.
What does this new sense of urgency say to you? Did that new goal fall by the wayside replaced by the fun of summer vacation? We are now in the dog days of summer. It may be too hot and feel too oppressive to do anything productive.
Funny how sun is so nourishing one day and seems to suck the life out the next. We were on a roll, the garden was being watered daily and now it's suffering. It will just die off anyway after the harvest is complete, we justify.
This change of heart was not what I expected after going so far this year. Now is the time to dig in, so to speak, and persevere. Complete what was started. Don't let the waning daylight dim your accomplishments thus far.
We began the cycle with a new idea, a new goal, a new dream. We watered it, we cared for it, we shared it with friends and colleagues. And now we’re waiting. Have we reached a point where we just give up because the waiting is too hard? The First Harvest is just that, the first. We might only harvest a little right now, but if we give up, we’ll harvest nothing.
Unlike the beginning of the cycle, when the seeds seem to sprout and grow quickly, now it’s hard to see the growth from day to day as the crops are almost mature. The same goes for your goals.
In the beginning, with your excitement and the planting of new seeds (ideas), you saw things come to life quickly at first. Maybe it was a new business idea. Plans seemed to flow from your mind onto paper. Now that it’s in the building stages, and you’re waiting. Waiting for feedback from investors, or waiting for interest to build in your community.
Enjoying what you’ve grown (and grown into) so far with all your hard work is part of the time of the first harvest. You get a little taste of what’s yet to come. Keep at it, and by second harvest you’ll be so glad you didn’t give up.
Enjoy the heat of the sun, and maybe you need to slow down a bit. But don’t stop. Enjoy the slower pace as you begin to reap the rewards of the seeds you planted earlier in the year. Your business is growing, like a caterpillar in a cocoon. We can’t always see what’s going on energetically behind the scenes, but know that if you’ve been watering and tending, it’s certainly growing!
Sometimes we feel as if we need to just stop and cut our losses. Yes, there is a time for that, but is that time really now? Or are you just feeling tired from the heat, or impatience for the “harvest” to finally arrive?
The lesson of the first harvest is to enjoy how far you’ve come. Celebrate the steps you’ve accomplished so far and celebrate the anticipation of the full harvest yet to come.
Stay tuned for the next turn of the season at Mabon on September 21 to see how the cycle continues into The Second Harvest.
Living with the seasons is living intuitively. It’s following the inner voices and the outer shifts, looking and listening for signs that point us in the right direction.
To learn more about how to embrace your intuition and live with the cycles of the seasons, schedule a complimentary call with me and let’s discover your unique intuitive gifts and how you can use them in your daily life.