Lugnasa Harvest Moon
Black Mountain, which is covered in lodgepole pine and actually green as a result, has small gold flecks this morning. Those few aspen groves on its slopes have begun to turn, as have more and more aspens between here and Evergreen, but not those on our property. Too, Orion appeared in the southern sky a week or so ago, the early morning southern sky. On Shadow Mountain Orion and the changing of the aspens are true harbingers of autumn.
The splashy colors of a Minnesota fall, when the remnants of the Big Woods flash their deciduous glory, are absent here, but Denverites flock to the mountains anyhow, going on “color” tours. The transformations of the Great Wheel, in all temperate latitudes, stimulate celebrations, holidays, ad hoc personal adventures.
Autumn, with its temperature changes, plant senescence, calm blue skies, the ongoing harvest and the beginning of school is one of my favorite seasonal transitions. Cooler weather increases my intellectual and spiritual energy, underscoring for me the upcoming holiday of St. Michael the Archangel on September 29th. I think it was Rudolf Steiner who referred to Michaelmas as the springtime of the soul. I know it was Tom Crane who introduced me to the idea.
I will be lucky enough to be in Minnesota in a week and a half. I’ll get a chance to visit that Midwestern fall, get pictures for the folks here in Colorado.
