Ancestor Spiral
Fun fact: spirals are the most efficient way for organisms to grow.
This fact delights me because it is so counter to the ethos of endless linear upward growth. It also reassures me, because the more I learn, the more I realize what I do not know.
Take the transition from fall into winter – one of the most countercultural seasons of the year. Every year I meet it with some surprise as well as excitement
For almost my entire adult life in late October I have created an ancestor altar. With time, my pile of programs and cards remembering loved ones has grown larger. With time, I have developed an increased sense of connection to those who have gone before me. The idea that one day I could be the ancestor on the altar has also become less abstract and more real.
Spiraling around the seasons is such a gentle way to keep entering into this mystery of endings that seed beginnings.
I think of it as the “lite” version of personal rites of passage. We practice entering new seasons of our lives by observing the seasons' ongoing flow. Softly we grow into the next era of our lives.
There are a several programs happening at Eye of the Heart to help your spirit find the spiral of growth this season:
Listen for what messages of wisdom and strength our familial, cultural & spiritual ancestors might offer us during these days of waning sunlight and stressful current events at the All Souls Online Meditation led by Carolyn Kolovitz.
Join me in the woods to pause, move, remember, and celebrate our lineages of ancestors as well as the process of becoming ancestors ourselves. We will gather in the “cave” of an enclosed picnic shelter with a large fireplace and live music for dance interspersed with reflection. No experience necessary.
Slow your rhythm and find your center in November by joining a month of meditation and evening pages (adapted from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way). Elizabeth Fletcher guides this practice of meditation combined with writing.
How are you being called to grow this turn around the spiral?
Love,
Emily Jarrett Hughes
p.s. Thanks for being a part of the community of soulful, creative, seekers that make up Eye of the Heart. I’m so excited to celebrate how this community – from our readers to long time regular participants – is part of the movement that brings creativity to spirituality and celebrates the creative power that arises from spiritual deepening. See you at Gifts of the Heart on November 10!