Welcome September! The change of seasons has been slowly descending upon the land, casting a warm, golden glow, as the light shifts daily. There’s been a lovely crispness in the air with chilly evenings enveloping us here with thoughts of cozy fires, nostalgic aromas, and the turning of leaves. All of this inspiring new waves of energy, ideas, and visions to bring through a burst of freshness.

Have you been feeling the transitioning of seasons too?

We are still about three weeks away from the Equinox, but preparations have begun.

Here at the Forest Portal I’ve immersed in Autumnal things including baking and cooking yesterday and this morning for guests arriving this evening for Labor Day weekend. I made root veggie-based curry and enchiladas, as well as two Dutch cocoa, cacao, coffee, walnut orange-infused bundt cakes (one simply the chocolate and coffee blend and the other with the added fun).

I’ve been listening to inspiration on some new upcoming small paintings and surrendering my novel writing to allow guidance for fresh ideas to come while I prepare for another cycle of devoted work and cocooning again soon.

I also completed my cosmic shamanic staff for the upcoming Fall Equinox “Living a Magickal Life workshop and gathering event. (There is just two weeks left to grab the remaining spot for this – 9/15 is the last day to register) But wow! Is all I can say. I’ve never made anything like this and how it all came together and the result is more than I could have imagined. It’s definitely the portal opening staff I knew I was meant to create.

That happened on Thursday and the same evening was our last Music on the Beach event of the Summer where I saw the biggest shooting star I’ve ever seen, in slow motion move across the sky and then plummet behind the mountains on the other side of the lake. No on else saw it. The cosmic influences are strong lately and I’ve been immersed in meditational expansions to assist these shifts.

And on the more mundane level, but equally potent, I’ve been doing a huge closet purge and revamp, which I’m trying to finish today, gave Wonderland a full cleaning and have welcomed in new energies to help enchant the shared creative space with Astrid for our upcoming hunkering down with writing again come October 1st.

Dave and I also signed up to begin a new wellness program on October 2nd based here at the new state-of-the-art athletic training center here in Tahoe. Something very not my usual thing, but the uniqueness of this program coupled with my shifts and feeling well being at the forefront of things while I move forward into a soulfully challenging next phase, all made it very clear, intuitively, that this was the next step.

We’re both healthy (in fact as a full-circle and reset button I had my first yearly wellness, full physical and blood work done in over 20 years just recently – all normal) and do a lot of outdoor things, but this will help up the game for us and continue assisting Dave with rehabilitation from his surgery to get back out there in peak condition for skiing.

They cater to all levels of fitness and rehab needs through internationally acclaimed performance coaching to help maximize athletic performance for athletes or active, recreational lifestyles for outdoor living – hiking, biking, skiing, kayaking, etc. So, we’re pretty excited about that since not only do their experts help with balance of coordination and conditioning, but there are classes you can attend alongside your training.

So that will be interesting and great. Only other thing I’ve ever done in any similar fashion was when I was 21-23 and trained hardcore with a personal trainer and then on my own at a regular gym.

This is completely different.

I’ve since been on my own flowing wavelength of wellness and now incorporating a very supportive, flowing, but skilled level of conditioning, which mirrors a new path I’m on in general with all the new. Very nurturing, expanding, strengthening, and taking things to a different level.

I always like to see the synergy at work with what shows up through choices and alignments.

Anyway, recently since Wednesday there’s been some kind of time warp or timeline shift, as I’ve experienced being a day ahead of the day at hand. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one, as Laura shared the same thing happening to her at the same time.

Even Astrid has been in a mode of digging lately so I’m looking into creating her own digging box so she doesn’t need to dig out the crystals in the fireplace or the kitty litter box. The digging deeper metaphor is resonant.

She’s also gone through fur shedding again, revealing so many complex images and symbols, including a lot of hearts showing up and things that looked like rebirthing reflections. This “skin” shedding metaphor appearing once again.

Which reminds me of one of last night’s potent dreams that involved a rabbit and a snake. The end result was the snake bit my right hand on the bottom side of the palm very deliberately and without fear on my part. In fact, so much without fear that I was not wanting medical attention regardless of there being potential it might be poisonous. It was unsure in the dream if the snake was poisonous or not, but I was not jumping at caring about treating it.

Definite transformational energy in motion and seems I want to immerse in the venomous juices of that with all of me.

This is about the third time I’ve dreamed of a snake/s biting me – all at very pivotal points on my journey.

All this to say, Autumn shifts are settling in and I’m finding the effects in my life to be very positive and expansive in potentials.

This reminds me of these words I’ve shared before, but feel inspired to share again:

There is indeed a continuum of increasing shifts and transitions taking place for everyone on so many levels, which brings us yet again to approaching another seasonal transformation, both within and without.

Yes, Autumn is closing in upon us, and that heads us toward a period of less “light out there” so that we find the source of true “light in here” – within you. This is a time to make friends with your own inner darkness and nurturing it, as this engaged healing integration is vital for soul growth.

Nature reminds us that we need to relinquish the need to hold on tightly with fear and to trust in the process – to allow ourselves to have everything we thought we knew about ourselves to be stripped away, only to discover a greater truth to our authenticity beneath the temporary structures.

And in the process you’ll discover the only thing that is eternal is the core essence of who you are beneath the temporal layers. You learn then that the rest isn’t as serious as you make it and is simply part of the journey to that core.

We let go, just as the trees effortlessly allow their leaves to shift colors and float off in the wind. We embrace the only permanence, which is change. And we take grateful stock of what we do have, while preparing for a new birthing that will be incubating during the symbolic stillness.

Seasonal transitions mirror the evolution of human consciousness and the dynamic shifts of life cycles.

The eternal cycles of birth and death, creation and destruction – all teach you the wisdom of harmonic co-existence. One thing does not exist without the other and through each you learn of your wholeness and cultivate courage and endurance to face that which is over, the past, the old – what must die within you – and trust in the abundant gifts that will come with the embrace of that release.

You become a conscious and active partner in the rebirthing process, as you walk through the flames of destruction with grace.

I leave you with this image. I wish I knew who the artist is, but it is an image a friend once sent me and it feels so perfectly reflective of what I feel and sense all around this time period.

May all possibilities be open to you.