the time of Hallows

Juniper for love
Yew for rebirth
Bay for strength
parsley for cleansing
Alyssum for happiness
Basil for peace

I love this time of year. on the threshold of deep winter. leaves falling, currawongs calling and the soul begins to journey inward, spiralling, following the wheel of the year, in to the dark. Living in the southern hemisphere, having to work out when and what to honour and celebrate becomes a chore at times... but I am at last coming to a place of 'that it doesn't really matter'. There are no set rules. It is all about building relationship with whatever Is, relationship with nature and green things.
Hallows is now and winter solstice is in June and at this moment in time, that is what I work with. I hear the ancestors, whispering at times... find me, tell my story.. and I feel myself drawn to them at this time of year more than any other. The garden is being put to sleep, I begin to plan soups, my yearly ritual time of watching All Creatures Great and Small is close, favourite books in piles to be read yet again for when the wind starts whipping about outside and hopefully snow begins to fall. The thought of mulled wine beckons. I begin to think about a yule log and creating a spiral in my back garden. My black Hallowmas candle continues to burn on the ancestral altar, for as long as I feel it is needed.

when does Hallows finish and Yule time begin? I don't know. For me, I guess it just melts in, one after the other and I like that idea because the yearly wheel becomes part of my every day life. And like all and every bit of nature, I am ever evolving..