Autumn Leaves – Lake George, NY by Georgia O'Keeffe
Ritual ingredients:
- Two pieces of paper
- Decaying or dried leaves
- Cinnamon (separate from the cider)
Autumn Equinox Cider ingredients:
- 8 cups of apple juice or apple cider
- 2 sliced apples
- 1 sliced orange
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- ½ tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp cardamom
- 3 star anise pods
- 3 dashes of nutmeg
- 1 tsp honey
Combine all of the cider ingredients into a pot and slowly simmer. Take deep breaths, as slow as the simmering, and find stillness in your heart. Stir the cider in a circular motion, allowing your gaze to follow softly. While stirring, acknowledge this autumnal moment of balance between light and dark and go inwards. Ask yourself what transformation in your life is needed during this change between seasons: what are you ready to release? What are you ready to harvest to restore balance?
Take a glass of cider with you to sit outside on the earth. Meditate on what you are ready to release and write a letter of closure to your past self on a piece of paper. Bury the letter in the soil, along with the decaying leaves to aid its compost. Exhale as you part with the past in the form of the letter.
Bring the cider to your nose and inhale its scent, taking in the aroma of harvest. Take a sip and ask what you can bring into your life to restore balance: how can this take the place of that which you have just released? Drink your cider and write your intention down on the second piece of paper in the form of a love poem. Place the love poem somewhere significant, such as your altar, window sill or garden, and sprinkle cinnamon on top of the paper.
Close with a moment of gratitude to Earth for this time of transformation and balance.