Sometimes I forget how inspiring it is to spend time with Nature, with the Great Mother. I get caught up, once again, in the endless to-do list(s) for home and work and even self-care. I forget that every single time I've dropped the supposed to's and let go of the things I think I should get done that day, and instead get out into the woods, it's worth it. It's always worth it. And it always reminds me that those things I thought I had to get done that day were really not that important. At least, they weren't as important as I was making them.
(The dishes can always wait until later.)
Why is it that being out in nature reminds us that we are so much more than our to-do lists, our productivity?
Because nature reminds us who we are.
In the midst of our busyness, distractions, overscheduling, to-do lists, and life stress, being immersed in nature reminds us that we are one with the Great Mother and that we aren't, in fact, all of that busyness. It reminds us that we are having a shared somatic experience with the Great Mother, and that because her energetics are slow, grounding, and nourishing, our own energetics inherently are those qualities as well.
This is the main reason why I first began creating seasonal skincare and bundles. Each year, I felt like I was losing track of time. With each passing of the season, I felt more disconnected from who I was in the great web of life. I realized I was not only wasting time just putting my head down and surviving, I was wasting my life force.
And I wondered if maybe other people were feeling the same way?
So, I immersed myself in observing, studying, and becoming intimately familiar with the seasons and the energetics that each of them bring to the Earth's own inherent grounded, nourishing qualities. Slowly over time, I began to not only understand from a logical perspective, but in a deeply embodied knowing that the Earth is static, unchanging, but is a living, breathing being that follows rhythms throughout the Wheel of the Year.
And when I tuned into my own body/spirit, I understood that since I am an embodied human on Earth, I follow those same rhythms. This is the basis of Earth-centered living and healing.
So, let's turn our awareness to the energetics of Autumn:
In what I refer to as Classical Elemental Arts (the study of the elements Air, Fire, Water, and Earth), Autumn corresponds to Water.
In alchemy, the element of water holds profound symbolism and energetic qualities. It is associated with emotions, intuition, purification, and the flow of life. As one of the four classical elements, water represents the fluid, receptive, and adaptable aspects of existence, making it an essential force in the cycle of transformation.
Likewise, it is an essential force in our own cycle of transformation, both through the cycle of one year as well as the full human life cycle.
Water is traditionally linked to:
- Emotion: It governs the emotional body, influencing how we feel, process, and release emotions. Just as water flows and changes form, emotions are in constant motion, requiring balance and expression.
- Intuition and the Subconscious: Water is connected to the realm of intuition, dreams, and the subconscious mind. It helps us access deeper layers of understanding and wisdom that aren't always immediately visible.
- Purification and Healing: Alchemically, water is seen as a cleansing agent, washing away impurities and stagnant energies. It is a force of renewal, both physically and spiritually, dissolving what no longer serves and allowing space for growth and transformation.
- Fluidity and Adaptability: Water has the unique ability to change form—flowing freely as a liquid, solidifying as ice, or evaporating into vapor. This characteristic teaches the importance of adaptability, especially during times of change.
Water and Autumn in Alchemical Thought
In the context of autumn, water takes on a particularly significant role. As the fiery energy of summer fades, autumn brings a time of cooling, slowing down, and introspection—qualities that align with the nature of water. The seasonal shift mirrors water's tendency to flow inward, inviting reflection, emotional processing, and the release of accumulated energy.
Autumn’s falling leaves, cooling temperatures, and increasing rains symbolize the water element’s presence in the environment. Just as trees shed their leaves, we are encouraged to release emotional baggage, let go of attachments, and surrender to the natural cycles of life. This inward flow of energy creates a perfect opportunity for personal and spiritual transformation, as we align with water’s lessons of renewal and emotional depth.
Let's turn now to the TCM Autumnal perspective:
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Autumn corresponds to the organs of the lungs and large intestine, and the Metal element. The qualities of this energetic season are dryness and clarity, contraction and consolidation, letting go and grief, and protection and boundary.
Key characteristics of the Metal element are:
- Letting Go and Release: Metal teaches the importance of release—shedding what is no longer needed, just as trees shed their leaves in autumn. This process clears space for new growth and transformation.
- Structure and Boundaries: Metal is linked to order, boundaries, and integrity. It supports our ability to create healthy boundaries in our lives, protecting our energy and well-being.
- Clarity and Precision: Metal refines and distills. In this sense, it helps us focus on what is essential, guiding us toward clarity of thought, purpose, and self-awareness.
- Emotion of Grief: Grief is the emotion associated with Metal. When out of balance, unresolved grief can lead to stagnation. In balance, Metal allows us to process and release grief, facilitating emotional healing.
In essence, Metal brings the energy of refinement, helping us let go of what no longer serves us, while also sharpening our sense of purpose and connection to our inner values.
What's the crossover? How do these two frameworks align? Are there parallels?
Oh yes! Despite the different elemental associations, there are intriguing parallels between the two systems that highlight the shared energetic themes of the season. Both perspectives emphasize the themes of transformation, introspection, and preparation for the coming winter.
1. The Energetics of Letting Go - Both elements encourage a shedding of the old, mirroring the falling leaves of autumn, which symbolize the cycle of release and renewal.
- Metal in TCM: Metal is the element of refinement and release. In TCM, autumn is a time of letting go—both physically (through the breath and the lungs) and emotionally (releasing grief, attachments, or anything stagnant). Metal governs the process of distillation, refining what is essential and letting go of what no longer serves.
- Water in Alchemy: In Western alchemy, the Water element is also connected to release, particularly on an emotional level. Water symbolizes the flow of emotions and the purification process. Just as water dissolves and cleanses, autumn is a time to process and wash away emotional blockages, creating space for inner transformation.
2. The Role of Reflection and Introspection - Both systems emphasize the importance of pausing during autumn to reflect, access inner wisdom, and gain insight into what is truly meaningful.
- Metal in TCM: The Metal element supports clarity, introspection, and the process of turning inward. In TCM, autumn invites reflection on what is of value and encourages finding inner clarity and wisdom. Metal helps refine our internal world, guiding us toward a deeper understanding of ourselves.
- Water in Alchemy: Water in alchemy also invites introspection, connecting with the intuitive, emotional, and subconscious realms. This season of slowing down fosters deep reflection, mirroring the water element's ability to reveal hidden depths and inner truths.
3. Emotional and Spiritual Cleansing - Both Metal and Water emphasize purification, whether through the physical processes of elimination in TCM or the emotional cleansing in alchemical thought. This dual focus on releasing both physical and emotional "waste" leads to transformation and renewal.
- Metal in TCM: Metal governs the lungs and large intestine, which are linked to both respiration and elimination. These organs play a role in releasing not only physical waste but also emotional burdens, especially grief and sadness. The cleansing aspect of Metal purifies both the body and mind, leading to greater clarity and balance.
- Water in Alchemy: Water, as a purifying force, is known for its cleansing properties—washing away impurities and bringing emotional release. In alchemy, water is a tool for emotional healing and spiritual renewal, helping us dissolve emotional stagnation and connect to the flow of life.
4. The Connection to Boundaries and Protection - Both Metal and Water emphasize the importance of boundaries, whether in maintaining physical health or emotional equilibrium, creating space for personal integrity and protection.
- Metal in TCM: Metal is associated with the lungs, which form a protective boundary for the body, governing the skin and the immune system. The Metal element helps establish and maintain healthy boundaries, protecting us from external influences and ensuring our energy is refined and preserved.
- Water in Alchemy: Water, too, has protective qualities, often symbolizing boundaries between worlds (physical and spiritual) or between emotional states. Water forms a barrier while remaining adaptable and fluid, protecting while allowing for flow and movement.
In both TCM and alchemy (or Classical Elemental Arts), autumn is a season of transformation through release, reflection, and purification. While TCM focuses on Metal’s qualities of clarity, refinement, and letting go, alchemy’s Water element encourages emotional flow, healing, and adaptability. Together, these perspectives highlight the shared energetic themes of autumn—inviting us to let go of what no longer serves, embrace introspection, and purify both body and spirit in preparation for the next cycle of growth.
Practical tips for attuning to both the Water and Metal elements:
1. Daily Practices: I find the most embodied and empowering ways to connect with the seasonal energetics and allow them to guide us is to do so daily, in ways that may seem mundane but are actually touching something deep within our bones.
For example, autumn is, of course, a season of the year, but there's also an autumnal time of day: 4:00-10:00pm. This is the winding down before deep rest. The waning. Aligning our activities during this time with those energetics can help us intentionally reconnect each day to what those energies feel like in our bodies, reminding our bodies and minds of their innate ebbs and flows.
Try creating a nourishing evening ritual that helps you attune to that gradual going inward, winding down energetic. It can be simple. You don't get extra points for setting up some extensive routine for yourself. It can be as easy as making yourself a cup of calming tea while you close up the kitchen, take it with you to your bedroom where you get ready for bed, then cozy up in bed with your tea and a book for a few minutes of reading before you turn off the lights and go to sleep. The important thing is that you're transitioning away from the yang, expansive, masculine, doing energy of the daytime to the yin, inward, feminine, being energy of the evening and nighttime.
2. Seasonal Self-Care: There's another blog in the works with more extensive ideas for specific seasonal self-care, but I think it goes without saying that I'm an advocate for modifying your self-care to fit the energetics of the season. In Autumn, I especially love connecting with the element of water, honoring those energetics during self-care with things like baths, hydrating masks, tea ceremony, balancing serums, and working with herbs associated with the water element such as mugwort, jasmine, rose, cleavers, marshmallow, and calendula.
3. Reflective Journaling Prompts: Autumn is a time for reflection, looking back on the growing season now that we've reached harvest time to consider what worked, what didn't, what lessons we've gleaned from all the outward, expansive time of Summer. If you're anything like me, Summer isn't a time when I often feel like I have the time/space/bandwidth to sit and journal for an extended period. But come Autumn, it feels easier to find that time but it also feels more natural to slow down and pour out my heart, mind, spirit onto those pages.
Water is also associated with emotions and intuition, and you may be surprised and what arises to the surface when you put pen to paper. Where does your inner wise one guide you when you allow it to flow?
By attuning to both Metal and Water, we can more fully embody the energetic potential of autumn, achieving balance in our physical, emotional, and spiritual lives. But I also find that it helps smooth out what can sometimes be a rough transition between seasons.
When we remember that we are living, breathing, sensing beings that are always in flux, it creates more space for compassion towards ourselves and others. It creates opportunity for connection with ourselves and others. We're all having this embodied experience, in relationship with the Earth, somewhere on our soul's journey. Nature's rhythms, and thus our own rhythms, remind us that we are human, that we are all inherently connected, and that there is a common thread between literally every single living being on this planet. Which means the way we embody the slow, nourishing energetics of the Great Mother directly impact those around us, which impact those around them, ever outward until those energetics touch every other living, breathing being on the planet as well.
So, in that context, taking some time to feel into your own physical, subtle, and energetic bodies, while it may seem small, is one of the most potent things you can do.