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“So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”
T.S. Eliot
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Hello, oh luminous ones!
Fall has fully graced us with her presence, along with daylight savings time, and the light continues to dim. With the seasonal shift into shorter days and longer nights, we're slowly being summoned to recline with the fading light of the year. An internal draw. An external hush. The fits of fall, while windswept and joyfully dancing their deadened leaves around, are preparing us for just that: a celebration, an honoring of the transformative dance into the darkness, the season of death.
Morbidly chilling with it's bare beauty, these thoughts and feelings of mine reflect what is to come. Not in a post-apocalyptic, Game of Thrones, winter is coming kind of way. But with an honest appreciation for the wisdom willingly showing us the way. The cyclical intelligence our natural world, which we were once woven into in ways we yearn to understand, exudes. From this place of expansive consideration, may we exist with the tides of dark waters washing over us.
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MIND
The Ojibwe people follow a lunar calendar, having named each month's moon, or giizis, after the themes which they observe during that time of the cycle of the year. November's moon is called the Gashkadino-Giizis or Freezing Over Moon. Since 1990, November has been deemed Native American Heritage Month. Mary Annette Pember, a Native American woman and journalist proposes an alternative strategy to honoring Native American Heritage Month. In her recent writings, she gives some food for thought that may be hard to digest, but is well worth your cerebral and emotional stomach's efforts. This November, as the Freezing Over Moon waxes and wanes above us, try something new...decolonize your mind.
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BODY
Our 6 gal. glass carboy, filled fresh from a spring in the Cascade Range of Oregon
During our seven weeks of travel this summer, my wild woods man and I procured as much of our drinking water as possible from natural springs. While we use a Berkey Filter System at home for our drinking water, there is no comparison to imbibing water from a natural spring. If you've ever quenched your thirst straight from the earth's trickling springs, then you know what I'm talking about. And if you never have, then you're in luck! Daniel Vitalis, who I've mentioned in past letters, runs a website called findaspring.com that served as a vital resource for our natural spring water drinking efforts this summer. This site is just what it sounds like - a resource for finding a spring near you, wherever you may be in the world, along with information regarding foraging, processing, and storing spring water. Check out the site and see if there's a spring close by. Then, go forage some (preferably in glass containers!), and experience the benefits of spring water for yourself.
I'd love to hear how your spring water foraging goes! Share your stories with me over the course of this next moon cycle, either by replying to this email or commenting on the Instagram post for this Lumen Letter. Under the dark sky of the next new moon, I'll randomly select one of you to receive a FREE Luminous Elixirs Fall Myst Aromatherapy Spray, made with spring water I foraged in the Catskills earlier this fall!
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Why spring water? Watch & learn!
Daniel Vitalis eloquently expresses the benefits of foraged spring water.
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SPIRIT
For someone who has chosen to name her body of work Luminous Architecture, I sure do love and embrace the dark depths of my soul. Maybe it's because my ascending sign is Scorpio, or perhaps I've learned that the exploration of darkness only contributes to the luminosity of your life. I remember the messages of "oh, darkness despair" and "only be love and light" being transmitted to me in every which way as I gulped down the Kool Aid of teachings emitting a spiritual bypassing frequency. By spiritual bypassing, I mean only focusing on the "white ball of healing light that will miraculously resolve all of your deep-seated childhood issues" rather than whole-heartedly confronting your fears, pain, problems, and dare I say, dark side, with the integrity and commitment to work with and through these facets of yourself. "Know thyself," someone close by often reminds me. It's one of the simplest sounding, and yet one of the most challenging sentiments to truly practice, day in and day out.
It seems natural to hide aspects of ourselves from others, but why would we ever want to keep anything hidden from ourselves?
As the daylight surrenders to the cradle of darkness, I source this seasonal signaling as an opportunity to surrender my own perceived light, or consciousness, to the distanced darkness, or subconsciousness, that resides within. Just as the Dreamweaver and the Nightmare coexist, you too can know thyself and welcome the integration of all facets of your being. The light is no better than the dark. They each serve their purpose and earn our deepest reverence.
Photography: Kitfox Valentín
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Weaving her web of luminosity,
she does not fear the lingering darkness.
For she has been here before;
haven't we all?
A division of self
is but a mere facade.
Don't you see -
The dark nights of your soul
and the luminous days of your life
embrace each other,
entwined beyond threads of separation.
Luminous love,
Jessica
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Small Business Saturday is a week away
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