There’s a moment when autumn arrives in the body.
Before the trees flame red, before frost dusts the fields, before the evenings grow long with firelight, something shifts. The pulse slows. The breath deepens. The world whispers: prepare.
Autumn is the season of descent. The balance of day and night at the equinox tips us gently toward darkness. This is not death but digestion, not loss but integration. It is the Earth’s long exhale.
Archetypes of Autumn: The Balance, The Descent, The Elder
Autumn wears many faces.
The Balance - At the equinox, day and night stand as equals. This fleeting moment reminds us that light and dark, growth and decline, joy and grief all belong together. Balance is not stillness but dynamic rhythm.
The Descent - Like Persephone crossing into the underworld, autumn initiates us into shadow. It is the archetype of surrender, the invitation to step inward, to descend into our own roots. The descent is not punishment but initiation - a journey into the depths where hidden wisdom waits.
The Elder - Autumn carries the elder’s archetype: wisdom ripened through time, beauty that burns even as it fades. The leaves blaze brightest just before they let go. So too does the elder teach us to release with dignity, to honor endings as sacred.
Together, these archetypes remind us that autumn is not only about nature’s cycles but also about our own inner rites of passage.
Elderberry, rosehip, sea buckthorn, and aronia - each one a guardian for this season of descent.
Elderberry: shield of immunity, dark and protective.
Rosehip: heart medicine, Vitamin C-rich, bittersweet.
Sea buckthorn: fire of the sun carried into the cold, rich in oils and vitality.
Aronia: deep antioxidant, strength for blood and vessels.
Ayurveda: The Vata Season
In Ayurveda, autumn belongs to Vata, governed by air and ether. Light, dry, cool, moving. Balanced, Vata inspires creativity, vision, and spiritual clarity. Unbalanced, it brings anxiety, restlessness, and depletion.
This is why autumn medicine is grounding and oily: pumpkin and squash, warm soups, root vegetables, ghee, and spiced teas. Warmth becomes medicine. Routine becomes safety.
Herbs like ashwagandha, nettle seed, and oat seed restore reserves. St. John’s Wort carries the sun into the darker days, easing the nervous system’s tremors. Elderberry fortifies the immune system for the cold ahead.
The Celtic Wheel: Mabon
On the Celtic Wheel, the autumn equinox is Mabon - the great harvest festival. A time of gratitude for the fruits of the land, and a ritual acknowledgment of decline. Grains, apples, wine, and honey are offered back to the earth.
When Christianity spread through Europe, Mabon was absorbed into feasts like Michaelmas, where archangels replaced earth deities. Later, in North America, harvest rites resurfaced as Thanksgiving. Yet at their heart, these festivals still carry the pagan essence: gratitude as the bridge between abundance and emptiness.
Native American Perspectives
For many Native American tribes, autumn is the time of The Harvest Moon - a season of gratitude, community, and preparation. Crops are gathered, stories told, and ancestors honored around fire. The Cherokee saw autumn as a sacred time of balance, aligning with the West direction - the place of introspection, intuition, and endings that prepare the way for beginnings.
Like the Celts, they understood: harvest is not only physical but spiritual. To give thanks for the earth is to recognize that every cycle feeds the next.
Time, Cycles & the Feminine Clock
Autumn teaches us that time is not linear - it is cyclical. The leaves return each year, but never in quite the same way. What looks like repetition is actually deepening.
In the tantric view, autumn corresponds to the waning moon and the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle - the time after ovulation, when energy turns inward. It is the archetype of the wise woman, the phase of discernment, intuition, and preparation. Just as the body prepares for either renewal or release, autumn prepares us for the descent into winter.
Patriarchy has taught us to fear endings, to see decline as failure. But the feminine clock knows better. Each cycle - whether menstrual, lunar, or seasonal - holds descent as sacred as ascent. Autumn whispers: Your power is not only in blooming. It is also in knowing when to rest, when to release, when to prepare the soil for what comes next.
Practices for the Descent
Honor Balance: Light a candle at dusk. Welcome both the dark and the flame.
Eat with the Earth: Cook with pumpkin, squash, grains, and roots. Add rosemary or sage for clarity and warmth. Sprinkle nettle seeds for deep vitality.
Harvest & Release: Journal three gratitudes and three releases. What do you carry? What do you let go?
Emotional Practice: If melancholy arises, honor it. Autumn’s sadness is not pathology but medicine, an invitation to depth.
Preserve the Season: Brew elderberry syrup, dry rosehips. Caring for your future self is a ritual of loveThe Medicine of Autumn
The Medicine of Autumn
The plants and foods of autumn teach us how to meet transition:
Pumpkin & Squash - grounding, nourishing, rich in slow sweetness.
Grains - the body of the earth, sustenance and sacrifice.
Root Vegetables - carrots, beets, turnips: food of grounding and rooting.
Nettle Seed - fortifying kidneys and adrenals, sparks of endurance.
St. John’s Wort - bottled midsummer light, protecting mood and nerves.
Elderberry & Rosehips - jewels of immunity, guardians of vitality.
This is earthing medicine: grounding body and spirit for the season of descent.
Closing: A Love Letter to Autumn
Let autumn be more than a season.
Let it be a rite of gratitude and release.A descent that is sacred, not feared. A teacher of brilliance before surrender.
The leaves do not resist their fall. They blaze. They shine. They let go.So too can we.
With Love,
Teresa x