November
As the leaves change color and the air becomes crisp, it’s time to embrace the energy of this last month of Autumn by diving into your inner world, saying goodbye to the old and practicing trust.
As we enter the last month of Autumn, it’s time for us to nurture our inner light and take care of our inner world more softly. November is a month to welcome a time of profound transformation where deep emotions come to the surface and allows for powerful growth.
Gate of the Great Mystery
Astrologically, we are entering an intense and mysterious energy of Scorpio Season with promises to be a transformative and powerful time for all of us.
With its association with deep emotions, passion, and profound change, Scorpio Season is a period when we can dive into the depths of our psyche and emerge stronger and more empowered than ever before.
The Scorpio constellation is referred to as the "Gate of the Great Mystery", existing where the path of the Sun intersects with the Milky Way, with the center of our galaxy lying just behind Scorpio. In many ancient cultures, the ‘Mother Scorpio’ greets the souls of the dead in the afterlife. Through this gateway of Scorpio, we come face to face with death to remind us what life is all about, and to teach us how to live.
The Scorpio archetype teaches us to become intimate with darkness, when the veils between this world and the invisible realms become thinner, allowing for a stronger transference of energy between our world and the hidden world of Spirit.
Throughout the month of November it’s a great time to investigate the darkness, become comfortable in it and sit with the answers, clarity, and epiphanies that rise up to the surface during the days ahead. This is the time to slowly awaken the night vision of winter. A vision that appears only after some time spent in darkness.
Endings as Transformation
Scorpio season arrives as the season in Northern hemisphere is growing colder, darker, and the trees are losing their leaves. Crops are dying, animals are scurrying to stock up for winter and preparing to retreat into their caves and burrows.
There is death, endings, and transformation happening all around us in nature, which is reflected in our psyches as well. It’s the end of the harvest season and the beginning of our descent towards winter.
The Ancient Celts celebrated Samhain during this season, and we have Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) all during Scorpio season. These traditions all in some way honor, revere, and connect us to death, to our fears, to our ancestors, and to the mysteries that lie within our inner darkness.
“Say goodbye to old versions of who you were, as you honour that version of you as the one that got you through and to where you are now”
Discarding the Old
Just like the trees are dropping their leaves, this is the season to drop the old parts of you. It may hold some sadness, even though it feels necessary. Like saying goodbye to a friend, that was with you during hard times. This is ok. As the Autumn energy stirs up old emotions and memories, they are being processed in order to be released.
Think of this process as a cleansing of your emotional nervous system. Our nervous system holds memories from our lived experience in our system in order to protect us from future danger and hurt. But the downside of this is, that at the same time, this mechanism also can hold us back from new experiences to enter our lives because of the very same reactions and defence mechanisms.
This is the month to gently say goodbye to old versions of who you were, as you honour that version of you as the one that got you through and to where you are now. This doesn’t happen overnight, and a process like this really shouldn’t. Just like a grief process, time is the medicine, we need to come to term with the goodbyes in our lives – whether it’s a good bye to others or to parts of ourselves.
November is a good time to experiment with new soul-led practices like journaling, walking in nature and xxx. Slow-practices that move you in and out of your inner landscape in a process, that is not linear. Walks that befriend emotions and memories and allow them to come forwards to be released. Invite in whatever feels good to you, and be gentle with everything that arises.
The Energy of November is a soft, gentle transition from the Harvest Energy og Autumn to the deeply resting energy of the Winter months. This is a good time to re-kindle any practice, habit or ritual, that would serve you as well during the winter months.
Trust
As we learn to let go, trust becomes a huge part of the process. Trust that when we release, we also create room from something new. Trust that our bodies will inform us, what we need, whether it’s an extra nap, a healing cry or a releasing workout. When we look at the trees during the month of November, we are reminded of the deep trust, that is encoded in Nature’s design. That when we let go, we allow for rest. We allow for new growth after the pause. We allow for miracles.
Wishing you a beautiful month of November.
November Rituals
Journal.
This is a great time for writing and journaling, and if you are new to this practice, this New Moon will be especially supportive of getting you started. Get a notebook and a pen, bring it with you and use your daily breaks to write something instead of hopping on to social media feeds. Put a notebook next to your bed and try to start your day with writing a few pages every morning as the writing coach Julia Cameron swears to in her ‘morning pages’ practice.
Whatever you do, try to experiment a bit with the power of the word - your word. The benefit of a journaling practice will not only help you in gaining clarity of your mind and/or any important questions that might present themselves, it will also refine your responses and expression in the conversations your have in the outer world.
Speaking of questions, if there is one questions you can start asking yourself on the top of your page, and try to work around in the beginning of this new cycle, it’s this: How can voice my opinion better while still giving room to others? Try to ‘live with the question’ as the poet Rilke famously said. Leave it open for the next few weeks, and see what arrives.
Meditate
The astrolgial eclipses of October and November bring about change. And, when there is change, something has to be released. Just like the leaves fall in autumn, consider what you need to release from your life. Letting go of attachments, grudges, or old patterns can create space for new insights and growth.
Go for a Sandwalk
Move your mind by moving your body. Go for a walk. Experiment with new ways of ‘unloading’ the mindchatter and allow for it to arrange itself in a new way. Try the art of the ‘Sandwalk’ practice of one of the world’s greatest naturalists Charles Darwin, who solved his puzzles on foot on his daily ‘thinking path’— a kind of moving meditation that enriched his scientific work, and gratified his constant curiosity. You can read more about the Sandwalk here.
New MOON in Scorpio
The headline of this New Moon will be ‘A New You.’ As Mother Moon retreats to a barely visible state, she presents a blank page for you to write an entirely new life chapter on.
Full Moon in GEMINI
As you transition into the energy of the New Year, use the clarity of this illuminating moon to see both sides of a situation to make a balanced decision. Forecast and ritual here.