The wheel of the year has turned, and we have reached the autumn equinox. On this day, the day and night are equal in length, and from here on, the darkness will outweigh the light.
In the Wiccan religion, this is the maiden harvest. The harvest season is in full flow, and all of nature's bounty is reaped, processed, and stored away for the coming winter. That which we have tended in the preceding year is weighed in the balance and judged against our wants and needs. Here is where our intentions meet the results of our actions, and we learn the truth about ourselves.
"Harvest", of course, does not refer only to the crops growing in the field, or even to our activities of only one year. The Wheel of the Year is reflected in all cycles, great and small. We see the same pattern in the lunar month, the course of the day, and even in the cycle of a single breath.
We also see the cycle in the span of civilizations, and of the lives of men.
I happened to think of Robert Heinlein's book, The Puppet Masters. In this story, we see a son, growing up in his father's shadow. He is told that he will be promoted to head the Agency on the day he overrules his father, and is right.
On the day that happens, his father steps aside and tells him he's in charge. What's more, he refuses to take command back. The son is now in charge, like it, or not!
Here, the son has harvested his independence. He has graduated from childhood, and though he has gained responsibility and freedom, he has lost the protective mantle his father had heretofore spread over him. Every harvest has its pleasures and its pains.
This time of year, let us pause to reflect on what we have harvested, both the joys and the hardships. In each case, let us pray for the wisdom to recognize how the seeds we have planted, and the way we have tended them, have combined to give us the harvests we deal with today.
Every moment, for good or ill, we plant a seed. Every choice we make nourishes one crop or another.
Let us harvest, and plant, wisely.
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