Harvest Moon

realigning with the soul, time for a slower pace, self-care

Slow your heart and move gently into the coming of self.

Your higher self chose this card because fall is a natural time for adopting a slower pace. The harvest moon is generally the full moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox and is associated with balance, realignment and reflection. At that time the air gets a familiar crispness, the days are noticeably shorter and animals begin to find warmer places to shelter, and no one could blame you for seeking out comfort foods and warm drinks. Slowing down naturally leads to a desire for more self-support, making the harvest moon one of the best moon energies for focusing on spiritual nourishment and well-being.

Your soul is guiding you through this card to shine a light on your self-care needs. Prioritizing rest and relaxation is a worthy cause, but making space for all forms of self-care is necessary for feeling supported and fulfilled. Today you may need to give yourself some grace when a deadline has come and gone and you’re still no closer to achieving what you wanted. Tomorrow you might need that one friend who always makes you laugh even when it seems as though the world is shifting beneath your feet. The day after you may need to dance naked and sing in the bathroom, using your hairbrush as a microphone.

Reflect upon the ways you have neglected yourself, doing so with self-compassion and self-love. There's no need to slap yourself on the wrist for forgetting to drink enough water or those times you canceled on your friends at the last minute as long as you make a commitment to doing your best moving forward. Every moment of awareness is an opportunity to make a new choice, and every new choice is a deposit in your well-being bank account.

To make a turn inward herb bundle you will need: * lavender stems * chamomile flowers * sprigs of yarrow, rosemary and thyme * cedar evergreens * 2 dried orange slices * 2 cinnamon sticks Align the flowers, herbs and cedar and bundle them together. Put the orange slices on the top layer and place the cinnamon sticks on top of the orange slices. You can poke a small hole on each side of the orange slices and loop twine through, which will stop the bundle from falling apart. Use kitchen twine to wrap around the bundle, making it tight and secure.

Whenever you wish to make space for self-care, burn this smudge bundle as you would incense or white sage.