Autumn Equinox Reflections: Returning to the Land, Ancestors, and Plant Relatives
Autumn Equinox Rituals, Ancestral Land Connection, Indigenous Plant Teachings, Plants as Relatives, Seasonal Mindfulness Practices, Ancestral Healing Rituals, Land‑Based Wellness, Gaiwan Tea Ceremony, Spiritual Connection to Nature, Autumn Reflection and Healing
🌾 Honouring the Autumn Equinox as a Season of Slow Becoming
The autumn equinox arrives like a soft turning of the page — a moment where the daylight balances itself before the days begin to lean into darkness. This season reminds us that slowing down is not failure. It’s a rhythm, a ceremony, and necessary rest.
Lately, I’ve been offering gentle reminders to myself and the people I love:
Please don’t apologize for letting it all spill out. I’m grateful you trust me enough to share what’s heavy.
I’m sorry you’re carrying so much right now.
There is nothing wrong with you — truly.
You’re walking your path in real time, and that kind of becoming takes patience.
You’re allowed to pivot whenever your spirit calls for it.
This system tries to convince us that constant grinding is the only way forward, but that’s not truth.
You’re in a season of waiting, listening, and discovering what you truly want.
Offer yourself grace.
🍵 Mindful Tea Rituals: Gaiwan, Waiting, and Ancestral Prayer
One of my favourite teachings this year came from learning about gaiwan — traditional Chinese tea cups with no handles. You can’t grip them right away. You must wait for the tea to cool or you risk burning your hand and tongue.
It’s designed to slow you down.
To make you pause.
To make you breathe.
To make you be present.
Since learning this, I’ve begun praying to my ancestors while I wait for the tea to cool — a quick whisper of gratitude, a dedication of the first sip to them. This ritual has become a grounding practice, especially during transitional seasons like the equinox.
Just like the gaiwan teaches us to pause, the land teaches us to listen.
🌿 Spiritual Connection to the Land: Everyday Ceremonies and Ancestral Memory
How do you connect spiritually to the land? Not just through formal ceremony but through everyday acts:
Gardening.
Foraging.
Camping.
Dog walking.
Drawing outside.
Writing under a tree.
Touching soil.
Breathing fresh air.
These are ceremonies too.
They are ways of saying: I am here. I belong. I remember.
Elder Mary Lyons of the Leech Lake Band of Objiwe offers a teaching that stays with me:
“When we talk about Land, Land is part of who we are. It’s a mixture of our blood, our past, our current, and our future. We carry our ancestors in us, and they’re around us. As you all do.”
Every morning, I welcome the day with gratitude to the Land, Creator, and Ancestors. This practice keeps me rooted, especially when life feels uncertain.
🍁 Plants as Relatives: Indigenous Teachings for the Equinox
Her words echo the teachings I’ve been learning from Dr. Leigh Joseph in her Four Seasons of Indigenous Learning, where she speak about plants s relatives — not resources, not objects, but kin. When we shift our perspectives this way, everything changes:
We move from taking to tending.
From extraction to reciprocity.
From ownership to relationship.
Meta-analysis studies show that spending time with the land increases joy, connection and overall well-being. But beyond the science, there’s deeper truth.
Reciprocity reminds us that care is not one-sided.
When we care for the land, the land cares for us.
When we rebuild our relationships with plant relatives, we rebuild parts of ourselves.
This is the heart of my work.
This is the heart of BWPC.
This is the heart of autumn.
🍂 Autumn Equinox as a Time for Reflection, Pivoting, and Grace
As the equinox arrives, I’m choosing to see this season as an invitation:
To slow down
To listen
To wait without shame
To reconnect with the land
To honour the ancestors
To care for plant relatives with reciprocity
To give myself grace as I continue finding my path
If you’re moving through a transition, a pivot, or a moment of uncertainty, I hope this season reminds you:
You are not behind.
You are not broken.
You are not late.
You are simply becoming.
And becoming takes time.
Rooted in gratitude,
Charlene
Black Woman Plant Chronicles
Cultivating Connection Through Plants & Herbs
Thank you. I am taking these reminders into composting season. I really like the tea ceremony and slowing down. One way i’ve done this is by removing the microwave from our home and actually hearing the bodies signal and answering with intention care and food that is slowly warmed up in the oven, instead of pushing past the call and needing quick food and the technology that allows that.