Letter from Cressida Pryor
September 19, 2021
Autumn Equinox Letter 2021
Dear Friends,
As I write this I am preparing for ‘being available’ all day to visitors of Winchcombe’s small Art and Music Festival’s Art Trail...I host the last of a dozen venues. So I am number 12 and as our house number is also 12...we’re 12 at number 12...
A serendipitous balance that heralds this autumn Equinox and the equal light and darks of this season.
I have recently been reading the wisdom of Julian of Norwich and how she might be inspiration in this pandemic time.
She lived through the Black Death...and described; despite the threat of possible imminent death... with no vaccines, no viable treatments...a two fold path through the her mystic visions of:
‘The Via Negativa’ and the ‘Via Positiva’
The Via Negativa is about facing the darkness... the worry of the pandemic, the situation in Afghanistan and climate change...our own concerns, our own mortality...our powerlessness...
This is the reality of living life now...there is suffering...death...of not-knowing and not being in control. The pain of grief and loss...
What did Julian offer us as a way to navigate this difficult path? Was despair part of this journey? She warned against it...for in despair we cannot act, we lose interest in ourselves and others...it kills the soul and compassion...
So what to do? Put truth first...process and go into the darkness... This is a reminder that life is indeed short and to be relished...it perhaps helps us focus on what we want to do with the life we have...what is the best contribution I can make? How can I not take anything for granted again...perhaps part of that is an attitude of gratitude and reverence...celebrating goodness, wonder and awe.
A balance of the two ...
So this season can help us with this...
Balancing these two aspects as day balances night at this time of year...
Divine Mother allow us to find harmony within life’s dissonance
And may struggle fuel useful change
And beauty be highlighted in gratitude and sacred honour
So we find balance and hope for the winter ahead.
So may it be.
With blessings of gratitude...
Cressida, FOI Steward.
