Letter from Cressida Pryor
September 20, 2024
Autumn Equinox 2024
Dear FOI Friends,
Once more we approach, at least in the northern hemisphere...the creep of longer nights presaged by this time of balance...between light and dark.
I am fascinated and heartened by the correspondences between different world faith systems and cultures...
We are soon to enter the zodiac sign of Libra, symbolised by the two scale pans in balance...as you know within ancient Egypt Libra was associated with Maat, the Goddess of cosmic harmony and justice, whose special task was to weigh the hearts of the dead on the scales of justice balanced against an ostrich feather...
Within many medieval catholic churches in England and Europe this same task was performed by the Archangel Michael...and this is often a subject of wall paintings. In fact, my local ancient church of Hailes as well as having two large 700 year old paintings of St Margaret and St Catherine, has a small fragment remaining of this ‘weighing’ of souls...a poignant image of a diminutive naked woman praying, kneeling in a large scale pan...a reminder that perhaps during those times women were so much more vulnerable to harsh spiritual and social judgement...as sadly is still especially the case in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Michaelmas interestingly falls during the time of Libra...so the scales imagery and the task of achieving balance feels doubly emphasised. Libra the sign of the sun’s fall, represents the subordination of one system to another in a perpetual struggle to maintain a fragile harmony...through hard lessons of compromise and awareness of the other, to participate, find equity, fairness and balance in all areas of communal life.
These connections have prompted me to take more time for reflection, and I invite you to do so too...are there imbalances in your life? How would the scales tip, to one side or the other?...There are so many areas to balance now in our complex lives...the classic work-life balance, also the balance of our spiritual and material lives...the balance of smart phone and face to face interaction...and many more...
Sometimes these reflections can become confused by the very time pressures we are trying to alleviate...I suggest holding a feather in the palm of your hand to remember the energy, time and effort needed to create such an extraordinary and exquisite functional structure...without which there would be no flight...
Hold a feather and feel the very lightness of its being...its simplicity and functional beauty, it is ‘just enough’ and yet to achieve its ultimate perfection it needed thousands of years of evolution and only works when it is connected with other feathers...so together we can fly and achieve great heights!
Divine Mother, steer us towards a balanced life so we may have energy and time to do your work in our home and in the world when we are connected together...
May we savour every moment given to us in this life and recognise the beauty in everything and in everyone.
So may it be. Amen.
With blessings for this Equinox,
Cressida, FOI Steward
