A Sacred Shift, at the Doorway of the Motherload Vedic Festival Season
In the Pacific Northwest peninsula where we live it’s raining right now. Cooler air, bluish clouds and soup cravings emerge as we shift into autumn.
Meanwhile, those in the Southern Hemisphere may be seeing hints of shift from winter to spring.
We find ourselves tending to body, home, spirit & life in ways that help set the stage for what is to come.
A seasonal shift is a sacred juncture point, called sandhi in Sanskrit. Sandhi is a doorway between two realms… in which you are in-between.
Examples of sandhi are – the doorway to your home, sunrise, sunset, birth, death and the start or end of anything. Even the juncture between sanskrit sounds and a planet moving from one sign to another are sandhi.
"The wise are endowed with the attitude of yogic action [attuned to cosmic order], and thus are free from distress".
The nature of a sandhi – such as the juncture between seasons is that it is…
Sensitive
Full of Śakti, or Potential Power
Vulnerable & Unstable, creating some anxiety or in-decisiveness
Vāta Increasing
Spiritually Charged
A place to watch for omens
Amongst the seasons, the junctures of autumn & spring are most important – this is because these shifts offer the most physical sensitivity & windows for healing, as well as set the stage for the two richest seasons of devotional festivals in the Vedic Calendar.
How we navigate the sandhi during this seasonal juncture sets the stage for the motherload of life responsibility & spiritual opportunities that are to come!
Here are a few of the Vedic Festivals that are upcoming…
- Ganesha Chaturthi – a 10 day devotional celebration of the birth of the one who protects & opens doorways.
- Pitṛ Pakṣa – fortnight dedicated to honoring the ancestors
- Navarātri – 9 nights of the Goddess
- Dīpāvalī – sacred celebration of Lakṣmi, āyurveda & more!
Isn’t it incredible that the season begins with celebrating Ganesha? This is the time when we curl up with a cup of tea and listen, like children, to the Ganesha stories that delight, inspire & ground us for the rest of the vedic year.
Let’s pause in awe of the intelligence of this tradition that has been able to reveal the intelligence of the divine patterns in the manifestation!
What does āyurveda recommend during this seasonal juncture? Because vāta governs change, this is an important time to tend to vāta, in both hemispheres!
Here are my key seasonal suggestions :
- Ritualize life with regular eating & sleeping routines.
- Keep your digestive fire kindled with eating & drinking ginger, wearing socks, and keeping joy & inspiration in your heart.
Self Oil Massage – with a special focus on your feet, belly button & joints
Enjoy warming, seasonal, soft, easy to digest foods – like blended soups [find a recipe below!]
Set the stage for your precious commitments, by taking time to envision & plan how you will learn, pray, work & play in the months to come. Planning ground vāta!
These practices help you stay grounded, keep your digestive fire kindled, calm your nervous system and are overall protective of your whole system. And this prepares you for the deepening of knowledge & devotion that the next season invites!
Soup Recipe
Like my mother, grandmother & great greatgrandmothers, I don’t follow recipes. So forgive me for not having measurements. These soups are incredibly adaptable – they are more like soup suggestions than strict recipes. I hope they inspire taste & playfulness in the kitchen!
Carrot, Ginger & Miso Soup
In a pot, heat 2 TB sesame, coconut or olive oil and a pinch of salt & pepper with some fresh chopped ginger and a handful of sliced fennel bulb, and sautee on medium heat until the fennel begins to caramelize. I also love to add curry leaves from our plant or some ground cumin.
Then add about 2 cups of well scrubbed or peeled carrots, chopped in large chunks. Sautee these for a few minutes.
Add pure filtered water, enough to cover the veggies. Cook at a medium low boil until the carrots are soft and you can easily break them with a fork. Remove from heat.
Add a squeeze of meyer lemon + a few tablespoons of miso paste {I use a locally made Chickpea Miso}.
With an immersion blender blend until smooth! {alternatively, you can wait until it cools and add to a blender and then return to the pot to head up again}.
Serve topped with some herbs – like parsley or mint.
You could enjoy this soup on its own for a very light & simple meal, or expand it with such compliments as sauteed dark leafy greens, sourdough toast with ghee & tahini, or sauteed Tempeh with a ginger, soy sauce & maple syrup glaze!
With this concept as the base, you can expand to endless possibilities of soups! Use what is local & seasonal for the most āyurvedic benefit, no matter where you are on this globe that is the “body of the goddess”. Inside the Nectar of Time I’ll be sharing my Zucchini Z’atar version of this soup!
A change in season is a change of light. As the light shifts, we may pause & look up. We contemplate the divine... or daiva in Sanskrit, which comes from the rot "div", meaning "to light up". The divine is that light of intelligence that manifests as all aspects of the cosmic order - the seasons, the calendar, the movement of the planets... all this is the intelligence of the divine manifesting & guiding us in life. We do well to respond intelligently by tending to the body, mind and heart with āyurveda, sacred wisdom & the devotional offerings of the vedic calendar. ~ Kaya
Every summer & winter, I take a little time off to rest & reset as I prepare for big teachings & sharings to come in autumn & spring. This is my personal rhythm, designed to fit the cosmic flows that influence us all.
So to nourish mind & heart in the upcoming season there will be a number of offerings that I delight in sharing with you…
In particular, Nectar of Time & The Nectar of the Gītā are close to my heart and very much in tune with the season’s call to wisdom & devotion.
*This will likely be my last live round of the Nectar of the Gītā for a few years, which will give me time & space for other sharings that I’ve been holding in my heart for you.
Vedic Astrology, Festivals, Stories, Mantra & more
Attune to sacred order & deepen your whole life with meaningful storytime of the gods & goddess, scriptureal teachings & open source rituals all offered in accord with the sacred calendar. Each month begins with a Vedic Astrology forecast for the month to orient you to divine timing. September is the start of our Nectar of Time year chock full of sweet Ganesha stories and meaningful teachings to opening doorways.
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