Fall Energy and Letting Go

It’s fall, y’all.

The fall season officially starts on September 21, which also marks the Pagan holiday of Mabon (fall equinox), and extends through December 21, which marks the Pagan holiday of Yule (winter solstice). It also happens to be my favorite season. Something about fall just makes my soul sing. I miss the Colorado fall with all of my entire being.

But why?

I don’t like pumpkin spice, as a matter of fact I actually hate it. I don’t care too much one way or another about big cozy sweaters, or fireplaces, or boots, or haunted houses, but I’m here to tell you that standing in a sea of changing Aspen leaves is among the most glorious of things a human being can experience. Fall leaf viewing was an activity I definitely counted down to all year when I lived in Colorado. I was always watching the calendar for when the peak of the fall leaves was expected so I could plan my drive into the mountains and take in all that magnificent fall splendor. I did it every year I lived there.

But why is fall so magical?

Not only is it stunningly beautiful to see, more importantly, it carries with it an even more stunningly beautiful concept. The concept of letting go. The ability to surrender to a transition with the knowledge that it will always come with the promise of new growth. It’s not just any transition. It’s the realization that the new will only manifest itself after space is made for it by clearing away the old. Fall is what letting go can feel like.

Within tarot, this fall energy is the same as that which is brought forward by the Death card or to a lesser extent, by the eight of cups. Both of these cards are defined by a need and a willingness to allow oneself to be open to transition so that growth can occur. By continuing to fight to hold onto something that no longer serves you, you are blocking the appearance of what comes next. New cannot exist energetically where old still lives. You must release what is no longer serving you, but it isn’t about the ending so much as it is about what space is being created for something different. Something even better.

Fall brings a noticeable shift in energy. It marks a time for embracing these transitions. You might have had some persistent discomfort with a part of your current path, but you’re still fighting to keep things as they are. The fall energetic shift can help you put a needed transition into action. What if what you think you want so desperately right now isn’t actually what reflects your best path? What if something that is fully in line with your highest good is just waiting for you to release that very thing you keep fighting so hard to hang onto? Are you desperately chasing something that is not meant for you?

When we are made to feel more and more uncomfortable where we are, it is almost always because we are on a path that does not lead to our greatest good. There are always signs trying to encourage us to allow the transition to something different. It often gets more and more uncomfortable trying to stay on the current path as time passes. What was once easy is now one obstacle and hardship after another. What was a whisper of discontent has become one major detour after another shouting to get our attention. Our life is trying to enter its own fall season. You know that unsettled part of your life that causes you to feel a nagging need to return to thinking about it all the time? You feel you just can’t get that part of your life settled? That’s what I’m talking about. The thing that keeps you up at night over and over worrying and troubleshooting a way to make it sit a little better with you? You feel the sense that a decision needs to happen but has yet to happen because none of the options feel right? I’m not talking about a transient bad day here and there or a fight with your partner. I’m talking about the thing you keep returning to over and over that never feels worked out regardless of what you do. There is always one more obstacle. It always feels like the current state of the thing is temporary…. or dare I say, in transition. Is it your career? Your relationship? Your location? Are you allowing that transition, or are you fighting it?

Fall can give you a big energetic push toward releasing your fear and your continued desire to fight needed transitions. Every year, fall will show you what release and surrender looks like and that it really is okay. The Earth gives us this beautiful transitional space followed by the quiet reflection of winter, and then finally the vibrant regrowth and renewal of spring. Fall is a visible reminder that transition and change are, and will continue to be, a part of our collective experience. We are shown that letting go and surrendering to change are necessary for the next stage of life to occur. Fall is a visual representation of the idea that the transition itself is often just as beautiful as the outcome if we follow Mother Nature’s lead by not only allowing, but by even lovingly welcoming change. Even when we can’t see what’s on the other side, we must trust that we are being led to the very place we are meant to be all the time.

It’s fall.
What transition is calling you?

Colorado fall.