Hello Everyone
On Halloween I watched a wee leaf clinging on for dear life to its tree in the blustery wind and rain and it inspired me to write this little tale for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. It’s a fairly long read so grab a mug of something deliciously delightful and find a cosy, candlelit space before you begin.
“Once upon a lifetime, on a cold, dark, wet and windy Halloween night there was a Little Leaf clinging desperately on to a lifeless Mother Tree from which it was birthed.
It could see nothing below apart from the darkness of the unknown, but it could hear the screams of what could only be the ghosts and ghouls of Halloween.
The wind began to blow harder and this, along with the weight of the rain upon the shrivelled body of the Little Leaf, meant it was becoming weaker and weaker. It was also crippled by anxiety at the terrifying thought of falling into that dark abyss below.
And then it heard the Mother Tree whisper, “my darling you, always remember that before there was light there was darkness.”
The Little Leaf respectfully thanked its Mother for her words but didn’t listen to their wisdom and instead thought to itself, “well that’s a pile of *****, what good is that to me now as I cling here ready to fall to my death!”
In that moment, The Wind puffed up his cheeks and blew fiercely into the face of the Little Leaf. It was wrenched from the safety of the Mother Tree and hurled up way into the night sky.
It was absolutely paralysed with fear now and couldn’t breathe. Its eyes were clasped tightly shut as it did not want to see the death and destruction that awaited below.
It was then that it heard a second whisper, this time from The Wind itself. “Don’t be afraid little one, open your eyes.”
“No thank you Sir,” said the little leaf, “I’d rather not.”
“That’s a shame” said The Wind, “you’re missing an amazing movie, and we have the best seats up here in the starlit sky.”
The Little Leaf was perplexed.
It was about to fall to its untimely death and The Wind was inviting it to go and see a movie instead, jeeeezus, what was this world coming to!!
However, it had nothing to lose so it opened its eyes.
The movie was called “The Great Remembering” and was based upon the life of the Mother Tree whose whispers it hadn’t listened to just a few minutes before.
The Little Leaf watched and saw that, before its birth, the Mother Tree had spent a long time as a seed within the dark womb of Grand Mother Earth during Winter. It needed that dark place in order to grow strong roots.
Without the warmth and protection of that dark place those roots would never have thrived, enabling Mother Tree to be born at the Winter Solstice when the light returned and shone upon Grand Mother Earth once more.
The Little Leaf was subsequently shown in that big movie theatre in the sky, that without the darkness the Mother Tree would never have been able to grow into a little seedling during Spring nor into a young adult tree where it gave birth to the Little Leaf itself in the Summer.
It also saw that without that initial darkness the Little Leaf wouldn’t have been there in the first place to experience the following miracles of the year gone by:
The Little Leaf felt exhilarated.
What a lifetime it had experienced, all thanks to the initial darkness and the growth of the Mother Tree of which it had been birthed from.
The Wind blew the Little Leaf further up into the air and asked, “can you see anything else down below my little friend?”
The Little Leaf who was now feeling pretty courageous looked down to the earth fearlessly.
In the distance it could see a warm, cosy patchwork quilt on the ground made up of leaves that looked just like it yet we’re ever so slightly different.
Despite that difference they looked very welcoming, their wet leaves glistening with raindrops in the darkness.
The Little Leaf remembered that they were the friends it had grown up with in the treetops of life and they seemed to be beckoning the Little Leaf to join them.
It also realised that these were the voices of the so-called ghosts and ghouls it had heard earlier but it was fear and limited beliefs that had made them into scary screams.
These voices were becoming louder again but this time they were eagerly encouraging the Little Leaf to fall from the sky, “just let go” they shouted, “we’ll catch you!”
And it did just that.
It let go of all those previous fears, limited beliefs and Great Forgettings.
As the Little Leaf drifted downwards it smiled at The Wind, winked at the stars and gave thanks to the darkness for the life of the Mother Tree and the light she had gifted to the world.
The Little Leaf fell effortlessly towards the ground and to the warmth of its new home where it lived happily ever after, sound in the knowledge that its soul purpose was to become fertiliser for new life to be born once more amidst the darkness.
The End.”
Is it the end or just a new beginning my friend as the Wheel of the Year turns once more?
Whether you believe in fairy stories, the festival of Halloween, the festival of Samhain or in nothing at all, I want to wish you all the energy of new beginnings as a seasonal New Year begins.
Just like that little leaf did, I also invite you to remember that we humans also need both darkness and light to thrive and grow but we too have to be willing to firstly surrender to that darkness.
Some of us may at times also need the help of a gust of wind or other fallen leaves to remind us that the dark doesn’t need to be a scary place, so please reach out if you need to; whether that be to a friend, a health professional or just to yourself with a journal, a cuppa, a nap or a delightful book.
It’s time for me to also take the journey of the Little Leaf and begin my Winter hibernation period.
In my cave I’ll be continuing to slow down and reach even deeper into the darkness in eager anticipation of my next rebirth whether that be as fertiliser or as a wee seed!
As such I’ll be mirroring Mother Nature and turning inwards which means lots of “being” in the form of rest and reflection and less “doing” in the form of socialising and continuing to step back from social media for a bit.
Before I begin my retreat I want to thank you with all my heart for your love, support and friendship over the past year.
Have a restful Winter, stay well, and take good care of yourself.
I’ll see you when the snowdrops pop their heads up once more.
Maureen xx
On Halloween I watched a wee leaf clinging on for dear life to its tree in the blustery wind and rain and it inspired me to write this little tale for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. It’s a fairly long read so grab a mug of something deliciously delightful and find a cosy, candlelit space before you begin.
“Once upon a lifetime, on a cold, dark, wet and windy Halloween night there was a Little Leaf clinging desperately on to a lifeless Mother Tree from which it was birthed.
It could see nothing below apart from the darkness of the unknown, but it could hear the screams of what could only be the ghosts and ghouls of Halloween.
The wind began to blow harder and this, along with the weight of the rain upon the shrivelled body of the Little Leaf, meant it was becoming weaker and weaker. It was also crippled by anxiety at the terrifying thought of falling into that dark abyss below.
And then it heard the Mother Tree whisper, “my darling you, always remember that before there was light there was darkness.”
The Little Leaf respectfully thanked its Mother for her words but didn’t listen to their wisdom and instead thought to itself, “well that’s a pile of *****, what good is that to me now as I cling here ready to fall to my death!”
In that moment, The Wind puffed up his cheeks and blew fiercely into the face of the Little Leaf. It was wrenched from the safety of the Mother Tree and hurled up way into the night sky.
It was absolutely paralysed with fear now and couldn’t breathe. Its eyes were clasped tightly shut as it did not want to see the death and destruction that awaited below.
It was then that it heard a second whisper, this time from The Wind itself. “Don’t be afraid little one, open your eyes.”
“No thank you Sir,” said the little leaf, “I’d rather not.”
“That’s a shame” said The Wind, “you’re missing an amazing movie, and we have the best seats up here in the starlit sky.”
The Little Leaf was perplexed.
It was about to fall to its untimely death and The Wind was inviting it to go and see a movie instead, jeeeezus, what was this world coming to!!
However, it had nothing to lose so it opened its eyes.
The movie was called “The Great Remembering” and was based upon the life of the Mother Tree whose whispers it hadn’t listened to just a few minutes before.
The Little Leaf watched and saw that, before its birth, the Mother Tree had spent a long time as a seed within the dark womb of Grand Mother Earth during Winter. It needed that dark place in order to grow strong roots.
Without the warmth and protection of that dark place those roots would never have thrived, enabling Mother Tree to be born at the Winter Solstice when the light returned and shone upon Grand Mother Earth once more.
The Little Leaf was subsequently shown in that big movie theatre in the sky, that without the darkness the Mother Tree would never have been able to grow into a little seedling during Spring nor into a young adult tree where it gave birth to the Little Leaf itself in the Summer.
It also saw that without that initial darkness the Little Leaf wouldn’t have been there in the first place to experience the following miracles of the year gone by:
- The growth of its leafy friends on the nearby branches during Midsummer.
- The stories of the owls and other creatures that lived amongst the branches of the Mother Tree.
- The birth and harvest of the juicy fruits on the Mother Tree during her first harvest in late Summer.
- The bountiful crop of ruby red berries that were the result of a second harvest that year during the Autumn Equinox.
- The gift of oxygen that Mother Tree gave back to Grandmother Earth in gratitude for her own birth.
The Little Leaf felt exhilarated.
What a lifetime it had experienced, all thanks to the initial darkness and the growth of the Mother Tree of which it had been birthed from.
The Wind blew the Little Leaf further up into the air and asked, “can you see anything else down below my little friend?”
The Little Leaf who was now feeling pretty courageous looked down to the earth fearlessly.
In the distance it could see a warm, cosy patchwork quilt on the ground made up of leaves that looked just like it yet we’re ever so slightly different.
Despite that difference they looked very welcoming, their wet leaves glistening with raindrops in the darkness.
The Little Leaf remembered that they were the friends it had grown up with in the treetops of life and they seemed to be beckoning the Little Leaf to join them.
It also realised that these were the voices of the so-called ghosts and ghouls it had heard earlier but it was fear and limited beliefs that had made them into scary screams.
These voices were becoming louder again but this time they were eagerly encouraging the Little Leaf to fall from the sky, “just let go” they shouted, “we’ll catch you!”
And it did just that.
It let go of all those previous fears, limited beliefs and Great Forgettings.
As the Little Leaf drifted downwards it smiled at The Wind, winked at the stars and gave thanks to the darkness for the life of the Mother Tree and the light she had gifted to the world.
The Little Leaf fell effortlessly towards the ground and to the warmth of its new home where it lived happily ever after, sound in the knowledge that its soul purpose was to become fertiliser for new life to be born once more amidst the darkness.
The End.”
Is it the end or just a new beginning my friend as the Wheel of the Year turns once more?
Whether you believe in fairy stories, the festival of Halloween, the festival of Samhain or in nothing at all, I want to wish you all the energy of new beginnings as a seasonal New Year begins.
Just like that little leaf did, I also invite you to remember that we humans also need both darkness and light to thrive and grow but we too have to be willing to firstly surrender to that darkness.
Some of us may at times also need the help of a gust of wind or other fallen leaves to remind us that the dark doesn’t need to be a scary place, so please reach out if you need to; whether that be to a friend, a health professional or just to yourself with a journal, a cuppa, a nap or a delightful book.
It’s time for me to also take the journey of the Little Leaf and begin my Winter hibernation period.
In my cave I’ll be continuing to slow down and reach even deeper into the darkness in eager anticipation of my next rebirth whether that be as fertiliser or as a wee seed!
As such I’ll be mirroring Mother Nature and turning inwards which means lots of “being” in the form of rest and reflection and less “doing” in the form of socialising and continuing to step back from social media for a bit.
Before I begin my retreat I want to thank you with all my heart for your love, support and friendship over the past year.
Have a restful Winter, stay well, and take good care of yourself.
I’ll see you when the snowdrops pop their heads up once more.
Maureen xx
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