It's no secret that summer is my favorite season. I think most people feel that way. It's when everything is alive, warm, and people can get out of the house and live life to the fullest. You hear people talk a lot about bad winters, but you never hear someone say, "it's going to be a bad summer."
But there is certainly something to say about autumn. Millions of people love the colors and cool breezes, and I do as well, but there's always been something more profound for me about the season for the past 19 years. It was the first time I experienced the spirituality of the Greek Gods, and namely at the time, one was Artemis.
I grew up in a forest in central rural North Carolina, which rested down inside of a shallow valley. In my young adult years, I continued to live there, but all throughout my time growing up, I loved to venture through the mysterious woodlands of the countryside. Sometimes, I would even find intriguing wonders, such as new creeks and abandoned farming structures and equipment. But nothing compared to the natural beauty that increased with each step I took. Each grove, field or grouping of trees was more gorgeous than the last. It was like walking farther and farther away from the old world I came from, which as I child, I mostly found no peace or support in.
Then, in 2005 and into 2006, I first began exploring Hellenism as a religious and spiritual concept. Of course, as a school student, I had learned some of Greek Myth in my literature and history classes, so it was not as if I was unfamiliar. But seeing the movie Troy revived my interest in ancient Greece like never before. Of course, such a movie is about Hollywood entertainment, not the Hellenic religion and The Iliad itself, and I understood that. But I began to feel Her (Artemis) all around me, being a lover and resident of a forest. And I wondered how I could best get into contact with Her.
During this time, autumn in North Carolina was setting in, and in a State with such lush woodlands, the colorful majesty is always indescribable. The array of colors around me brought the first time I walked into the forests and tried to connect with Artemis. The immense peace and intrigue alone that I was given during this start of my journey was one of the most wonderful gifts ever blessed upon me.
So while I'm always a bit sad to say goodbye to summer, it's also true that autumn, and as well as all other seasons, have beautiful and wonderful purpose. Not just in my own life, but that of all the universe around us. In those forests of my younger days and at the start of my newer life, Artemis showed me just how beautiful and wonderful life is, in a far greater and more enlightened way than I had ever realized. I will always be grateful and love Her dearly for those memories and upbringings.
In the Goodness of the Gods,
I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,
Chris Aldridge.