Not only is it the beginning of Fall in the Western calendar, it is a special period of two weeks called Pitṛ Pakṣa or the ‘Ancestral Fortnite’ in the Indian calendar.
I recently engaged in an ancestral ritual according to Indian tradition. It was simple, accessible, and felt deeply meaningful. I learned about the practice and basic theory behind it from Dr. Robert Svoboda, BAMS, the first Westerner licensed to practice Ayurveda in India, in his course available here.
I’m not traditionally a “I love fall” person. I know many of you are fall lovers but for me there’s something difficult about the transition from summer to autumn. This year, I’ve decided to give more space to the transition of the season and to depth and subtlety.
Also for your consideration, my clinical mentor and friend Dr. Scott Blossom, L.Ac. is part of a beautiful collaboration called Satsangam, a collective of top-notch Ayurvedic physicians and teachers on Indian wisdom culture. They are hosting a month-long exploration of death and dying through Indian Wisdom Traditions beginning Oct. 19th, and are offering an intro to the course on Oct 17th.
It might seem downtrodden to contemplate the ending (or supposed ending) of living while we are so very alive but trust me—it’s a very valuable use of time and an important consideration. Whether it is our own or another’s journey of passing, being more familiar and aware of death and dying is a useful and beneficial endeavor.