Writing by Clover
What does your spiritual practice look like when you need to rest?
In this Artists’ Gallery contribution, Clover shares a personal reflection on the Fallow Time. This is the period between Samhain and Yule that she makes space for in her own practice. After the energy, emotion, and ritual of Samhain, this quieter season offers an opportunity to rest, reflect, and replenish.
Drawing inspiration from fields left unsown to restore their fertility, Clover explores how we can nurture our spiritual lives without expecting ourselves to be endlessly productive. Journaling, meditation, and simple, mindful routines can help us stay connected while making room to recover.
Her piece offers a gentle reminder: we have seasons, too.
We’re grateful to Clover for sharing this meaningful part of her practice with our community.
Find the artist: Witchybunny on Instagram
Read “The Fallow Time: Magic in Rest” below.
The Fallow Time: Magic in Rest
By Clover
When Samhain comes to a close and we’re all coming down from the excitement and various rituals welcoming our beloved dead, there’s a lot of energy that we’ve raised by this point. Yule feels like the home stretch for the year, and the wheel keeps turning. But what do we do about all that energy spent at Samhain? Grief and catharsis are not uncommon feelings during this time of year, and the Fallow Time gives us a period to recuperate before Yule.
A fallow period in farming is when the soil has been plowed and prepared, but is left unsown in order to restore its fertility. This comes after a big harvest– though it must be done regardless of yield. It doesn’t matter if the harvest was bountiful or if things just wouldn’t grow, the soil still needs to be replenished. A field can’t be fertile all the time, and neither should we be expected to be.
When it comes to our spirituality, a lot of us can get caught up in practicing “enough,” or feeling like we need to be doing more rituals, more spells, more of whatever connects us to that energy. It gets exhausting! Everyone goes through periods where they need rest; expecting us to be “on” all the time is unreasonable, even the most active of practitioners.
So, what can we do during the Fallow Time that will help us feel spiritually fulfilled while not over-exerting ourselves? The first step is not to panic when you realize you’ve hit that point. There’s no good that will come from admonishing yourself for needing rest; every person has different goals, and there’s no race to meet them. Something you can do to ground yourself during this time might be journaling or meditation; figure out what you want to prioritize in your practice and just focus on that for now. Keep your routines simple, but stick to them. Shorten your prayers or meditations if you need to, read in smaller increments, study one rune or tarot card a week. Prayer and ritual don’t have to be long, elaborate events, just do them with mindful intent and know the work you’re able to do is enough. Doing a little is always better than doing none.
If you find yourself coming to difficulty practicing certain parts of your routine, take a few minutes to meditate or journal and try to figure out why. Is it something you just don’t have the energy for right now, or are you discovering that this particular activity might not fit into your practice the way you expected? Use this time to take inventory of what works for you, and tailor your spiritual priorities from there.
What the Fallow Time is not is an excuse to give up. Rest is important for the next step, whatever it is, and hard work takes time. You can’t always see the results of your work right away, but that isn’t a reason to quit working towards what it is you’re resting for in the first place. This is the time of year that the days get short and dark, but the wheel keeps turning and we’ll feel the sun again soon. The Fallow Time is temporary, and the best way out is through.
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This work is part of the Pagan Community Retreat Artist Gallery, celebrating art, craft, writing, poetry, music, and other creative work from across the pagan community.
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