As I’m working on the final preparations for my promotional photoshoot later today, I’m reflecting back on a deeply transformative month. Pulling from Carr-Gomm's plant oracle this morning brought it all into focus: The Banes, Meadowsweet, and Reversed Flax. Together, they mirror the exact terrain I’ve been walking.
On the 1st of August, we celebrated Lughnasadh at Siren. Just like the two years before, it was a quiet, calm celebration—a much-needed balm after a crazy Summer Solstice and a fiery, unpredictable July. In the cards, Meadowsweet acts as this exact medicine: the soothing, gentle grace that cools spiritual inflammation and restores peace after season-long friction. Yesterday, I went out to pick rye from the fields as they have begun harvesting all that gold. I use the rye as an offering back to the land, for small corn dollies, and for the Celtic Crosses we make during Imbolc in February. The ones I made this year will be burned during the Winter Solstice to symbolize the return of the sun and a promise of summer ahead.
Picture taken by Fredrik
August held beauty and milestone moments, too. I played at a wonderful wedding and was responsible for the bride’s hair—such an honor to be part of an intimate ceremony with friends and family present. The salon has been busy with pre-school and pre-work guests; thank you for your trust with me! A proper salon chair was finally installed and slowly, bit by bit, things begin to fall into place.
Yet beneath that progress, Reversed Flax was quietly unspooling old habits. Upright, Flax speaks to structure and binding expectations; reversed, it is the untangling of frayed threads so you can re-weave your life on your own terms. Since March, I've been relentless on myself to establish changes, boundaries, and a stronger fundament for Siren, as I've been a notorious people-pleaser. Standing my ground has proven to be tough, I am not going to lie. People only support you as far as they feel you are of use to them, the world is unsure, livelihoods are unsure, and without social media you have to fight harder to be visible in different ways. But I feel that the relationships built through my work are stronger now, and I love that we exchange stories here at Siren.
August became an intensive crash course in confronting The Banes—releasing the toxic patterns, heavy expectations, and boundary breaches that siphon energy. Releasing what no longer serves wasn't just a lesson to study; I simply felt I didn't want to have a choice anymore. Either people walk over you or you don't let them walk over you. That choice was up to me, and I took it. That made August incredibly quiet in many different ways, perfectly in alignment with the upcoming season.
I wanted my celebrations to be authentic again. I want to charge my worth with 15 to 25 years of experience in my specific fields. The Siren logo changed and I also promised myself a bit of a professional distance. My studies are reaching the point where I will be signing up for exams, and behind the scenes, there are processes going on that I cannot entirely share about just yet.
Now with the Full Moon in Pisces (my own sign) and a lunar eclipse at that, the time has arrived to say goodbye to August, as well as the cycles, connections, and stories until now that haven't kept their place in my life. With some it’s bittersweet, and yet, for the new to arrive, the old has to wither and die away. As the winter season begins to approach and the garden provides the last bits of food before I prepare all the beds for autumn sowing, I too notice that it's time to go inward again—taking care of my body, my mind, as well as my spirit. Looking back, I have achieved so much this year, despite how often I felt I was on the losing side.
We spend so much of our lives tending to everyone else's soil, forgetting that our own land needs protection to bloom. I am no longer asking for permission to stand firm or charge what my mastery is worth—I am simply living it. Here’s to stripping away the noise, honoring the quiet, and welcoming whatever is meant to find us next.
May your harvest be earned, protected, and entirely your own,
Lene
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