Autumn's Lesson: Shedding the Old Stories of Patriarchy

The season of autumn arrives like an old wise woman, reminding us of the beauty in release. The trees let go of their leaves with grace, each one a golden prayer offered back to the Earth. There is no fear in their surrender, no clinging to what has already served its purpose. In this way, the forest teaches us what our spirits already know: that letting go is sacred within the turning of the wheel.

This season, we are invited to release not only what fills our homes and calendars, but also what weighs on our souls. For many women, this means turning our attention to the deep work of shedding the old stories of patriarchy that we have carried within us and that were never ours to hold.

The Hidden Roots of Patriarchy Within

Patriarchy does not only live in laws or institutions; it burrows inside, taking root in our thoughts and shaping the way we see ourselves.

It whispers: Be smaller. Be quieter. Please others before yourself.It teaches us to apologize for our voices, to doubt our wisdom, to measure our worth against impossible standards.It tells us we must sacrifice our needs to be loved, or silence our truth to stay safe.

And perhaps most painfully, patriarchy seeks to divide women from one another.It plants seeds of competition, jealousy, and mistrust. It teaches us to compare ourselves, to judge one another harshly, to feel threatened instead of supported. It tells us there is not enough space for us all to shine.

These are not our truths. They are inherited burdens, dried leaves clinging to our branches.

Autumn Leaves

The Sacred Invitation of Autumn

Autumn reminds us that release is not loss, it is an opening. When the trees drop their leaves they trust the cycle, knowing that what is let go will return as nourishment for the soil.

So too can we bless and release the stories of internalized patriarchy. We can offer them back to the Earth, trusting that in their place, new life will one day rise.

This season, let us choose to release the voices that keep us small, and the shadows that keep us separate. Let us remember that we are not rivals, but sisters.

Practices for Spiritual Release

1. Witness the Inner Voice – When you hear yourself diminishing or silencing your truth, pause. Ask: Where does this voice come from, where is it rooted?

2. Stand as the Tree – Root your feet on the earth, lift your arms wide, and breathe as if you are the World Tree itself. Claim your place here.

3. Offer to the Wind – Write down beliefs that are not yours to carry. Whisper them to the leaves, burn them in fire, or release them to the autumn wind.

4. Sisterhood Over Separation – Notice when the old voices try to pit you against another woman. Instead of feeding them, offer a blessing: May she be free, as I long to be free. In this way, you unbind both yourself and her.

   
   

   Journaling as Ceremony

   
   

When you sit to write, make it sacred. Light a candle, call in your ancestors, and breathe as though you are sitting at the foot of an ancient oak.

• The Old Voice: What words or beliefs arise that feel heavy, limiting, or untrue to your spirit?

• The Division: Where have you felt patriarchy turning you against other women, or yourself? How has this harmed your sense of sisterhood?

• The Offering: What story or role are you ready to lay down this season? Imagine it as a leaf in your hand, laid upon the earth.

• The Blessing: Write an affirmation to replace what is released. For example:

  “I am not in competition. I am in communion. My voice is sacred, her voice is sacred, and together we rise.”

  
  

When you finish, lift your writing to your heart, then release it, bury it, burn it, or let the wind carry it away. Trust that the Earth will transform it into new life.

Closing Blessing

This autumn, as the trees lay down their leaves, may you too find the courage to lay down what is no longer yours to carry. May the Earth hold your burdens, and may the returning light reveal not only your unbound spirit—but also the truth that we were never meant to walk alone.

Please share your thoughts on this post below...would love to be blessed by your wisdom.

With love and seasoned faith,

Wren

Art by Dasha Bobkova

Grandmother Wisdom:

Dear child….how is it that you are balancing this life of yours?  How are you managing to attend to the wonder that this life holds as well as the sorrow and the grief?  As my light dims for a time, can you hold to the spark that I ignite within you?  As my dark cloak covers the earth, can you rest and have faith that in the darkness there is also magic, renewal, peace?  Take stock, dear one, and see how my rhythms ebb and flow, wax and wane, that in life there is death, and in death, life flourishes.  Trust that I am close, even in the times where you feel alone and afraid, I am close when you dance and laugh and play.  The secret to life is to trust in the balance, that all will be fine in the end, all will be as it needs to be.