It’s getting to be that time of year again. When I go into the woods, I can feel them watching me. Every summer I all but forget about them. Every fall I am reminded of them in no uncertain way. It’s almost as if all the lush leaves of summer put up a living, pulsing screen that I can’t see through, or perhaps choose not to see through. In the summer I see life, I see energy, I see consumption.
 |
| They are everywhere. |
But in the fall, that all goes
away. The screen falls. The pulsation slows to a crawl. Hallowe’en is almost upon us, and the darker
fairies are waking up. They’re coming
out again. At first, it’s just a
flitting shadow here and there. But then
they stay longer and more of them come. They
were there all along, but they remained hidden.
Now the dark part of the year is upon us, and they are growing braver. It’s their turn, and this is the law of our
world. One aspect gives way to the
other.
You can hear them in the rustling
of the leaves. You can smell them on the
wind, that semi-sweet, decaying, sour scent--a different kind of Prana. You can hear a clicking sound, the sound of
bare twigs scratching. They are getting
bolder. Everywhere you see their
eyes. Pay attention. Listen.
Look. They are watching you. Don’t stay in the forest too long.
