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Autumnal sunshine tempts me into the garden, my bare feet soaking in the long, dewy grass. Blueberries, purple and plump, hang in cascades from the crimson-leaved branches, urging me to pluck them. I have watched them grow all Summer, and now they’re ready to harvest. And me? Have I grown all Summer? Is there anything to harvest? Plenty, it would seem. Inner work isn’t often obvious to the untrained eye.

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The afternoon grows lazy, wood smoke hangs in the air, and geese give a cursory nod as they head south. Against the apricot-hued skyline, apples cling to the trees. Don’t they know? This is the season for letting go.

The tenth month has rolled in like the thick fog girdled around my cosy cottage. “Gather in,” October whispers to me.

 

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By the hearth, I snuggle beneath a woolly blanket, sipping spicy Chai tea. Day’s end brings me here. The woodstove, containing an orchestra of spit, crackle, hiss and sizzle, is an inviting touchstone as the nights draw in.

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Little altars around our home become a focus for this colourful season: maple leaves, burgundy rosehips, marmalade-coloured pumpkins, hand-carved wooden bowls of lush blueberries, and shiny conkers.

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With wind in our hair, and a chill against our skin, October shows us that the Libran scales of justice stand firm. Truth will win. But before the month is over, Scorpio, zodiac sign of decay, letting go, and transformation will bring new lessons.

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It is interesting to me that this season of letting go is generally the most colourful one. Could it be, like human life, that it is at ‘harvest time’ that we become our most colourful, vibrant and dynamic?

Riding the storm

Riding the storm

I’m about to start putting together issue 5 of Starflower Living (a monthly online magazine).

The themes for this issue run alongside those of the New Moon in Scorpio: soul mates, sexuality, transformation, empowerment, letting go, old baggage, psychology, secrets, depth of character, compulsions, deep emotional connections, ancestors, debt, inheritance, jealousy, abandonment.

Health issues: sexual organs, organs of elimination, menstrual cycle, sexual infections.

The due date for articles, artwork, adverts and photos is tomorrow, October 4th. Please email your submission to me at: office (at) starflowerpress (dot) com or veronikarobinson (at) hotmail (dot) com

Before submitting, please be familiar with our publication.
http://www.starflowerpress.com/living/index.shtml

Love, Veronika xxx

If ever there was a zodiac sign to represent personal growth, it’s Scorpio. I am now taking submissions (writing and art/photography) for issue 5 of Starflower Living magazine.

Issue 5 themes for the New Moon in Scorpio (due date, October 4th): soul mates, sexuality, transformation, empowerment, letting go, grief, old baggage, psychology, secrets, depth of character, compulsions, deep emotional connections, ancestors, debt, inheritance, jealousy, abandonment. Health: sexual organs, organs of elimination, menstrual cycle, sexual infections. email: office at starflowerpress dot com

 

 

Some people, like myself, thrive on change. For others, it’s not so easy.

 

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Regardless of personality type, change is something we all face. It’s is part of human destiny, individually and collectively. Even Nature and the Universe are in a constant state of change. The planets are always moving, and the seasons on Mother Earth are always changing.

 

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Change, it seems, is inescapable. I wrote my children’s book Blue Jeans with the theme of change in mind.

Here’s how it was reviewed in The Mother magazine:

Blue Jeans, written by Veronika Sophia Robinson, and illustrated by Susan Merrick
www.veronikarobinson.com
www.susanmerrick.co.uk

Blue Jeans is a heart warming story that at its heart tugs at every mother’s heart. It’s the story of how children grow too quickly as is evidenced by the rate they grow out of their clothing.

Written from the perspective of a pair of blue jeans, this book covers quite a number of themes: moving, making new friends, accepting changes, letting go of someone we love, and the value of recycling and upcycling. While probably not meant to be the central themes of this book, they do come up and would make great talking points with younger children.

Blue Jeans belonged to a city family, but when he was outgrown, he moved to the country as hand-me-down jeans for a country cousin. On the farm at his new home, he quickly grows to love the differences between city and country and falls in love with the country way of life.

The book paints an idyllic picture of life, with TV-free evenings, children doing chores on the farm, gathering wood, collecting herbs and vegetables to store for the Winter and sell at the market.

When the mother in the story patches his knees and passes him on to a younger sibling, Blue Jeans is happy again to have a few more years of adventures with his country family.

Blue Jeans is perfect for those who enjoy a longer bed time story.

 

BlueJeanscoverAvailable from my website, Starflower Press, good bookshops, and online retailers.

Bluey'sCafecoverlowresBluey Miller lives a charmed life in Calico Bay, a small rural town on the east coast of Australia. She built her popular wholefood café from nothing, and it has garnered a well-deserved reputation for world foods. When her mother dies, Bluey discovers that there was far more to her mother’s life than she’d realised. Why so many secrets? As she begins to unravel her mother’s past, she’s left wondering about their relationship. They had been so close over the years, yet now Bluey feels like she didn’t know her at all. Her very identity hangs by a thread. Who am I? she wonders. Who was my mother?

Seemingly insurmountable challenges lie ahead, and Bluey must face them without her mother by her side. She finds strength from her local community and daily nourishment from the welcoming atmosphere of her café, but is this enough? Drawing succour from the Australian bushland around her, friendships, emerging spirituality, a life-changing romance, and the memories of good mother love, Bluey must somehow find enough courage to allow the best of the past to become the foundation for her future.

 

This is my second novel, and is available on Amazon, from good bookshops, www.starflowerpress.com or www.veronikarobinson.com I do hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed telling Bluey’s story. Love, Veronika x