Turkey Takes Center Stage
There’s no getting around it. This has been a turbulent year for humans. And yes, Turkey knows Hedgehog said the same thing when she offered her wisdom as last year ended. Turkey does hope you took her advice—kept your belly to the ground, ate well, and made time to play.
Over this past year, Turkey has kept to her normal routine, out of sight, out of mind. All the hens have been hanging together, while the Tom’s found their own place to be. Somehow, they survived and you did, too. That is something to be grateful for.
Now that the harvest is in, and humans are no longer wandering through the fields and meadows, Turkey Hen has stepped back into the open. Never traveling far, she’s gained the attention of the posse of Tom’s who have come strutting out to join her.
Turkey knows something humans often forget: abundance is never separate from sacrifice. Every meal on our tables comes from a long chain of giving. Turkey asks you to remember the truth: that gratitude is not a decoration of the season, but a way of honoring all the lives that sustain us. When we recognize that bond, abundance becomes something deeper than having enough — it completes the circle that connects us.
It’s more important than ever to come together, to stay connected to community. Even when you don’t agree on everything. Find common ground. Hold onto what binds you.
But before you do that, take a moment to gather yourself. When there is so much change in the air, when the world comes at you like a firehose, pieces of yourself can get scattered — and quietly lost. Now’s the time. In this sunset season, we naturally turn inward, looking back at where we’ve been. The ups and downs. The things that worked and those that fell flat. Release them. Let them fall to the ground like the leaves of autumn’s trees. Let them become the compost that will fertilize the next year.
While you’re at it, flutter your feathers in all their glorious colors. You are beautiful — just as you are. Gather your power.
Most of all, breathe the air. Put your feet on the ground. Feel the vibration of the earth. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
As you do, Turkey asks: in this time of great upheaval and deep change, what would you like to leave behind on the forest floor of this waning year? What will you carry forward, close to your heart? And what new life is waiting in the dark soil beneath you, ready to rise in its own time?
This season calls you back to yourself — to presence, to gratitude, to the quiet power that comes when you remember your place in the great circle of giver and receiver, eater and eaten, held and holding.
When you gather with others, may you first gather yourself.
