Magic is often thought of as complex, and it can easily be forgotten how simple and accessible it really is. I believe so many people love the autumn season because it is simply unavoidable to experience its simple and accessible magic. The temperature starts cooling, the leaves are changing color, and the enticing scent of pumpkin spice begins filling the air. A few of my fall faves include apple cider, warm baked goods, and gourds as far as the eye can see. The gorgeous fall colors, showing us that life is about to become cooler and cozier. The new beginnings of a new school year. Wearing comfy hoodies and sipping warm beverages all day long. And all the while the days grow shorter bringing, about a sense of calm and ease.

The magic of the season is ripe for enjoyment and easy to access in our everyday lives. The life of a suburban witch isn't about having to find ways to make things magical but instead realizing that everything already is magical, and making the most of it!

We live in much more secure environments than our ancestors did, and with the advent of air conditioning and and central heating we don't experience nature and seasonal changes with the same intensity people once did. This can leave us with a sense of disconnect to nature and the outdoors. But there are ways that we can remedy this feeling of disconnect. While the leaves outside are changing colors and the weather begins cooling down it only makes sense that the energy in our home is shifting as well.

To help us stay in tune with the shifting seasons, it can be helpful to bring into your home reminders of what is happening outside. This can be as simple as adding some fall foliage to your altar, bringing in autumn-themed decorations, or using fresh gourds to act as visuals. Something particularly powerful is bringing in essential oils or scents that can fill your home with the smells and energy of autumn. Below is a simmer pot recipe using very common kitchen ingredients (that you likely already have at home), which you can use to fill your home with a sense of harmony, warmth, and protection.

Autumn Simmer Pot
What You Need:

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 sliced apple
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean pod
• 2 cups water

Directions:
Add all the ingredients to a small pot on your stovetop and allow it to simmer. Monitor your simmer pot, and do not leave it unattended. Once the water level decreases, you will want to turn it off. Items in the simmer pot will begin to burn if they are no longer submerged in water.

Another wonderful way to stay in tune with the season is to begin cooking with ingredients that are harvested in autumn. We live in a timeline where we can get most any food item any time of the year. However, focusing on eating autumn foods in the autumn can help you stay in tune with what would naturally be harvested at this time of year. Foods like apples, pumpkins, squash, root vegetables, hearty greens, and my own personal favorite, pomegranates. When we focus on filling our bodies with foods that thrive and are harvested in the fall, we are also consuming that power and vitality when it is the most fresh and effective.

Intrinsically, I believe our bodies crave warm, hearty soups this time of the year because most are made from the types of foods harvested in autumn. My Crock Pot (aka, my Suburban Witches' Cauldron) sits proudly on the kitchen counter all season long, and often helps to fill the home with delicious aromas of autumn and abundance. Corn chowder, pumpkin soup, and butternut squash soup, are all tremendous examples of foods that celebrate the harvest of the season and nourish your body and soul.

Some Autumn Foods and Their Magical Benefits:
Pumpkin: Protection, Abundance, and Creativity
Squash: Protection, Abundance, and Grounding
Corn: Abundance, Resilience, and Fertility
Apple: Prosperity, Love, and Wisdom
Pear: Love, Longevity, and Abundance
Pomegranate: Growth, Rebirth, and Manifestation
Collard Greends: Protection, Wealth, and Resilience
Brussels Sprouts: Stability, Protection, and Grounding

With kids going back to school in the autumn, life begins to find a routine again. Even if you don't have kids in school, you will likely see a difference in your daily commute, with the re-emergence of more traffic, school buses on the road, and kids with backpacks walking to and from school. As a mom who takes her kids to school, I can say that getting back into the routine of the school year is very stabilizing. Enduring the school pick up and drop off lines, however, can be extremely stressful. But, there are magical additions we can make to something as seemingly mundane as school drop off or sitting in traffic. Different quartz crystals (each different type helping with different intentions) can be wonderful to keep in your vehicle for means of calming, clearing, and safe travels. Below are some helpful crystal suggestions to keep in your car.

Helpful Travel Crystals:
Smoky Quartz: Helps release anxiety and promote grounding for those with chaotic commutes.
Rose Quartz:Helps bring balance and patience for those stuck in carpool lines.
Clear Quartz:
Helps with focus and clarity for those who may have long commutes.

Reminder: When you keep crystals in your car, place them somewhere secure so that they can not become a distraction or interference while driving.

The light in the days may be growing shorter, but when the days can be filled with apple picking and going to pumpkin farms with hay rides and corn mazes, it's hard for me to complain. While these are often activities that are happening in more rural areas and not your typical suburb, you are likely to see pumpkins and dried corn stalks outside your local super markets. Your local coffee shop suddenly smells more like chai spices and pumpkin, and you are no longer sweating and trying to stay in the shade at your local farmer's market. The crispness in the air helps to remind us that now is a good time to ground and be thankful. Here is a wonderful grounding exercise I like to use.

Grounding Meditation
Sit or stand with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Take any hot beverage and stir it slowly three times in a clockwise motion. A cup of tea with a spoonful of honey or a chai tea with a cinnamon stick work wonderfully this time of year. Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out each time you stir, while focused on the liquid in the cup swirling clockwise. Afterwards, take a sip of the beverage and imagine that calming energy radiating through your body. Imagine as you feel the warmth enter your body that any stress is being pushed down through your feet, absorbed into the earth to melt away.

There are so many amazing ways that you can celebrate autumn while practicing accessible magic in the comfort of your own home or car. Suburban witchcraft is all about seeing the magic in what others consider mundane. I talk more about this in my new book, Witchcraft in the Cul de Sac: Practicing Magic in Suburbia. Autumn blessings to you all!

Kanani Soleil