Ode to Autumn
Like many people, I enjoy creating nature arrangements for each season. I usually try to include something symbolic of each of the four elements as done with earth-based religious altars. While I do not subscribe to a particular nature-worshipping religion, such as paganism, I do embrace the pantheistic belief in the Divine as immanent; the Divine existing in everything and everything having a Divine aspect. (After all, didn't God create the universe from Godself?) The earth element can be symbolized by rocks or crystals, or anything that is grown in the earth. My fall arrangement includes dried grasses, pumpkins, and pine cones. The pumpkins remind us of nature's abundance, especially present at harvest time, while the dried grasses and seeds add a touch of melancholy to the scene because I always hate to see summer go. Throughout history, pine cones have been a symbol of human enlightenment, resurrection, eternal life and rege...