How Cultivating Your Inner Hestia Can Help Prepare You For Fall
As a therapist and coach, one of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen people make is that they don’t prepare themselves emotionally for Fall and Winter.
Sure, they might get caught up in the pumpkin-spice and holiday frenzy, but as the weather turns colder and the days grow longer, most people don’t realize the emotions they haven’t processed start to catch up with them.
We’ve already talked about the Spiritual Lessons of Fall and how Fall is the season of transformation and release, and we’ve also covered how the Greek Goddess Hestia is the unofficial Goddess of Fall, and today we’re going to put those two together.
One of the reasons I love working with the Goddess Hestia as an archetype, particularly during this time of year, is because she helps support us emotionally and prepare us psychologically for the upcoming seasons.
So today, we’re going to talk about 5 reasons why cultivating your inner Hestia is one of the best things you can do for your mental and emotional health this season.
#1: Fall is the Season of Turning Inward & Turning Inward is Hestia’s Domain
When we look at the Wheel of the Year, every season has a different kind of energy associated with it.
Fall marks a time when we turn from the extroverted energy of Summer to a more introverted, inward-facing energy.
It doesn’t mean that we turn into complete hermits, but it does mean that our energy shifts from one that is focused on what we are doing and creating out in the world to how we feel in our homes and within ourselves.
As an archetype, Hestia’s focus is the inner landscape. She could care less what everyone else is doing and saying on Instagram, what the political landscape is, and to be honest, she’s not all that focused on what’s going on around her.
Instead, she is focused on what is happening within her.
Hestia knows that when she can keep herself centered, the rest of life will be manageable.
Fall is the season where we are meant to slow down, turn inward, and take inventory of our lives. It’s a time to process what’s happened this year, a time to release that which no longer serves us, and a time to really get clear about what we need in our lives moving forward.
So ask yourself: What have you been putting off in your emotional life that you actually need to address? What have you been trying to push down, avoid, or ignore in the hopes that it would just go away or because you’re afraid of actually looking at it?
This is your work this season.
#2: Fall is the Season of Release & Hestia Helps Us Discern What to Let Go Of
Hestia is the kind of woman who know who she is and what she wants. She is extremely clear about what adds to her world and what doesn’t, and she’s not afraid to give the axe to the things that destroy her peace.
Given that Fall is the season of release, Hestia’s energy combines perfectly with Fall.
This is the season where we are called to let go of the things, people, habits, and beliefs that are no longer serving us. Even when it’s hard. Event when it hurts.
When you start to work with and cultivate your inner Hestia, you get straight to your soul’s desires. You’ll become crystal clear on the things you need to move on from and even more so, you’ll feel a sense of peace about doing it.
It’s not that you won’t also experience some grief in the process of letting go, but that you’ll have a sense of acceptance about it.
You’ll recognize that protecting your peace is of utmost importance in life and the longer you keep around the people, habits, and beliefs don’t serve you, the more you’re just doing yourself a disservice in the long-run.
#3: Hestia is the Goddess of All Things Cozy & Fall is the Season of Coziness
When I was thinking about how to explain this to you, the thought popped into my head that Hestia is kind of the Martha Stewart of the Ancient World. (God help me on that analogy, but it’s kind of true.)
As the Goddess of the Home and the Hearth, Hestia wasn’t found much in mythology, but she was always present in rituals in the house.
Hestia is the one who knows how to create a cozy, welcoming home environment that will nurture herself and her family.
She knows that aesthetics make a difference, that clutter leads to internal chaos (“Messy bed, Messy head”), and that nothing beats coming home to a pair of cozy sweats, a fire in the hearth, and a bubbling stew on the stove.
There’s a reason why countries like Denmark and Norway have Hygge, a way of living that prioritizes things like comfort, togetherness, and atmosphere during the colder winter months. They know that in order to stay psychologically healthy, they have to adapt their lifestyle (including their routines) to accommodate for the weather.
One of my favorite aspects of working with Hestia is that she encourages us to turn our homes into cozy, welcoming sanctuaries that make it easy and delightful for us to slow down, rest, and connect more deeply to ourselves and loved ones during the Fall & Winter months.
And by the way, this is a very underrated but useful mental health hack this time of year!
#4: Hestia is the Force That Brings Us Back to Our Center
Although it’s important to stay as centered as you can year round, there’s something about the Fall season that makes it particularly good timing to come back home to yourself.
During the Spring and Summer, the weather starts to get better and we are ready to get out into the sunshine and fresh air after being cooped up all Winter. And don’t get me wrong, this is a delightful time of year!
But I also think there’s something so refreshing about giving yourself permission to slow down, recoup, and reconnect with yourself during the Fall & Winter.
As an archetype, Hestia is the psychic force (or the aspect of our psyches) that longs for a deep connection with the Self, with the Soul. She’s the part of you who knows who she is, what she wants, and can help you access the intuition to get there.
When we are busy keeping up with politics, pop culture, and even focusing on what’s happening with our friends, coworkers, and neighbors, we inevitably get pulled off-center.
When we are focused on hustling, pushing, striving, and achieving, we can so easily forget who we are, why we’re doing it, and what really matters in life.
Hestia is that tiny voice that tells you to slow down, stop consuming so much content and focusing on other people’s opinions, and to reconnect with what you know to be true about you.
And Fall is such a beautiful time to do this.
#5: Hestia Knows How to Cultivate Joy Even When the World is at its Darkest
We live in a culture that is obsessed with negativity, tragedy, and trauma.
Don’t believe me? Turn on the news and tell me how good you feel after just a few minutes of that sh*t.
When we’re constantly bombarded with what’s wrong in the wrong, it can be really easy to assume that that’s just how life is. But the truth is, that perception is a choice.
Now, I’m not saying we should deny the problems in the world or turn a blind eye to them, only that we should temper that negativity by consciously cultivating joy and more positivity.
As the weather turns colder and the days grow shorter, it can be easy to mourn the loss of the long, sunshiney days of Summer.
But this is also an opportunity to find and create pockets of joy for ourselves throughout the colder Winter months.
Hestia is one of my favorite resources to help us do this, because she is not a flashy goddess who needs some big party to be happy. Instead, she teaches us how to find joy in the everyday, simple moments.
There’s delight to be found in the crispness of the morning air, a warm cup of tea in the afternoon, and evening cuddles with your partner or pets.
Sometimes, we have to make the most of those moments, because they’re what carry us through to the sunnier chapters of our lives.
A quick note: If you’re new to my work (or even if you’re not and need the reminder), you don’t have to see Hestia as a literal goddess or a deity to be worshipped. It is equally as powerful to see her as an archetype, an aspect of your psyche or personality that you are working with and calling ‘Hestia.’ Or call her something else. It’s up to you.