Circle-of-Life Teachings | Yucca

Yuccas carry symbolism in many cultures, notably for their enduring strength, resilience, and purification.

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

A midafternoon rainstorm was a gentle nudge from the universe to clean out my patio and bring plants indoors for the season with the cooler temps arriving in Colorado. I had been dreading throwing out two beautiful yuccas that did not last; they (like us) needed more of the Earth to fully take root.

More accurately, these infamous drought resistant yuccas had been overly drenched in spring snowmelt without an adequate drainage system. For months on end, I couldn’t bear to return my sacred yuccas back to the land, as they were a memorial of a beloved horse of the same namesake who had transitioned to Spirit.

The yuccas’ vibrant spiral of green leaves now dried golden-yellow carried a new resonance, a marker of time, a reminder of the transitory nature of life’s impermanence and necessary environmental balance. I considered saving the leaves to weave into a new art piece or canvas, yet nothing felt it could capture the sentiment of the gallant horse’s imprint on my heart.

With wind gusts picking up, it finally dawned on me. I had to look closer at the inward message of the yuccas. Where was I drowning in grief? Where was I in a standstill of indecision? Where was I seeking more energetic alignment?

After a powerful year of awakening, it was time to compassionately “let go” and “reroot” on a deeper soul level. It was time to start joyfully living again, embodied and in sync with the determination, knowingness, and ease of the remarkable thoroughbred’s most memorable cantor. In light of the Autumn Equinox, may we bravely open our hearts to honor the transformational gifts of the season, the interconnectedness of being, and all that lies true within.