Letting Go and Moving Forward: Ramadan, Fall Equinox, Yom Kippur

This is a season of religious holidays, including Ramadan, the Fall Equinox, and the High Holy Days (including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).

One of the things I find liberating about Unitarian Universalism is that there is no prohibition on learning from and engaging with other faith traditions. In fact, it is encouraged. I don’t take this to mean I must accept wholeheartedly all the beliefs and rituals of another tradition. Rather, it means I can learn about these traditions, appreciate what they illuminate in my own life, and notice the places where we part ways.

Here are a few links to posts that reflect on the fall observances of Islam, Paganism, and Judaism. These aren’t overviews of the holidays’ histories and meaning, but rather are personal insights from people within each tradition. One theme that rang out to me, as I read, was the theme of letting go of some things and starting a new phase of the year.

Abdur Rahman, Ramadan: A Time of Intrusion, at Abdur Rahman’s Corner

Rahman writes about how the rituals and discipline of Ramadan move participants to deeper introspection. He states:

In Ramadan, we are given an opportunity to look at ourselves with greater clarity: thus sinful thoughts and deeds in Ramadan should be seen as emerging from our own faulty selves, and should not therefore be externalised. Facing the clear truth is difficult, but it is ultimately liberating. Once we realise our true state, whatever it is, we can begin the hard work of moving beyond it.

Alexandra Lynch, “Autumn Equinox: Fall Reckonings,” at Street Prophets.

Lynch reflects:

Look back to the spring, when you did your planting. How did your harvest come out?…

…We look back to what we planted in the spring, and consider it. Some of our projects are longer term, and this is merely a pause in the overall growth. Some projects are done and over with. It’s time to harvest what you can, compost the rest, and let it go.

Jay Michaelson, “Yom Kippur: A Personal Journey,” at the Jewish Daily Forward

Michaelson notes that some Jewish people may find it difficult to connect with the “inner meanings of Yom Kippur.” He urges readers not to over-analyze the holiday, but rather to try to experience it in one’s body—not to think one’s way through Yom Kippur, but to feel one’s way through. This can lead to greater self-awareness, and ultimately letting go.

He writes:

Over the course of 26 hours, you have the opportunity to turn off the regular world and re-enact the drama of kapparah, cleansing. And the soul-searching and the catharsis are two sides of the same coin, because you can’t release what you don’t first discover and accept. The phases will vary. You might move from apathy to remembering, to regret, and then to reconciliation and release. Or you might drift in and out of the day’s emotions, focusing more on resolutions, concerns and pleas. Wherever the journey goes, though, the body is the central vehicle.

(Thanks to the Velveteen Rabbi for pointing me to Michaelson’s article.)

Whatever our spiritual and religious observances are this month, let them move us into deeper awareness of ourselves, a more whole-hearted willingness to release the things we need to let go, and a greater preparedness for the path ahead.