October 10 · New Moon

Remember · Question · Choose

October's dark moon feels like a good time to spend a little time with the people and traditions that came before us. Not necessarily to recreate what they did or romanticize the past, but to get curious about it. So much of what we do in our homes is inherited without us ever really deciding whether we want to keep doing it. This month, we're going to look a little closer.

Garden
Think about the plants that have a story in your family. Maybe your grandmother always grew peonies, your dad planted tomatoes every year, or there was a lilac outside your childhood home. Write down what you remember. If you don't have a family gardening tradition, this might be a good year to start one of your own.

Hearth
Choose one object in your home that came from someone else. A piece of furniture, an old kitchen tool, a photograph, a dish, a quilt—anything with a history. What do you actually know about it? Ask someone if you can. Write the story down somewhere so it doesn't disappear.

Kitchen
Find a recipe connected to your family and make it. It doesn't need to be an old handwritten recipe passed down for six generations. Maybe it's the casserole your mom made from the back of a box or the cookies your family always bought at Christmas. Food traditions don't have to be impressive to be worth remembering.

Apothecary
Choose an herb connected to memory and make your herbal moon water. Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) has a long history of association with remembrance, but you don't have to use rosemary. Choose a plant that reminds you of someone, grew in your garden this year, or has become meaningful in your own herbal practice.

Self
Ask yourself which traditions you actually want to keep. We aren't required to continue something simply because our families did it, and honoring our ancestors doesn't mean agreeing with everything they believed or the choices they made. We can appreciate what was good, acknowledge what wasn't, and decide what gets carried into our own homes.

Invitation
Ask someone in your family a question you've never thought to ask before. Write down the answer. Someday, you may be very glad you did.