The circle becomes whole again

I’ve been thinking about circles today. The symbol of perfect wholeness, of no beginning and no ending, and of constant beginning and constant ending.

Tonight marks Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the beginning of the Days of Awe which end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Challah is baked round, to symbolise the circle of the year. The sound of the shofar is heard. A time for thoughtfulness, for repentance, for listening to the voice of G-d.

And tomorrow (or perhaps tonight if the first sliver of crescent moon is sighted) is the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Commemorating the month in which the Holy Qu’ran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). A month of fasting, of reading the Qu’ran, of prayer. A time for thoughtfulness, for repentance, for listening to the voice of Allah.

And these deepest of holy times are marked by a deepening in the seasons, as summer gives way to the tangy richness of early autumn. Tonight when I got home late under a clear starry sky, the blessed smell of wood smoke hung on the frosty air.

The circle of the seasons, the circle of the lunar month, the planetary rotations, the constant opportunity for renewal. What blessings.

And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon
The golden apples of the sun.

Yeats