October 2022

October brings with it a crackling eeriness, a world lit aflame by change. The thick heat of summer has fully dissipated, leaving behind air so thin that the barrier between the corporeal and spirit world becomes permeable. The night has begun to swallow both dawn and dusk, distorting our perception of time. This is a season of heightened illusion, spirits waiting at the doorstep ready to reach across the threshold to mystify and reshape what once felt familiar or safe. This is a month to confront darkness, fear, and loss: not with despair, but with the reassurance that uncertainty and fragility are rooted in ancient cycles of rebirth. To open your heart to what can be glimpsed at the edge of a shadow is to embrace the specter of mortality. At Open Sea, we embrace the magic of the Otherworld. The unknown is what give our lives meaning and purpose.

OPAL

Unified Beauty

Opal, the birthstone of October, is a radiant mineral that contains limitless expressions of color and light. Vitreous in appearance, opals consist of microscopic silica spheres that contain trace amounts of water. This creates the shimmering iridescence of these hypnotic stones. Even tiny differences in the size, position, and density of these spheres can dramatically alter the appearance of opal, and the expression of color within. To witness the range of color in an opal—a cosmic world held within a stone—is to understand the potential within each of us. Our inner beauty can take many forms, each distinctly radiant and wondrous in their own right.

INSIGHT - OPTIMISM - HAPPINESS

A U T U M N C R O C U S

Crocus sativus, the autumn crocus, is a radiant purple flower that blooms late in the year. Its relatives in the crocus family bloom in the winter or spring, often pushing through fallen leaves or snow to reveal their beauty. These plants thrive in times of transition and adversity. When most plants are either dying or preparing for dormancy, crocuses are in full flush. The autumn crocus is a lost plant, in that it isn’t found in the wild, and its direct ancestry is a mystery. At the center of each bloom lies a treasure. The long, red filaments that emerge from the flower are best known saffron, one of the most valuable spices in the world.

N E W M O O N

October 9

H U N T E R S M O O N

The moon provides the Earth with stability, acting as a gravitational tether in the heavens. The moon keeps Earth’s rotation consistent, providing us with the reliability of seasons. As dependent as these processes feel to us, the interplay means that Earth is gradually being slowed by the gravitational pull of the Moon, imperceptibly lengthening the duration of each day. In return, the Moon is absorbing momentum from Earth, which causes it to slowly drift further from us and deeper into space, at a rate of about an inch and a half each year. This is a reminder that the things about our world that feel permanent are in fact simply a point along a deep stretch of time. We are here as brief witnesses to a process that is constantly in flux, with the only constant being persistent change

F U L L M O O N

October 25

P O E M

In the morning I see a spider by a drop
of water on the bathroom floor.
When I realize she’s drinking
from it, it’s enough to stop me
from killing her.

-Caitlin Scarano