Parable Pod Counselling

01/09/2026

Today, September 1st, open your front door and let something good in.

THE CINNAMON AT THE DOOR

Today is September 1st.

The first day of a new month. The turning of the wheel toward autumn. The time when summer begins to loosen its grip and the world slowly starts gathering itself inward again.

There is a simple folk tradition for welcoming September: blowing cinnamon through your front door on the first day of the month.

While this particular custom is a modern folk tradition rather than a documented ancient Celtic ritual, the symbolism fits beautifully with the old traditions of honoring the hearth, the home, the harvest, and the turning of the seasons.

Cinnamon itself has an ancient history. For thousands of years, it was a precious and highly valued spice, associated with warmth, abundance, prosperity, protection, and things worth keeping close.

And so, on the first morning of September, we welcome it across our threshold.

HOW TO DO IT:

Take a small pinch of ground cinnamon and step outside your front door.

Open the door inward.

Before you blow, pause for a moment.

Think about what you wish to welcome into your home in the month ahead.

Abundance.
Prosperity.
Peace.
Good fortune.
Love.
Creativity.
Warmth.
A full pantry and a happy hearth.

Then gently blow the cinnamon across the threshold and into your home.

Then step inside.

WHY THE DOOR?

The threshold has long held a special place in household folklore.

It is the boundary between the outside world and the sanctuary of home. A place of leaving behind and welcoming in.

The cinnamon is symbolic.

The breath is symbolic.

The doorway is symbolic.

The intention is yours.

September is a beautiful time for such a tradition. We are moving toward the harvest, toward cooler evenings and longer nights, toward warm kitchens, baking bread, apples and spices, candlelight, wool blankets, and the hearth becoming the heart of the home once again.

So tomorrow, open the door.

Let autumn in.

May your cupboards be full, your hearth be warm, your home be protected, and good fortune find its way across your threshold.

Welcome, September

31/08/2026

We have moved to Monifieth! And are now welcoming clients from Monifieth and surrounding areas 💛

01/03/2026

27/02/2026

Did you know that if you text 85258 when you are feeling depressed or suicidal, a trained crisis worker will text you back immediately and continue to text with you? Many people don’t like talking on the phone and are more comfortable texting. It's a FREE service.

Anxiety - 03444775774

Bipolar UK - 03333233880

Mind - 03001233393

PAPYRUS (Young su***de prevention society)- 08000684141

Young minds - 08088025544

NSPCC - 08001111

Refuge - 08082000247

R**e crisis - 08088029999

Victim support - 08081689111

All uk numbers that can help, they are free or charged at a local rate.

11/02/2026

In Irish, there’s a gentle word you don’t hear very often: Sásamh
(pronounced SAW-suv, with a soft “v” at the end).

It means contentment, or deep, quiet satisfaction.
Not the loud, chest-puffing kind of pride.
Not arrogance.
Not showing off.

Just the soft feeling of looking at your own surroundings, your own life, and those who love you, with gentle eyes.

In the old Irish stories, heroes weren’t perfect.

They were brave one day and frightened the next.
They got lost. They made mistakes. They had to start over more than once.

And still, the bards sang about them.

Not because they were flawless, but because they kept going. Because they tried. Because they grew. Because they were human.

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned a harsher lesson.
That we shouldn’t feel proud unless everything is perfect.
Unless the house is spotless, the work is finished, the family never struggle, and we never fall short.

We look at other people’s lives, other people’s homes, other people’s families, and we start measuring ourselves against them.

But comparison is the thief of joy.
It steals the quiet victories.
It blinds us to how far we have come.

So if the word pride feels heavy or uncomfortable, maybe try this one instead:

Sásamh.

That quiet, steady feeling of contentment or ease or peace with your own journey.

If you woke up today and won an Olympic gold medal,
I hope you feel a deep sásamh.

If you cleaned your whole house top to bottom and organized it just the way you like it,
that is worthy of sásamh.

But you know what else?

If you didn’t… you still deserve it.

If today you managed to smile for others although not fully feeling joy yourself,
that effort holds sásamh because you’re trying,
there is real sásamh in that step.

If today you openened your eyes when all you wanted was to keep them shut…
there is deep, quiet sásamh in that too.

Your effort matters.
Your small steps matter.
You matter.

You are not only the distance you still have to go.
You are also the miles you’ve already walked.

And that deserves to be honored.

Take a breath and look at your life with gentle eyes.
And allow yourself a little sásamh.