Welcome Winter
Today is a Solstice, crossing the threshold from one season into another. Here in the Northern Hemisphere where I live, we shift from Autumn into Winter. And though I dislike the cold, I actually enjoy this shift.
Photo by Simon Berger
In the natural world, winter is a season of recalibration. Now that many of the trees have released their leaves, their branches laid bare like bones against the sky, they are free to focus inward. Though they may look completely dormant, they are anything but. Immense work happens beneath the earth’s surface during winter. This is the season of root-work, of inner nurturing. Of slowing down and cellular changes. Of deep dreaming in the dark.
I’ve been thinking a lot about light and shadow lately. Not just physically, as in the shadows cast by objects when light hits them a certain way, but psychologically and esoterically as well. Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, described the shadow in psychological terms as encompassing everything in us that’s unconscious, repressed, undeveloped and/or denied. According to Jung, the shadow represents the dark and often rejected aspects of our being.
Art by Aaron Burden
Winter is a wonderful time to dance with our shadows, to see what lessons they may have for us, to invite them into the light. Just as Nature attunes itself creating an equilibrium between the seen and the unseen, learning to balance a robust outer world and a rich inner world is vital for our own well-being. But this work can seem daunting at times. I mean, who wants to sit with their ‘dark side’ when its very nature is obscured? Not many of us willingly venture into the unknown with a sense of optimism and curiosity. Even as children we were taught to fear the dark. But as Joseph Campbell famously said, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
As we shift into winter, may we find peace in the darkness and discover treasures in the murky, unexplored places. May we give ourselves space for rest and reflection, as well as for connection and celebration. May we be held in the midst of transmutation and release, and hold space for others with tender care. May we recognize the light within ourselves and others. And may we feel deeply nourished right down to our roots.