“Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness.”
–
We make our winter wishes today, writing them out for the season of slumber then burning and releasing them into the universe in the hope of manifestation. This year, perhaps more than any other, they are fraught with serious concerns, weightier issues than the frivolous world to which I hope we one day return. This winter solstice rings in mightily, and I’m hoping we get to add some merry to it before the calendar year is up and a new one – so richly and deservedly welcomed – begins.
For most of my life, I have dreaded and despised the winter. It’s still my least favorite season by far, but I’ve learned to lean into its enchantment and wonder – the way it holds snowy counsel and cozy wisdom if you only know how to listen. It will not shout or demand notice like spring and summer can do. It will not jolt you into awareness like the crisp crack of fall. Winter merely whispers, even in its harshest snowstorms and most biting winds, taking advantage of its darkness and tricking you with its whiteness.
True, it has its icy maelstroms, and come January there’s always a couple days of a tumultuous thaw that messes with the emotions as much as it heaves any open earth beneath it. For the most part, however, winter is for silent slumber, a time when the gardens and the land recline in repose, waiting and resting for it all to begin again in the spring. By rights, we should all be slowing down and honoring the stillness.
“That’s what Hanukkah is about: trying to survive the darkness on the far-fetched hope there’s still some life and light left in the universe. It’s more than just a religious story. The days have been growing shorter, imperceptibly but inescapably darker…. Heading into the night of the winter solstice, every spiritual tradition has some kind of festival of light. We’re all just whistling in the dark, hoping against hope that someone up there will see these little Hanukkah candles and get the hint.” ~ Lawrence Kushner
Candles and light, wood and glass, ice and snow – this is what we shall have, and this is what shall be beautiful. Paring down the peripheral clutter and removing the extraneous debris from our home and our lives is the goal for the season. Before then, however, the happy muss and fuss of Christmas and New Year’s Eve – and I have some sparkle and super-extra excess in store for those nights.
In between, there will be contemplation and mindfulness.
“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” ~ Edith Sitwell
