Happy Winter Solstice!
Winter solstice has arrived in the Southern Hemisphere where we celebrate the longest night of the year. It is a time of deep rest and reflection, a time of turning inward and getting quiet. Not an easy thing to do when the external world is constantly vying for our attention.
I used to hate the winters when I was little. We didn’t have the creature comforts that we have today such as central heating and electric blankets. I can remember our family of 7 would huddle around this small oil heater we had in the lounge room. At bath time, mum would put our pyjamas on the heater to get warm and we’d run from the bathroom to the lounge to quickly get dressed in our nice warm pj’s. There was no heating in our cars or in the school classroom – just lots of layers of clothing to keep out the winter chills.
Fast forward to today and I relish this time of year. It’s like I can give myself permission to slow down and to create the time for reading, writing, knitting, resting, lots of pots of tea and slow-cooked dinners. And I get to not feel guilty about any of this….
We only have to look to nature to see what she is doing. At winter time, many of the trees appear ‘dead’ but there is so much happening beneath their bark and root systems. The soil appears cold, damp and lifeless, but the seeds beneath are being nurtured and nourished by the micro-organisms and fungi, getting ready to sprout in the coming months. What appears still and quiet on the outside is like a veil for what is happening underneath.
The same can be said for us. Winter is a time for us to get quiet and still, and to begin to sow the seeds for what we wish to create in the Spring time. Here in the Southern Hemisphere we have also had the new Gemini moon coincide within a few days of the Winter Solstice – giving us greater opportunity to look deep within at our own darkness and shadow side. It’s a time for letting go of habits, programming, beliefs and relationships that no longer serve us. We let them go. Winter is a time for ‘death’ of the old, and ‘re-birth’ of the new.
Held by the darkness, you may ask if you need to reorient yourself to be more aligned for what is true for you, before the sun turns around in our skies, bringing more light once again to our days. What are you ready to let go of? What do you wish to create?
Share with me one thing that you wish to let go of at this Winter solstice. And let’s chat if you’d like to go deeper with this.
Much love and blessings,
Cate xxx
