Like most folks I know, we can hardly believe that 2022 is behind us. What happened? It went so fast! Instead of looking back over the past year as I usually do, I have become absorbed with the year’s four seasonal cycles themselves and how they weave us seamlessly into the year’s events, taking us from birth, growth, to death and back again. I’ve also been wondering if the delineations of the seasons have become nothing more than weather forecasts on the news; or, us experiencing seasonal allergies; or, us searching for ways to avoid cold and heat?
What specifically does the cycle of winter teach us, if anything, about darkness and going within? What does it teach us about stillness and quiet; about dying and rebirth? Are there any blessings to be received from the cycle of winter or must we just endure it?
While growing up, music was a main focus of my life and I played the oboe and sang in choruses and choirs. As an oboe player, classical music was the language that I enjoyed and shared with other musicians. As I thought about the seasonal cycles & the new year, I suddenly remembered a piece called The Four Seasons written by the 18th century composer, Antonio Vivaldi. Although Vivaldi wrote more than 400 concertos, the most famous was The Four Seasons, a concerto for violin, which you might recognize whether you’re a musician or not.
In the writing world, we talk a lot about the narrative or the narrative arc when writing a story. In Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, he created a musical narrative that tells a story, one without words. Take some time to listen to the musical narrative of the seasons that Vivaldi’s musical genius brings to life in the mind’s eye as performed by the talented female violinist, Janine Jansen.
THE SEASONS
We know that in ancient times, our ancestors lived on the land and were attuned to nature. Unlike most of us today, they marked the seasons of the year through rituals of chant, dance and celebration. In the springtime, there was the welcoming of new life followed later by the blessings of the seeds that would be planted in the summer with prayers and singing; in the fall there was the joy of harvesting, and finally, to the cycle of winter when life faded back into the earth’s dark soil as though it had never been. It was a time to build fires and seek guidance and protection from the dark.
WINTER is a barren time. It is a time of rest and dying to the old in preparation for the resurrection that will happen in the spring. Once upon a time when people worshipped a Mother Goddess, she was called the Great Round, also known as the uroboros, symbolizing the circle of life that had no beginning and no ending but was continuous. All life began in the womb of the Great Mother Earth and was returned to her in death. Humans took comfort in this death and rebirth cycle reflected in the seasons and by all life around them. There was no “I and Thou”, only “We and Us.”
Mauna Loa Erupting—Dec. 2022
Preparing for her descent, WINTER WOMAN has carefully wrapped herself inside our memories of the past year; memories as vivid and richly flavored as the soup she simmers on the stove and the broth she drinks to warm her bones. Here in the silent stillness of the great below, she takes us with her to review all that has burdened our hearts.
Like the Mother Bear who gives birth to cubs during her months of hibernation, new life will arise from within the womb of the Earth, born from the ash and bones of the old Hag (“hag” was originally used to describe an older wise woman & wasn’t a derogatory term!) that WINTER WOMAN has become during her descent into darkness.
We give thanks for WINTER WOMAN, the Wise Hag who abides in us all. She beckons us to seek her wisdom and blessings in the silent stillness of our own being. That is her gift. It takes courage to be still and encounter the wisdom of the dark places that reside inside us.
My wish for 2023 is that we may find the courage to drink deeply from the sometimes bitter cup WINTER WOMAN offers us for our sojourn during Earth’s cycle of darkness. May we have patience as we endure the dark until SPRING WOMAN kisses our brow and awakens us to her glorious abundance of new life, rebirth and regeneration. In the womb of the great mother Earth, we have grown stronger than ever; renewed in spirit, generosity, and wisdom. We are ready to be the carriers of a higher light frequency out into the world! A new world made stronger because we have endured, determined to make a difference as we pick up our staffs of wisdom and boldly go forth as the Creators we have always been!
EVENTS FOR 2023
BOOK LAUNCH IS HAPPENING!
Sign Up HERE for the book launch of A Southern Belle in Paris, via Zoom on Feb.19th, 2023. Hostess for the event will be the amazing poet and creator Jules Nyquist of Jules Poetry Placehouse in Placitas, New Mexico. It will an hour of fun, laughter & fantastic Q&A’s! Do sign on HERE.
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BOUGHT A COPY OF MY MEMOIR!
If you haven’t bought your copy of A Southern Belle in Paris, yet, you can order from Amazon or Barnes & Noble!
MEMOIR WRITING CLASS:
For those interested in writing their own life story, I will be teaching a Memoir Writing class starting in March, 2023.
Class size limited to six. Details to follow.
Winter Woman in Taos with Frozen Nose & Frosty Breath!
Aloha & Seasonal Blessings from a Winter Woman born in January who prefers winters in the islands!
Winter Woman Marjorie in Hawaii