I have come to appreciate these 'cross-quarter-days' of the astronomical year (called 'days' - but actually a more generalized period of a few days): i.e. those periods about half-way between the 'quarter-day' equinoxes and the solstices. While they have little astronomical significance, they do divide up the 'lived' year - especially the seasons - much more coherently than the quarter-days.
Living at such a high latitude (55 degrees north) the light and dark portions of the years are sharply distinguished - and with All Saints Day (Celtic Samhain, supposedly) we are now entering a three month period of the greatest darkness - leading up to 'Candlemass' (or Imbolc).
This period of the year is, of course, winter; with all the characteristics of that season - including the tendency to Seasonal Affective Disorder! But spiritually (for me) it is a time of contemplation, of solid brooding - often of a greater clarity than at other times.
As always, at present, there is a sense of trepidation concerning what may come in the physical realm - because They are focused on the Northern hemisphere, and We are more physically vulnerable to what They plan for us during this season - and that will have been taken into account, I don't doubt.
But I am somewhat hopeful about the spiritual war - because I approach the time with a better understanding than last year; and such understanding itself seems to have a positive effect (or, perhaps, be a consequence of positive spiritual tends).
In particular, I think I better appreciate the relationship between the material and the spiritual realms - and this will be of value.
Or, perhaps 'trusting' is a better word for it than hopeful.
2 comments:
I had never been quite conscious of it before, but looking back on my own experience I share your appreciation for the winter months. There is indeed a kind of clarity of spiritual vision that I have only felt in the months leading up to Christmas and during Christmas itself that is unmatched by any other time of the year.
It is almost as if the physical world "dying" around us, with the light fading away, makes me feel so alienated from the physical world that the "coziness" of the Divine, and of family, is all that's left to recognize.
The world itself seems to be in a state of winter with the End Times apparently at hand, and this seems as if it will magnify the effects of this coming season.
Happy Hallowmas!
@JG - On the other hand, as you imply, we both seem to agree that the second half of Winter - after Christmas - is not really so enjoyable or useful in a spiritual sense: indeed it's a bit of a trial, usually - and we are usually pleased to feel (as well as see) the first stirrings of spring: the spiritual snowdrops.
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