For a Love of Winter

For a Love of Winter

I noticed this week just how quickly the year had flown by. One moment it seemed I was welcoming the Spring after the Beast from the East had left our shores. Smiling at the blooming Spring flowers, enjoying the Blackthorn, the Pussy Willow, the Mayflower, and what seemed like the next day watching the leaves turn red and yellow, hearing the Autumn storm winds outside, and the nights have drawn in once more.

Boom.

Gone.

In past years I would now begin to retreat. I really enjoy the time between Samhain and New Year. I’m not a Bah Humbug when it comes to Christmas, but after new year, January to early April, I seem to wish the time away. I’ve had enough of dark evenings and cold by then. And this year, above all others, I’ve realised what a mistake that is. I literally wish away a quarter of the year. Sometimes if the S.A.D. hits early that wishing away can start as early as November.

Not good.

So this year I am making a pledge, a promise. I will find those things of beauty you Winter lovers enjoy. I will seek out the magic and wonder, and enjoy the rest of the Autumn and the approaching Winter, and embrace it all with open arms. If I find myself wishing for the Spring and the warmth of the Sun I’ll remind myself that every day is precious. Who knows if tomorrow will ever come? I will remind myself that the Now is here, and to live in the moment. Maybe that will help to slow down time a little, who knows, but there is no wisdom in wishing away an entire season.

So, Autumn and Winter, I welcome you, season of mists, and of cold. Of the womb of darkness, and the embrace of the night, the crisp sunny day, and the wet, cold mud beneath my walking boots. I look to you with love, affection, and cast away my years of distaste, of turning away, of not seeing or feeling the power that resides within your cold and icy days and nights. Be gentle, be harsh, be what you truly are, and allow me to experience the wonders you bring.

So mote it be.

Are you a Winter person? What is it about the season that brings you so much joy?

Help me out.

Let me into your world.

35 responses to “For a Love of Winter”

  1. Winter is not my favorite season. Minnesota is Cold in the wintertime, and travel can be sketchy. But there is so much raw beauty to be seen too. Sometimes when the air is icy cold, you can see nearly a full circle of ‘rainbow’ around the sun. Trees covered with sparkling frost, the pattern of ice & frost on windows, snowflakes…all are beautiful. It is a season for comfort food and snuggling with your loved ones (including dogs!). And also for deep faith that all around you is not dead…it just sleeps. I think Nature gives us many clues about life, death and rebirth. We just need to look

  2. Must say I feel the same as you Dave, I hate the months that I leave for work in semi darkness and come home in the same, I long for the spring when everything starts to burst into life, I long for the bright, long, warm days but I do see the beauty in nature covered in snow and the sun through the bare trees, winter sun sets and sometimes even the dark sky’s are beautiful too. I will join you in your quest to remember those time and show gratitude for them. ☃️❄️❄️

  3. I am not a Winter person at all, not really Summer either, especially in temperatures as we had in early Summer this year. My favourite times are Spring and Autumn. I welcome the Spring buds and fresh colours, then, especially this year I have gasped with joy and appreciation at our Autumn colours. Living in The Forest of Dean, is such a privilege. At the beginning of Winter, I stock up with plenty of supplies, and cooch down when adverse rain/snow hits us. That stems from Mum’s way of living. I would certainly resonate re the last line or two from Patty. Keep warm and well, Blessings, Margaret.

  4. I too dislike the discomfort of the wet winter days here across the pond. However I found myself out in the chill of the windy Saturday mowing (hopefully for the last time). I noticed a difference in the smell of the cut fresh grass that seemed to say farewell until next spring, don’t cut again, for your winter friends will come to graze. The Stags will perform their dance as the does look on. The birds visit more for they are awaiting their food in the feeders, so I am able to see who is new and who has brought their babes to feast. I dug out my newly flower bed and planted the new bulbs for the spring, covered with mulch to keep the bulbs warm. Dare I say the squirrels were watching from the treetops every move so they can come down and take their pickings for the winter. The rain softens the earth, the snow will blanket it for the spring. I retreat to my warm fire but watch from the windows the movement of the season and I find myself moving with it. Blessed be and may your autumn and winter bring you peace and joy.

  5. I actually moved halfway across the country to get away from (most) winter. I’ve lived in a place where it rarely dips below 30F for 20 years. But recent climate changes have meant we are getting more winter, and here is what I like: the absolute stillness of walking in the snow; the blue blue of the sky in January; the cardinals that stick around and give us a splash of red in the trees; the ability to go outside and be comfortable by adjusting layers rather than going outside and starting to sweat; the raccoons and possums who climb the crabapple tree looking for the last fruit; the brilliance of the light from the winter moons; the clean smell of winter air; the silent grace of big flakes as they fall; wearing warm and fluffy clothes; snuggling in a blanket with a cat, coffee and a good book.

    This year seems worse than normal to me. I struggle with SAD and I had to get out the light before Samhain this year. So I am glad you wrote this, because it made me think of my blessings with gratitude.

  6. Hello Damh,

    I am in the curious position of being susceptible to SAD, yet finding it difficult to decide whether spring, autumn or winter is my favourite season! I struggle with the lack of daylight hours, but summer makes me feel quite ill as even in the UK I find the heat so stifling and energy-sapping, not to mention the lack of sleep it brings. It makes my skin crawl with sweat, and there’s just no air. Curiously, the blazing African sun at Christmas time (summer solstice) never had that effect on me. I’ve never quite worked that one out…

    Anyway, I think my susceptibility to SAD, like most people’s, stems from the fake, disconnected modern lifestyle we lead. Providing I get out enough during the winter, I can cope. Those few hours of daylight are crucial, and I really feel it when I drive to work in the dark, don’t get out during the day, then drive home in the dark.

    I can’t put my finger on quite why winter is so magical to me. Again, the experience is miserable from the point of view of a modern lifestyle – all it means is the stress of being unable to work or get home due to being being stuck in traffic because someone drove like an idiot, crashed and blocked the road yet again… or higher gas bills… and so on. I counteract this by trying to get out into the real world as much as possible, away from so-called civilisation.

    I also avoid using the central heating at all, and avoid electric lights in the evenings. The ritual and effort of maintaining a fire in the hearth, and the lack of blue-shifted light at the wrong times of day really helps keep your circadian rhythm in check – and there’s something really invigorating about the chilly air when you get out of bed in the morning. It makes the first flickers from the fire or the first cup of tea so much more special and enjoyable. I think a combination of temperature- and light- changes throughout the day really help. In our centrally-heated, electrified world, we are insulated (pardon the pun) from these natural cycles that we’ve had for thousands of years – and I’m sure that constant light and temperature with no variation are part of the problem with winter miseries such as colds and SAD.

    If you can get out and about during the winter, away from the chaos of a “civilisation” that can’t cope with it, the air smells crisp and clean. You can smell the trees. You can hear the stillness – it’s almost like you can actually hear the Earth turning. You are greeted by the occasional friendly animal or bird that has ventured out, or hear a hidden rustle suddenly break the silence. The Earth sleeps, but isn’t dead. Yes, it’s cold, damp and muddy… but there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. And doesn’t it feel even more glorious to get in afterwards, brew a pot of tea, and thaw out by that fire. The fact you’ve been cold, wet and muddy makes coming into the warmth that bit more special. It brings it to the forefront of your consciousness and you can really relish it like a fine single-malt. It makes me thankful.

    I try to savour every season, and, as I’ve probably said before in a comment somewhere, enjoy the transition from season to season as much as the actual season itself. As winter drags on, we all begin to look towards the warmth of spring. One of the beautiful things about this time of year is that withdrawal, slumber and rest, with the promise that it brings as you move towards Imbolc.

  7. Hi Damh, i’m a fan of yours in Toronto where we have at least 5 months of winter each year. And i am a real Winter person as well. There are so many things i live about Winter. One is that it reveals the shape of the land in ways that summer doesn’t, with no leaves to hide the hollows and dips, the broad sweeps and the serpentine tracks of rivers and creeks. I also love the black and white contrasts of a snowy scene by the water, and the shapes made by ice and snow as they form, melt and re-form. I love the shapes of dried grasses and flowers and how they whisper and move in the wind. I even love the wild howl of the wind as it curls around the corners of my house, and i remember my Ancestors who were not lucky enough to have insulation, heating and electric lights, and send them a thought and a prayer, and thanks for their spirit of endurance. Most of all perhaps i love the shapes of the trees revealed in their beauty, and the sense of the life they store inside waiting hopefully and faithfully for the Spring. Even now on the trees in my backyard, the buds are ready and waiting for Summer’s leaves! Each tree has its own distinctive buds that are waiting and believing in the Spring, already getting ready for it… in the fall, leaves lose their chlorophyll, which is what makes them green, as all the nutrients are drawn back into the trunks and branches to nourish the tree through the Winter. I love watching them and knowing that they are secretly bursting with life. And under the snow, small lives sleep and wait for warmer weather, while birds flock to the feeder– beautiful cardinals, nervous chickadees, argumentative sparrows. They sit on the branches around and wait for their turn. When i crunch across the snow to fall the feeder, it thrills me to feel the fluttering and beating of wings in the air around my head. Also, being a rather solitary person by nature, i love taking walks through places that in the Summer are teeming with people, but in the Winter may be mysterious and isolated as if they were wilderness. A bit of wilderness is precious when living in a city, as is a bit of solitude. There is a lot of secret beauty about Winter. I send the hope for you that you will find a way to rejoice in that beauty too.

  8. Thank you for your sharing. I love autumn and Winter as I find the summer heat too much for my constitution. I have an inability to cool down so find it stifling. Autumn and Winter show us the beautiful arms of the trees in their silhouettes, the art of letting go as they drop their leaves and the preparation for the death cycle which comes to us all eventually mirrored in the beauty and starkness of the winter. It feels more peaceful and less frenetic than summer when everyone’s busily planning holidays and festivals and like you can sit down with a friend and spend quality time together just being. I love that you can wear wooly hats and scarves and enjoy the feeling of rosy cheeks after a nature walk as you enter a country pub with a hot glowing fire! I hope you will find the positive gentle side of the coming winter and that it nourishes your soul…

  9. Having lost both a child to miscarriage, and a parent to an unforgivable criminal act within the space of a few short weeks this summer, my wife and I have done nothing but wish the year away. That said, Samhain has marked for us the start of a new year, and with it a clean parchment to write our tale on. I’m naturally drawn to autumn/winter, and my other half to spring, maybe something to do with being born in November and February respectively.

    It’s hard to describe, but there’s beauty in bleakness, like watching a gritty Scandinavian drama. The washed out colours and dormant trees make particular details more noticeable than when shrouded by a cloak of green. That herd of deer walking across frosty ground and through morning mist in the New Forest is just as awe inspiring as encountering the most majestic stag in a Highland glen during summer.

    Not to mention that mulled cider or hot chocolate will always feel more well earned after a spell outdoors, traipsing across frostbitten ground.

  10. Winter only comes because the Holy King won the battle on the day of the summer solstice, life needs balance and without winter, balance may not be.
    I enjoy being indoors and looking out the window seeing the snowstorm twirle around, hearing the wind blowing on the house. And the beauty of walking outside, in a universe of purest white.
    The cold, the snow, the frost, the air, the freshness, the pureness, the whiteness of it all has something magical.

  11. Here comes the oddball. 🙂

    I am a four seasons person. Living in Chicago, we sometimes have them all in a single day! I work from home, and I have the joy of watching the transitions from my office.

    Spring is obvious. It is the rebirth after months of cold and dark. The light has returned, the ground thaws, and things start growing. The sky is filled with the call of the returning geese. That’s the signal to get the hummingbird feeder out and filled. Flowers open again, and the trees bud out. I don’t need to see that, my allergies tell me. 🙂

    Summer is the warmth of the growing season and the beauty of our gardens and the woods. We can finally open the doors and windows and let in the air. Occasionally, the deer migrate through our yard, the fawns darting back and forth, trying to keep up with their mothers. And always, the chipmunks, squirrels and other small ones. Occasionally, a red-tailed hawk stops by for lunch, reminding me of the cycle of life.

    Fall, and the oaks, birches, and maples fade from green to the glorious reds and golds they are famous for. The smell of decay returns, as the growing ends and the plants and animals begin preparations for Winter. Often I see a chipmunk on my window sill, fat cheeks stuffed with nuts to be hoarded away. The hummingbirds are gone, the feeder put away, and we replace suet cakes at a greater rate. Walks in the woods are punctuated by crunching leaves instead of the softer sound of the path.

    And then Winter. Mild some years. Chiberia others. The snows are usually followed by those deep, Arctic colds. (Thank you, Canada!) The kind where the snow crunches underfoot, and the air is so clear you can see the infinity of stars. Orion is overhead, and the days are growing shorter. Then Yule. During all this, we see the deer trails in our back yard. Rabbit tracks. Tiny chipmunk trails. And the dog-like paw prints of the coyotes. All part of the overlay of white. The purity of the snow is a joy to walk through day or night. Moonlight reflects off it and creates preternatural landscapes. A stark, sharp, high-contrast vision.

    I walk in beauty each day, regardless of season or weather. I have learned to see the divinity in our world and respect it much more than I used to. I am grateful for all those who have taken me in hand and opened my eyes to the magick all around us. It is something wonderful.

  12. Hello Damh, my temperature controls don’t seem to work now that I’m of ‘a certain age’! But at least in winter you can put the fire/heating on or wrap up warm when you go out. I really suffered in this summer’s heat, there didn’t seem to be any getting away from it. Autumn and spring are probably best for me. However, I love the sunrise and sunset skies in winter, and seeing everything bare, especially the shapes of the trees. I too have decided to embrace even the grey cloudy days! (The Lady of Winter’s blanket?) I the love Yule/Christmas lights, why do we have to switch them off so soon?! I have to replace my Christmas tree with lamps and fairy lights and definitly need stratcgies – outings, entertainment after New Year. Last winter though, I found the ‘Druid’s Hide’ project gave me something to focus on, recording the changes of the seasons in the natural world in my local area, and I’m continuing to do that.
    Blessings.xx

  13. i have never been a winter person nor a summer person. i do not get on well with extreme temps and humidity and too much darkness. so i try to just not think about it. i try to distract myself with other things. and to teeter on the edges of embracing whatever is here….but i find it easier to just tune out lol. i realize each season has it’s role and purpose. i try not to hate and just get on with whatever arises. i really enjoy the spring, as things come to life, and the fall, for its beautiful colors and the feeling of all living things coming to rest. that’s just how i roll. 🙂

  14. I have loved Winter for as long as my memory stretches. I spent the first decade of my life in a small town in north-western Ontario (Canada) and the winter-weather months spanned from mid-October until early April. We were a generation of ‘outdoor’ kids and we built snow forts, skated on garden hosed ice rinks, climbed trees, made snow angels, licked icicles and, of course, when we were really tiny, got our tongues stuck on metal gate posts. We were bundled with thermal tights, snow pants, parkas, boots, toques, and mittens with strings. Usually, just when made ready to tackle the cold, we’d have to use the loo and undress…and repeat the bundling process. My family moved to the west coast of Canada just after my tenth birthday and the winter experience took on different form. It is rainy from November until April (with an occasional slushy snow in January, February or March). Rain gear is essential when you and umbrellas are mandatory. There is a raw beauty in a west coast winter with its ‘almost frosts’ and everyday morning mists.
    Our winter fun included gum-boot romping through soggy forests on grey skied days in search of fairy rings and sleeping bunny rabbits. Indeed, the other seasons are beautiful but Winter holds my heart. I am a Winter spirit, I suppose.

  15. Living in Canada as I do, I sometimes dread the coming winter months. We have a very long, very cold, dark winter here. It seems like it goes on far too long. Yet there is amazing beauty in the great white north at this time of year.
    When the newly fallen snow sparkles like diamonds under a moonlit sky, or the rainbow circles around the sun, and even bright sun dogs shine at either side of the sun, there is a magikal beauty there. Leafless trees in silhouette against a red sunset is a breathtaking sight to behold. And sometimes, if we’re lucky, we’ll get a silver thaw. That’s when mother nature has her jewelry on.
    After a freezing rain storm, everything is encased in ice, and it glows like fire when the sun back lights it.
    My favorite part though, is early morning before everyone starts to awaken, and even living in a small city, it is very still and quiet. All I hear are the birds and the sound is insulated by the blanket of snow, so it sounds even more quiet than usual. That’s when I like to go for walks, just to feel the stillness.
    Winter has a beauty all of its own, and I’m glad that I live in Canada where I can appreciate the long, cold night of winter in all its white splendour.

  16. I used to be that way. In recent years, I’ve seen the beauty in winter. Sure it seems to last an eternity, but I’ve realized that there is beauty all around, no matter what season it is. To still be able to wake up each day is a blessing. There’s something about winter that takes my breath away. The silence after a fresh snowfall? The gray sky against the dark wood of the trees? The snowflakes that are all unique in design? All of this and more bring me joy. I make sure to go walk outside as well.

  17. I love all the seasons equally. The winter for all the festivities and the beauty of frost on spiderwebs, snow on the landscape, open log fires! Spring when the tiniest buds start to appear, summer for its glorious abundance of sunshine and rainbows and the autumn for the colours, berries and that nip in the air that says it’s time for mulled drinks and hot chocolate. Whats not to love? xxx

  18. Much as I love the hot sunny days of Summer and the glorious richness of the Autumn, the new freshness of the Spring, I can and do find beauty in the winter.
    Not just those wonderful magical cold days when the world is transformed under a blanket of snow , but when I can see the sunlight glinting through the teardrop that is an icicle.
    The wild winds which remind me of the energy for living even although I am in the quiet time of the year. In the darkness of the womb,in the cauldron, planning for times to come, being still and taking stock.
    The wild beauty of the rivers of Dartmoor in full spate with the peaty brown waters rushing and tumbling over the boulders as the rivers hurry to join the sea, lovely in her cold steeliness when calm and magnificently wild when her white horses are crashing on to the shores .
    Beautiful magic in the times spent with family and friends in what seems a more intimate setting with the curtains drawn and the log fire burning … very often nursing and enjoying a glass of something rather nice formed from the peaty waters of my Motherland.
    Even beauty in the rain when the sun shines through and Iris the messenger of the gods arcs her way across the sky.
    Oh yes, lots of beauty in the winter, but you have to open your eyes and your heart …. and wear a thermal layer !

  19. I was born a child of Autumn but being Canadian, I have also embraced Winter all my long life. Our winters here are longer, deeper and colder than across the Pond. It is the way of our far-sweeping land, shaping every people who have called this land home. I could speak of its moments of extreme with wind chills in the minus 70’s sweeping across endless prairies or the sheer breathless wonder of Niagara Falls on a bitterly cold morning where every twig and stone is etched in translucent ice. I could mention the mired chaos of cities after a major snowfall laced by the kindness of strangers. The utter stillness of a winter forest where bare branches like black lace etch patterns in the winter sky or very early mornings along city streets where the only sounds are one’s breathing and the snow creaking under one’s boots. The sight of deer cautiously picking their way across a snow-blanketed lake or the sight of starlings gathering in the tallest trees like twittering foliage to move as one off to warm high-rise sills on winter mornings. For me, as Witch and Druid, winter has deeper meanings. It is the night of the year as summer is the day, the deep cold rest that gives meaning to the brilliant sunlit re-emergence of life. Each unique and precious snowflake, these are the winter flowers of the Goddess as She walks. Her snowy cloak lies deep upon the slumbering land, protecting it until warmth calls it forth into life. Her creatures hibernate or move in slower, deeper patterns of survival. Her impish son by many names (Jack Frost perhaps) busily creates works of transitory splendor wherever He can. Sol, the Sun God may be less frequently seen in some climes but you have but to look for Him. He slides laughing along the glitter of icicles, amid the soft blush of winter sunrises and catches the colors in every snowbank. Follow and find the silences of Winter, become still and aware of what, in the hustle and bustle of warmer days, you might merely rush by.

  20. For 42 years, winter has been my favorite. I was born in January. I love that the shorter days set me more to introspection and hearthwork, leaving the busy-ness of other seasons for a while. My body’s rhythms are set to winter, so I get more rest this way. Living in the wildly beautiful state of Wyoming, I see so many beautiful landscapes, winter animals, and frozen rivers. The early darkness reminds me to light my candles and center my rituals. I hope you find your winter light.

  21. I’ve always been an autumn/winter person. My seasonal sadness would start in the spring, as the days lengthened. I come alive as the days shorten – I welcome the coolness, the beauty of falling leaves and the scent of the rich earth gaining a new layer of nourishment. The big skies framed by stark branches, and the more restricted, muted colour palette, beautiful in its subtlety.

    I welcome the winter stars; Orion striding high and bringing the winter with him. I love depth of the darkness, leaving work after sunset, the stories in the constellations, the long nights of moonlight. In summer the moon is barely there before it’s set again…

    Then that magical pause at midwinter, solstice, Yule, when it feels as though the forest holds its breath for a few liminal days as we reach sun-stand. I feel a powerful connection with the Ancestors at this time.

    Step into the dark (and wear lots of layers!) x

  22. Having been born on the Solstice, I have not exactly been fond of winter. Having been thrust into the cold after nine months in the perfect hottub was, well, unsettling to say the least. My mother said I came out screaming…really? Ya’ think?
    I, like Michael, grew up in Chiberia. (Like that one!) slush up past my ankles, public trans that is even LESS freqent than usual, and a generally unpleasant population angered even further by the weather. Blecch!
    I moved out to the sticks several years ago and got somewhat a relief from it. Then a few years ago we got a snowstorm that groung everything to a halt. I was given the day off work and stayed home. I did some HIGHLY unusual for me and went out to watch the snow fall. It was absolutely beautiful. There was no traffic so all was peaceful. I was out in my back garden with the dog and watched each flake float past me. I remarkably saw the pattern in each flake. It was magic. The silence was deafening. I actually heard the snow dropping to the ground. I took a deep breath and felt like I had become one with the world around me.
    Now, at the right times, I take a few moments to watch, feel and be with my world. Despite WINTER!
    Peace, Love and Mead
    Blessed be!

  23. Dave- I love winter just because it is so different from Summer. It is time to hibernate, to walk outside and enjoy the briskness, to make hot tea and hot soups, and embrace the peace of the darkness. Your song “Grimspound” is Winter! Hope this helps.

  24. Well greetings to all. I live in Morgantown West Virginia and am coming up on my second winter here. It isn’t so much that I love winter as I am a night person by nature. Having spent 20 years in Florida, for work, Before that I was in the service and the Corps tended to send us to warmer climates more often than not. It has been nearly 40 years since I have been able to settle in one place. I have missed the seasons. At night the land just seems so much more alive. The air is crisper during the colder weather and sounds carry better. Maybe I am just enjoying something that I have missed for far to long. Either way I love the long peaceful nights. A walk in the cold crisp air. A book by the fire.

  25. I love the clarity that winter brings, it sines a light on places tgat the soft summer discovers with green
    Familiar things are stripped tho their roots and expose the truth
    It’s a beautiful alchemical time

    This autumn time as old leaves drop
    It opens views I once forgot
    Through lace to see the open sky
    A chance to watch the clouds pass by
    A glimpse of that forgotten space
    A deeper time, a slower pace
    To go within to view our store
    And seek beyond the mundane door

    Hop this helps embrace the winter with wonder

  26. Hi Damh, I love the crisp coldness of a winter day, when the cold air seems to wrap itself around you and try to find spaces between scarf and skin. A clear blue sky, skeleton trees, reflection of sun on snow and it a magical time. … … and what could be more comforting after a walk in a winter wonderland but a large log fire and a glass of red. Winter is beautiful.

  27. Thank you all so much! So many replies both here and on my Facebook page. Your comments have really helped.

    I know inside all of these things, but maybe it is the way I have viewed Winter that has been my problem. I love Autumn, the colours this year here in Sussex have been spectacular! And the later storms have kept the leaves on the trees for longer too. But I have always seen Autumn as the bringer of Winter. Orion, when I first see him in the sky gives me the feeling I am saying goodbye to Summer, rather than hello to Autumn and Winter. Maybe as a Summer Solstice baby I see ‘life’ as being Spring and Summer, or maybe I was a bear in a previous life and somewhere still yearn for hibernation… Either way it’s really the way I’ve viewed these darker months that have not helped me.

    Yes, I see the beauty in snow (on the very rare occasion we have it here), the ice, the darker night skies with clearer stars, more light in the woodlands through bare branches, but if I automatically set myself in a holding pattern, waiting for the real stuff to arrive in Spring, I haven’t really been able to fully engage with the beauty of Winter. So, again, thank you for posting. I can already feel my relationship with Winter shifting.

  28. With his ice, and snow, and rime,
    Let bleak Winter sternly come!
    There is not a sunnier clime
    Than the love-lit winter-home.

    A.A. Watts

  29. January to March for me is a tough time on the Canadian prairies. The bitter cold makes it hard to go outside for any length of time. We can reach temperatures of -45 celcius when the wind blows so its all you can do really to stay alive. Driving can be treacherous with icy roads. The long, dark nights coupled with the cold is dreadful. My SAD kicks in early January. I am an autumn baby and hang on to those precious few weeks with all my might. But. The beauty of a snow fall, walking in my woods with the crunch of snow under foot, is beauty in itself. I too am trying to embrace Winter. But its a struggle. Good luck!

  30. As a S.A.D. sufferer as well I noticed tat IO used to love winter but it now takes me longer and longer to recover from the darkness. Where I used to start feeling better in April or May its now as late as August until I finally shake off the sad. This year I also vow for it to be different. I started a daily regimen of elderberry syrup and St Johns wort. I get out in the sunlight for daily walks and when I am inside I use a happy light. Ive lined up several projects to keep me distracted and busy. Maybe the winter wont be so bad this year after all???

  31. The coming of winter is always a joy to me, not only because it is my playtime (I’m an artist) but I find that the dynamics of this season unleash so many ideas that are screaming to be born in art. It starts with the change ing of leaves, the mellow colours of autumn light, and the robins song. Then the winter storms begin. The windlords ride across the sky screaming their happiness to be free, stripping the leaves from the branches to be blown down to the ground to feed the earth and be renewed the following year. Then we are allowed to see the trees in all their structure and wonder at their beauty. Once the windlords have done their work then old Jack Frost comes out to play, in still starlit nights he conjures magical patterns of ice on leaf and window, the air is crisp and clean and you can see your breath as you walk.then, slowley the lady brings the spring with the song of the birds and the buds of the blackthorn start to bloom.
    Hope this helps you to understand a littleof my winter and trust that you may find the magic in your winter. Many blessings Jeannie Adey (Devon Hedgewitch)

  32. I love winter, the serenity, the quiet.. but you know what, as a Druid, I love even more? Seasons. I love the change of the seasons, the changes we see daily and that we summarize into seasons. I love knowing no matter how beautiful, how warm, how cold or how icky it may be (Germany in November is nothing to romanticize over), I know it will change, it is changing.

    Well, I knew. This year showed us just how much of an impact climate change has had. It is scary, and it is here. And there’s nothing to like about it, no matter which season you like. They’re all at disposal now.

    Worried, restless and not finding spiritual answers, Serpentia

  33. I am not a winter person. I am an in-between the seasons person. Autumn and the beginning of Spring being my favorites. When Old Man Winter begins to blow his cold, brittle air I want to burrow down with a big comfy blanket, candles, and books. BUT each year I try to find things to do that will help me appeciate the cold time more. I have come to love hiking in the Winter…no bugs, no humidity, bluest of skies, and birdsong that pierces through one’s soul. I also pick a few fun events to attend (thank you FB events!). Each year, even with my best attempts, February kills me. I struggle through the February Funk. It is so hard! Once I find that first crocus of spring popping up through the snow, I feel reborn, joyous, optimistic, and ready to live again!

  34. Samhain comes, and I remember how I wait for him. The Dark Lord. I feel the chill as his fingers brush my face as the night falls.

    ‘Oh come my lady shall we dance the dance of the Wintersmith?’ he says. ‘I give you diamonds sprinkled beneath your feet in the winter sun. And holly berries as red as the cheeks of little children to remind you of me. I give you wicked winds and ice blue skies, and snowflakes soft as goose down.I give you stormy inky seas. I give you days as grey as the slate in the mountain side, and driving rain, and days as bright as summer, though kissed with frost. I give you pale moons and starry skies in black. I give you roaring fires and warmed wine. I deck your feast days with holly, ivy, and mistletoe. I bring death, and the promise of life, and new beginnings. Dance with me, and feel Joy.’

    No wonder I am in love with Winter.

  35. I really started appreciating winter because of the movie Frozen. I know it’s overdone, but I love that movie and it renewed my appreciation for the season. I like how it looks the day after a blizzard, when everything looks like it has been carved out of ice and snow. I like how the moon feels like it is right at home in the middle of the season. I like being inside under candlelight, meditating or reading a book, and being able to look outside at the beauty and Majesty of the season with just a layer of glass between me and it. There is a certain feeling of power there. Ultimately, I view winter the same as autumn; a potentially deadly but beautiful season that requires a different sort of appreciation than summer or spring get.

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