MELODY VAUGHAN
Winter solstice – in the darkness turn towards
The winter solstice traditionally marks the midpoint of the dark half of the year, the turning point. Since the equinox in September the days have been getting shorter and the nights longer, but that starts to change now. However, there is a stillness here in these days; the sun does not immediately begin its journey back towards the high days of summer. We experience a number of short days and long nights and there is also a seasonal lag into January and February, where although the sunlight is increasing, the winter really sets in. We are truly in it now, this darkest part of the year. Solstice reminds us to be with the darkness, even if only for a while.
This is a time to question our relationship to the darkness, and also to the light. Darkness in our culture often represents the unknown, the void, the shadow – qualities which we have been conditioned to find uncomfortable and which we rush to fix, or change, or avoid. But engaging with the darkness is vital to understanding ourselves, our work, how we want to be in the world. With so little light coming from the sun, this time reminds us to look inwards for our own source of light, and to identify it within others. These small flames that burn within us may feel fragile and overwhelmed, but they exist and they are what offer us hope.
How are these themes – of darkness and of light – showing up in your life and your practice right now?
Where do you notice resistance to the darkness? Which aspects within your life and your practice are demanding you cling to the light?
Where do you notice a need to shift into a slower way of being, during these darker months?
Can you recognise the light within you right now? What hope does it offer you, others around you? How might your flame need to be tended to this season? How can it be celebrated?
How could you support yourself, and others, during this time of stillness in the darkest part of the year? What gentle, nourishing, sustaining activities might you need to welcome into your life to help with this?
The winter solstice is my favourite seasonal way point in the year. For a long time I struggled with winter, turning the season into my nemesis and putting up so much resistance. But even then the solstice brought me comfort, with the knowledge that the turning point of the year had been reached. I love the cosiness of the shortest day, how the darkest night wraps itself around me while candles remind me to hope. In recent years I’ve begun to make friends with this time of year and to yield to what it asks of me. And because of that, the solstice feels like a moment to welcome in the full experience of winter rather than solely focus on the return of the light.
Nothing can be done to rush through this season. We must allow things to die back, to be composted into the earth ready to nourish the new growth in spring. Few things in nature are busy right now, and we are nature too – let’s give in to the impulse to slow down and to prepare for the longer days. Tend to yourself, rest in all the ways your body/mind is yearning for. But don’t forget to tend to the other beings in your ecosystem – what gentle, accessible ways can you ensure that others are able to get the rest and care they need right now also?
Winter, in the world as it is at the moment, with all the crises humanity is facing, may feel hard to endure. The darker months pull us to turn inwards, and this retreat may feel like safety and a way to cope with the terrors that surround us. But I invite you to not look away, to not turn away, but to turn towards. To find that place in you that grieves, that loves, that feels so deeply, and search it out in others. To find communities of people who share your care for others and this planet, who are willing to allow these feelings to be expressed and heard, who are there to support you as you find ways to move from feeling helpless to feeling empowered to act, in whatever way you are able.
If you are interested in exploring the possibilities that exist within you/your creative practice to contribute to new futures rooted in justice and care, get in touch to find out more about the mentoring work I do.
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