Appreciating winter

Winter for me as a young child was always an exciting time; I loved playing in the snow and the cold crisp days and even colder nights. As I grew older and started to have to do the shoveling of the snow, I began to hate the winter. Once I became a mother, I saw the fascination of the snow through my children's eyes and I began to appreciate winter once again. Winter, depending on how you look at it has numerous meanings. In my beliefs it is the time of dark and looking inward. It is a time to meditate and work on personal issues and personal magick. The first snowfall of the season is a wonder to my children's eyes and I love watching them get all excited and giggle at the fact that it is snowing.

I try and take the winter season in stride, yes I don't like the cold personally but it reminds me of the warmth of the summer. I remember when my daughter, who is now 4, first got all bundled up and ran out into the snow and looked around in amazement and said in wonder, "Momma, where is the grass?" I then got to explain the cycle of life and death to her. Where she was only 2, she probably did not understand me but she was thrilled at looking at the snow in a whole new way, it was mountains to conquer, and hills to slide down, in her own backyard! I am reminded to always try again, no matter what the personal obstacle is that I am trying to overcome.
As I currently hear the wind blowing the leaves around in my backyard, I know soon the hush of the first snowfall will be coming. When the flakes fly for the first time every year, the world seems to slow down. I believe this is a good thing, in this day and age of instant gratification and "everything needs to move faster", sometimes it is a good idea to slow down and to reconnect with mother earth and to nature in general. The last few years I have noticed a definite change in the winter seasons. They are getting milder over the years. I am hoping that when my children have children, we still have a cold winter. I would love to see my children live the reliving of their childhoods through their children's eyes and see what I do know when my children see the snow.
Winter for me is such a magickal time, it is a time for death and rebirth for on the winter solstice, the wheel of the year turns again. When I was a young child, my favorite thing to do was go to midnight service. Even though even as young child, I did not understand or necessarily believe in the "Reason for the season", one of my favorite memories is when I was in the church, being in the darkened church for the candlelight service. I could hear the rustling of the church members' robes as they handed out the candles and one by one lit the candles, bringing back the light to the church and to the earth. I still do this in my currently rituals, I feel that even though I am only one candle in a very dark earth, my little part of lighting the candle and bringing back light to my life is bringing back a little change to the earth and it reminds me that change begins at home.
So whatever you do this upcoming winter season, make sure that you bring the slowness of the season into your lives and contemplate your place on the earth and what you can do to help save her.

Learn more about this author, Maya Johnson.
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