By Sarah Kelly
The Energy of the Winter Solstice
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we find ourselves in the final cusp of Autumn, nearing closer to the intimate inner portal of Winter. This half of the year is emblematic of the inner world, the unseen, and the richness that comes from our willingness to walk through the dark.
I originally published this post on December 14th, though I was called to return to it and include some additional layers. How fitting, that this creative pulse called me on the very day that this piece is written about. So I write to you from within the energy of the Winter Solstice.
This day holds a very sacred, very precious energetic signature.
It invites us into deep reflection and witnessing. It beckons us into stillness - allowing us the space to breathe and hear the pulse of Life as it echoes through us. It is a time that is deeply supportive for self-discovery, inner communion, and revelation.
These are the gifts that come from immersing in our unseen realms. These are the fruits that ripen from our willingness to be present and attuned to our own inner world, and all the things it is showing us.
When we attune to the seasonal energies that we are moving within, we remember that these cycles unfolding in the natural world are of course unfolding within each of us.
The soul grows and evolves in seasons, just as our Earth does.
While there is much that can be said about this time of the year, what I would like to bring our attention to are the rich textures of self-reflection, inner communion, and realization that are pulsing within each one of us – just under the surface, waiting to be revealed.
While the energy of Autumn, to me feels more like shedding, grieving, and releasing, the Winter feels like the sacred retreat.
The return.
The re-mergence with the inner realm.
The entrance into the cocoon of our being - the regenerative, reflective, inward immersion that allows us to gain vital energy for the renewal and the rebirth that will inevitably come.
Since the Autumnal Equinox on September 22nd, we have been walking through the portals of our own inner worlds. We have been moving through the energies of seeing, feeling, and revealing - becoming aware of both what wants to be shed, as well as what wants to be welcomed. What wants to be grown, tended, birthed.
Contraction for Expansion
Of course, it is always so, that death precedes rebirth.
And so, as you walk within your own inner journey, and as your inner being catalyzes your next metamorphosis, you have likely been oscillating between the energies of expansion and contraction.
You may have been unearthing parts of yourself, emotions, or ways of being that you were previously unaware of.
You may have been moving through different textures of shadow work - witnessing unconscious tendencies and the impact they have on your life.
You may have a deep calling or desire that has been rising from your subconscious depths and demanding that it be listened to.
You may have moved through many energies indeed, as you navigate the death and rebirth that is bringing you into your next evolution.
What have the themes been for you?
What have you been seeing within yourself over these last few months?
What is calling for your presence?
What is calling for your attention?
What are the seeds that so deeply want to be planted in your life?
For me since the Equinox, it has honestly been a prettttty intense journey of death and rebirth. I became so much more lucid to certain parts of my psyche that were so attuned to everyone else's energy, that I would continue to land outside of myself.
I saw so many subtle, but deeply impactful ways, that I was not being fully true to myself.
And with this seeing, with this revealing, it has opened the door to precisely what this contraction was calling me into:
Being true to myself.
Being true to the divine and unique way that Source wants to express through me.
Being true to the things that are deeply calling me.
Being true to this Essence that I am.
Our contractions hold the keys to what is yearning to open - what is yearning to come forth.
Whatever it is that you have been seeing - remember that the simple witnessing of these energies, in loving acceptance, is what allows them to alchemize with most ease.
Whatever revelations have been dawning on you, whatever it is you have become awake to - have deep love for yourself - and for all of the evolutions that you have walked through until now.
See what needs to be seen.
Love what needs to be loved.
And let go what needs to be let go.
Be brave enough to admit what is truly calling you and be unwavering in your willingness to follow it.
Even if what is calling you is the total unknown.
Trust in the wisdom encoded in the seed. Trust in the sacred dark, the sacred ground, that will be the foundation that births your dreams. And trust in the deep and regenerative wisdom that winter brings.
Your inner-being is ever wise and knows those soul pieces that drum within you. Tune in to that inner pulse, listen to what it's telling you.
The Dark Births the Light
On a final note, to simply give voice to the sacredness of the contractions - let us remember that contraction is a necessary part of the birthing process. We must remember that light births from darkness.
That life comes from the Womb.
And so, on this day of the Winter Solstice, we find ourselves within the darkest night of the year.
Let us treat this darkness with reverence - celebrating the fruitful soil and pure potential that live here.
And let us also celebrate the holy light - that from tomorrow onward - will begin to grow, and grow, and grow.
Let us envision and feel into all that this light will bring. Let us imagine it's radiance. Let us soak in the sweetness of its becoming.
While we rest in the place that it will birth from.
Create the Space
I have found that the most easeful way to commune with the energy of the Winter Solstice is to simply create the space to be with it.
Create the space to be in the quiet.
Create the space to simply be with whatever energy is arising within you.
Create the space to feel your Source, to feel the wisdom that is wanting to be woven into your awareness.
To create space for an experience is to create a container.
And it is within a container that energy can flow in a clear and fluid manner - allowing us to receive a transmission of grace.
I have found that the sanctuary of my own presence is what naturally gives way to whatever feeling, seeing, or releasing may want to take place.
Creating the space is all that is required to receive the transmission encoded within this day. Simply be open. Simply be willing. Simply take the conscious action to create the channel through which you can receive.
Through this stillness, you will find the inner-wisdom, the inner teacher that has been there all along.
Closing
In conclusion, it is my hope that you reading this will feel inspired and encouraged to immerse in the sacredness of your inner world.
I hope that the sea of creative energy that pulses inside of you will feel so rich, that you completely surrender to it.
That you allow your inner-being to guide you, to lead you. and to follow those sparks of utter joy that live within you.
I will leave you with a loosely paraphrased message from one of my favorite oracle decks, Earth Warriors, by Alana Fairchild.
It says something to the effect of, "if we did not understand the ways of the seasons, and that winter comes before spring, we might fear the winter. Seeing the bareness of the trees and feeling the coldness of the air, we may worry that there will never be Life again. But of course it is the wisdom of the Sacred Feminine that sometimes things appear to be going backwards as they go forwards. Trust this inner Winter and all of the life it will bring."
Here is your invitation to soften, to listen, and to immerse in the wisdom of the Winter.
May we relish in all of the treasures that this time of year offers us.
And may we be true, true, true, to ourselves - throughout every moment of it.
With love,
Sarah
PS, here are some songs that give me those inner-world, reflective, contemplative vibes:
Hibernate by Woven Kin
Can't Fall Out of Love by East Forest
From Gold by Novo Amor
Mother Song by Westerman
Infinite Trees by Nick Mulvey
Hey Moon by John Maus
Back to You by Benjamin Gordon
Winter Surf by Alek Olsen
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