BARBARA MOORE
  • Home
  • Barbara
  • Blog
  • My Work
  • Currently Reading

The Unseen Work of Winter

3/21/2017

2 Comments

 
PictureHow I feel in the winter.
Images: The Four of Swords and Ace of Wands from the Everyday Witch Tarot by Deborah Blake and Elizabeth Alba

A friend and I always start our workweek off by getting together for coffee each Monday morning. We call it our office hour, even though we talk about both personal and work-related items. This Monday, which happened to be the first day of spring, found us both full of energy, ideas spilling from us, revelations and creativity flowing all around until we felt like children playing in a fountain.
​
The awakening of spring always takes me by surprise. By now you’d think I’d be prepared, knowing how my soul follows the cycle of the year. But then, maybe that’s part of the magic, that shocking and pleasant jolt of waking up.
 
As our long Minnesota winters progress and linger, I grow increasingly restive. It is as if, metaphorically and sometimes literally, a heavy quilt covers me, movement hampered by the weight of the season. The lethargy is hard to bear and harder to fight. But fight it, I do, at least some of the time. “Do something,” I tell myself. Aside from the mundane work that needs doing, though, not a lot happens. That’s the way it feels, anyhow.
 
The truth is that a lot is happening, but I just can’t see it. The soul work of winter takes place below the surface. Like many people with pagan leanings, the Wheel of the Year shapes how I view the world, how I trace the rhythms of my soul. In the fall, the fruits of our soul labors are harvested and the soul garden is put to bed. Putting a garden to bed means harvesting, cutting down or pulling out the remains of the season’s spent plants, and covering the ground with mulch. During the winter, under the mulch, the remains of garden decompose and the soil is nourished. It is really very magical and yet because it is unseen and mostly unfelt, we easily mistake this period for stagnation. At least I do.
 
During my winter Monday office hours with my friend, I felt like each week I had nothing interesting to say, no life-changing revelations, no spectacular creativity. Especially as winter drags on, I become more and more impatient with myself, accusing myself of laziness, cursing my lack of energy, mourning my lost ambition.

PictureHow I feel in spring.
​And then, like magic, this Monday my soul showed signs of new life, like the crocuses bravely blossoming in the still cold soil, and I felt alive, awake, excited. Although a little ashamed and embarrassed by forgetting the hard, important, invisible work of winter, I was grateful to be reminded of it by the evidence of new life.
 
Perhaps next winter I will remember that even though things feel stagnant, they are not, and I will honor this valuable time and be gentler with myself. It is such a surprising miracle to wake up feeling transformed when all the while I thought nothing was happening.
 
 
 



​May you recognize the gifts of your soul’s winter’s work.
May you be rich and ripe and ready to receive new seeds and nourish new life.
May you honor all times and seasons, accepting their gifts with gratitude.

Kickstarter Opportunity

My good friends at Lo Scarabeo are having a Kickstarter for the third book in their wonderful tarot series, Tarot Compendium. There are only a few days left, so be sure to check them out soon! Click HERE. 
2 Comments
Kelly
3/26/2017 06:14:20 pm

I love your writing! I have been checking in all winter to see if you have posted anything and what a lovely surprise this evening to see an essay! Happy Spring😊

Reply
Barbara link
3/27/2017 05:00:02 pm

Hi Kelly, thank you for checking in! It's been a dormant kind of winter, but the blog posts will be more regular...the next three Tuesday posts are already scheduled!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    10 Of Pentacles
    10 Of Swords
    2 Of Swords
    3 Of Swords
    4 Of Cups
    4 Of Pentacles
    4 Of Swords
    4 Of Wands
    4s
    5 Of Cups
    5 Of Pentacles
    5 Of Swords
    5 Of Wands
    7 Of Cups
    7 Of Wands
    8 Of Pentacles
    Ace Of Wands
    Becoming The People We Want To Be
    Blessings
    Card Meanings
    Death
    Emperor
    Empress
    Energy Clearing
    Fool
    Hierophant
    High Priestess
    Judgement
    King Of Swords
    Knight Of Cups
    Llewellyn's Classic Tarot
    Magician
    Mystical Tarot
    Podcast Appearances
    Queen Of Cups
    Queen Of Pentacles
    Queen Of Swords
    Rumi
    Soul Musings
    Tarot And Shamanism
    Tarot As Sacred Text
    Tarot Decks
    Tarot In Wonderland
    Tarot Techniques
    The Hermit Departs
    Tower
    Wheel Of Fortune
    Wizards Tarot
    Your Tarot Your Way

    Archives

    July 2019
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    July 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Barbara
  • Blog
  • My Work
  • Currently Reading