Heading Into the Darkness

Tonight, as I write this blog post, the full moon has risen–the full moon that marks the darkest period of the year. For many people, December feels like the darkest period of the year–emotionally and psychologically. The Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, occurs in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21st. For these people, as we have less and less day light, their mood tends to get darker and darker. But all of us are affected in some way by the change in light, the energy of the shorter days and longer nights.

For those of us who feel depressed and anxious, maybe on a cellular level we remember the trepidation we had as early in history, when we weren’t sure the days wouldn’t just keep getting shorter. Maybe we recall the fear we felt about winter, when it was difficult to find food and the weather caused more people to die.

The energy of winter is an inward one. Just look at what happens in nature…trees lose their leaves and then draw in their sap. Animals hibernate. Plants, such as bulbs, drop their greenery and lie dormant. Seeds also lie dormant. It’s a quiet time…a waiting time…a gestating time. So, many of us during this dark period of the year also go inward, we feel that energy drawing us inward, downward, making us want to hibernate, spiral into depression, become dormant. We want to wait, but we are not sure for what. Like nature, maybe we, too, are gestating, turning into something new, waiting for spring for a rebirth or to grow something new…or just to start anew.

Last, the winter holidays for many people are simply hard if they are alone or don’t enjoy time with their families. If they choose to be alone or if they find themselves alone, the fact that everyone else is celebrating with loved ones can be difficult and lonely. There’s a lot of pressure to spend time with family and friends. For this reason, many people really dread the winter and the approaching holidays. As the holiday energy rises, their energy plummets…the more the holiday energy of December spirals upwards, their personal energy spirals downward. This can feel like the hardest time of the year for those who have no one with whom to share their life, let alone their holidays.

Despite all this, in the Jewish tradition, this time of the year represents one filled with the energy of miracles. It’s a time when we actually can use that inward energy to meditate and journal or to simply contemplate, pray or visualize and get in touch with the energy of miracles. We can raise our consciousness up to the level where miracles occur, and consciously manifest them using prayer, intention, focused thought, visualization, meditation, invocation, and the like. We can use what we know about deliberate creation. And we can simply pray and ask for God to be our co-creative partner. We can request that God show us his hand in our lives.

So, as you head into the darkest time of the year, don’t be fooled by the darkness. It doesn’t have to be a depressing or scary place. It can be a place filled with surprises and miracles. It can be a womb, warm and inviting, where new things gestate and are then born as the days get longer. Instead of bemoaning the dark, ask yourself, “What do I want to bring into the light this year when December 21st comes around and the Days begin to get longer again? What miracles do I want to see in my life between now and then or after the solstice? How will God take my hand and lead me through the darkness?” Then head into the darkness willingly and with faith and anticipation.