My daughter and I love watching BBC / PBS shows. Victoria is the most recent one we are watching. As I watched how people lived in the 1800s, I considered what it would be like to only have my life lighted by candles and sunlight. It would certainly make the dark part of the year different.
By 4:00 or so at night, flickering candlelight would be my only illumination. This reduces my scope of environment drastically. Right now, if it’s dark I flip a switch and illumination of my surroundings occurs. But what if I only had dripping smelly candles to light my way? What would it feel like to be surrounded by darkness? Would fear well? Would loneliness envelop?
There’s a tendency to romanticize the “good old days” but there were certainly drawbacks. I love the idea of sitting in a darkened room lit only by candles and the light of a warm fire roaring in the hearth. Yet I’m not sure I could handle it all the time. Now if I’m alone or afraid or feeling down, a switch brightens my environment and my mind. A text or a call can bring friends and family close.
Candlemas or Imbolc or Brigid’s Day (whichever belief is followed) is drawing near. This part of the year is about reigniting your inspiration. It’s about coming out of the dark, lighting your way out of the inner dialog, inner contemplation of winter and Yule.
I spent a bit of time being in the dark these last few weeks. It helps me recharge my batteries after the stress of the holidays. Meditation, music, calm all help me ground myself, reconsider the path I’m taking and the tasks at hand or those coming up.
There have been some negatives in my life between autumnal equinox and Samhain. It made me question some of the things I was doing, some of my long held dreams. Yet on the eve of Yule, I meditated and took time to find my center.
The darkness of the season isn’t meant to trap us inside but is meant for us to take a moment or a hundred to reconnect with ourselves. The darkness helps, comforts, and sooths as we wind down the year and look forward to the new year. It helps us bring the focus (especially if you’re living by candles) from the outside chaos of life to our inner chaos. Examining the inner chaos isn’t meant to be comfortable or easy, it’s meant to help us assess where we are, who we are, and what we’re doing. By making this examination, it helps us take the step outside the darkness and back towards the light in order to focus on the next steps on our path.
Winter – by its very nature – keeps us inside our physical environment. When you get a foot of snow or an inch of ice, it’s difficult to go out, socialize. Certainly modern technology helps keep people connected. For a lot of people, it’s difficulty to be so physically limited. Whether it’s because I have a physical limitation or because I’m an introvert, I like winter. I like the solitary nature of the season. However, I get cabin fever. I look for ways to bring the light closer to my life, to shine that light where I need it in my journey of self-discovery.