This week we stand at the threshold of Winter, the gateway to the darkest time of the year. For the Celts, this is the beginning of the year since life begins in the darkness. This is where the seed lives in the Winter, nestled in the dark, dank Earth. Many seeds, especially those with a tough seed covering (lovely metaphor, isn’t it?) need go through the stratification process during the winter, a process of cold temperatures, wind, and rain to help soften those tough shells so that they can germinate when Spring arrives.
In our modern age, we are transfixed by the light and by the next bright thing and avoid our dark areas. Darkness scares us, especially the darkness of our own psyche. We hold embarrassment or shame about these shadowed parts of ourselves. If I don’t look at and shed some light on these parts, they remain hidden in the shadows, ensconced in fear.
My practice with SoulCollage®—in which each collaged card is a distinct part of self—has been an important practice that teaches me how to look at and even honor these hard parts. First I acknowledge these hard-to-acknowledge parts, graduate to acceptance, and then move on to holding compassion for these parts that are challenging.
This is like my own stratification process, for once the shell of fear is broken, my compassion sends tendrils out into the light.
If you’re one of those folks who dreads the darkness of Winter, I invite you to collage, draw, scribble, journal, or engage in any other creative outlet that frees one of these energies that lives in the dark.
Trust that you have what it takes to say hello.