Solstice

Welcome, Sister Winter!

Welcome, Sister Winter!

One of my favorite seasonal songs is “Sister Winter,” by one of my favorite artists, Sufjan Stevens. The song is, in part, about making peace with winter and everything it entails: both coldness and warmth, a more acute awareness of both darkness and light, and experiences of both isolation and connection. The song is heartfelt and beautiful and triumphant. I love it, and I love it most for its title.

Since discovering that song, I now think of winter as Sister—a sister, a companion, a bosom friend. I’ve always loved winter, but thinking of the season as Sister Winter gives the season a different presence, a body.

I think of winter as a feminine presence. In winter, the energy is quiet, receptive, restorative. That is feminine energy. Deep work is being done in the natural world, but it’s enacted under the surface. And because winter is the darkest season, it’s impossible to avoid recognizing that the energy right now is the Dark Feminine. Mythologically and psychologically, the dark feminine is the energy of mystery, of intuition, of depth, and of both birth and death, creation and destruction.

The Dark Feminine enacts the life-death-life cycle we see repeated in both the natural world and in all our archetypal myths. In order for new life to begin in spring, winter—and the Dark Feminine—must come first and strip back anything superfluous. Some parts of plants must die off so that others may flourish again. It’s an inevitable and beautiful cycle we witness day after day, season after season, year after year in the world around us and in our own lives. While there’s destructive energy in it, it’s ultimately all about the pursuit of growth, of life, of wholeness.

How might your feelings about winter shift if you considered thinking of the season as sister, as companion, as a wise and feminine energy, as a friend? How can you welcome Sister Winter?