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On this page you will find new posted articles by other astrologers. To read former articles by Ulrich Bold, please, click in the hyperlinks to your left.

The Wisdom of the Dark Time of Year

Though many of us dread it, December – February is a very precious and special time of year. The days are short; the nights are long, dark, and cold. The slanting sun shines with a brightness that is tentative and not quite warming enough. The earth retreats into its annual death cycle, finding renewal through rest. Yet we find ourselves unwilling to embrace this introspective dark time of the year, feeling ill-equipped to take full advantage of it. Where does this reluctance to appreciate the dark time come from? Why are we so unable to recognize the necessity of introspection and “not doing” as a primary source of creativity and right action?

I would argue, as does James Hillman, the founder of Archetypal Psychology, that our society is manic. Our sickness lies in the way we live life to the MAX every minute of every day. We bow at the shrine of productivity and efficiency in all areas of our lives. We are committed to doing more in less time, wasting less effort, and getting more bang for the buck. We pride ourselves on accomplishments; we are nothing if we don’t produce something. We are our calendar! Our self-esteem rides on how much we do, how many dates we have, how many meetings we attend, and how many projects we can create. If we are thoughtful, it means we are useless. There is no room for philosophers in our world.

And we are passing on this legacy of over stimulation and exhaustion to our children. We over schedule their lives in an effort to “keep them busy so they don’t get into trouble”. What a statement of lack of trust in our kids! Our own fears won’t allow them a moment of quiet reflection to expand into their imagination. We keep our children structured in doing, doing, doing, so they fully implant their identities in external success, making sure they never stop for a moment to question the whys or the meaninglessness of their endless activities. We force them to fit in by emulating the manic behavior of our society. And then we wonder why our teenagers suffer from depression, hopelessness, ambivalence and alienation. Rest must come even if it comes in the form of breakdown.

The truth is, if we stopped for a moment we might actually realize the futility of all this ceaseless activity and that it is really overcompensation for our tremendous fear of death.  Death is so taboo in our world that we do all we can to keep it at bay. Though there is nothing in nature that remains young forever, in our culture the “religion” of youthfulness has become primary. Though everything natural must die, we do all we can medically to forestall death, as though it is unnatural.

The first three weeks of December belong particularly to the “death” time of the year. The fear of darkness and death led all cultures in the Northern Hemisphere to create celebrations of light, in an effort to fill the dark time with the promise of the return of the sun at the Winter Solstice. Up until Solstice, there is less and less light; the coldness blankets everything with a deafening silence. This darkness calls out to our souls, entreating us to look within, to recognize the fallibility of human life and its connection to all things in the natural world. We too must rest, as do our animal and plant brothers and sisters. The difference is, our modern minds tell us otherwise. Electricity has allowed us the freedom to blindly keep doing, never acknowledging the necessity of rest.

Yet even after Solstice, the gradual return of light comes so slowly that January seems as dark and desolate as December. Many people suffer from depression during this time of the year. Especially here in the Bay Area, where we enjoy sun everyday for seven months and get used to exercising, eating, shopping, and socializing outside under a bright blue sky. So the rainy, cold, dark time puts a crimp in the sunny active existence we usually enjoy, and since we place so little value on introspection and know so little about how to be restful and reflective, we feel an alienation from, and a lack of appreciation for the gifts that come with this time of the year.

Therefore it is high time we interject the wisdom of not doing into our lives. Not doing takes many forms. We can sit in quiet reflection about nothing much, allowing our minds to rest and wander at will in the internal realm of imagination. Or we can be quietly active and read, write, paint, and make music. A lot of what can be gained during this time of year is real sharing and connecting with others. How wonderful to take a rainy Sunday and enjoy the restful company of home cooking “slow foods” like soups and breads, and then gathering around a fire to enjoy a long, luxurious meal with family and friends. Storytelling is one of the great dark time activities. Indulge yourself in a huge puzzle or pick up that long-ago set aside craft project. Lots of people like to take this time to plan their summer gardens. This is a great time of year to make up on your sleep deficit. Don’t drive yourself to exercise so much. Give your body a break and a chance to renew itself with rest.

Don’t be afraid to use this time to really take a long deep look at your life. Death always includes letting go. Reevaluate everything you do, everything you insist is of the utmost importance. What do you cling to that is really dragging you down? What do you think you can’t live without? What do you do that defines you? These are tough questions that require serious contemplation, lots of time and patience. Something our manic society never allows. Real solutions are never quick and easy; they are more often the result of hard fought internal battles.

I even see this resistance to the “dark” in my tarot and astrology students when faced with the sword cards or reversed cards, or when they consider the serious realms of Saturn and Pluto. I spend a lot of time opening their minds to an appreciation of the wisdom inherent in the hard lessons of life.

It is human to want to be all-powerful and only experience the good in life. But if we open our minds we can all learn to appreciate the joy of the dark time of the year. Death is all around us now; hear it calling out to our souls, inviting us to join all things in rest, reflection and introspection.

Blessings for a beautiful winter, and a joyous and peaceful New Year!

 Lisa Dale Miller practices tarot and astrology and teaches both disciplines in the San Francisco Bay Area. She regularly writes articles about astrology and posts monthly astrological updates and Full/New Moon Messages on her web site www.astrowisdom.com

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