Despite the days officially getting longer, here in the UK we are into the darkest month of winter. Christmas festivities are done, sparkly lights have been taken down, everyone feels a little broke(n), and there’s a pressure to hit the year with full energy and positivity. Make changes, make new years resolutions, give up stuff, take up “better” stuff. But all we really want to do is hibernate, take things slowly, eat nice food and emerge again in springtime. And isn’t this what we’re meant to be doing through the winter? Slowing right down.
Let me tell you a little story about the beautiful Greek goddess Persephone. If you’ve heard of her, you may know her as the Queen of the underworld.
Demeter, the goddess of the Harvest, and sustainer of humankind, was the fourth wife of Zeus, king of the great Olympian gods. Together they had one daughter, Persephone, who was likened to a delicate flower both visually and in character. Demeter was devoted to her. One day, Hades, god of the underworld, noticed Persephone while she was out playing with sea nymphs, and fell in love. He wanted her as his wife, but needed help to lure her into the underworld. He turned to Zeus, and despite the fact he was her father (he was what we might call “emotionally unavailable”), he agreed to help. Together with Zeus’s grandmother Gaia (mother earth), Hades managed to capture Persephone and take her into the underworld. You can imagine Demeter’s sadness when she discovered Persephone was gone.
Pic credit: Christina Balit
The grief stopped her from eating, the worry stopped her from sleeping. She put every effort into finding her daughter. The earth’s fruits and plants turned brown and died, people and animals grew hungry, as the earth became still and frozen. Eventually, when all life on earth was threatened with death, Zeus sent his son Hermes to the underworld to bring Persephone back to her mother and into the light. However, just before she could leave the underworld, Hades gave her some pomegranate seeds. Unable to resist their sweet taste, it was too late for Persephone to realise it was a trick. By swallowing the seeds, Persephone was destined to spend a third of each year in the underworld as the wife of Hades.
So every year, when it is time for Persephone to go into the darkness, Demeter grieves, and the world grieves with her, growing bare and still. And in the spring, when Persophone emerges back into the light, the snow melts, seeds sprout, and the land turns green once again.
Many ancient Greek stories were written by philosophers, often reflecting the human experience on earth. Bringing often tragic, sometimes funny, usually romantic, meaning to things that we just see as part of life. The seasons change, the days get shorter then longer, the weather cools and heats up, leaves fall from the trees then grow again. What these stories do is ask us to stop and look and feel into our experience of life and the world.
Autumn is the time of death, when Demeter lets go of her daughter, so she can go to the underworld. Winter is the time for grieving. Being still. Being in the darkness and acknowledging loss. Waiting without hope, and being comfortable with that. And then the spring comes, Persephone once again emerges into the light and the earth is reborn.
And what of Persephone’s time in the underworld? There are different interpretations in stories and art, but often it’s understood that she found strength in the underworld. She learned to sit in the fire and her own discomfort. She found gifts she didn’t know she had, and a greater appreciation for the light when it came.
In these stories there is often a lesson. Don’t be afraid of the dark wintry days, of allowing yourself to grieve, and take things slowly, in preparation for the spring, for the green shoots and new hope that will always come. When we resist, when we push against the natural order of things, we struggle more. As humans we need to rest and slow down. Even the symptoms of Seasonal Effective Disorder (SAD) point to the a need for more rest and quiet. In this time, lost parts of ourselves can rise to the surface, we learn to sit with our own discomfort, until it becomes comfortable. Turn into the dark, and you may just discover some treasures.
In spirituality, it is often said that when you descend into a place of soul, you go into the underworld. In which case, we can see winter as the time of soul.
How to winter well
- hot baths
- soups (particularly root vegetables)
- reading and listening to music
- candle light and fires (very Persephone)
- afternoon naps
- nature walks
- naming 3 things every day you are grateful for
- journaling/writing
- quiet time with loved ones
- setting intentions for when the spring arrives
Charley Brinton 