As I write this, snow is falling gently outside, creating a quiet blanket of soft white over everything. There are many faces to each season, but the ones revealed to us depend very much on the state of our hearts and what we are ready to see. As I reflected on what to say to you to start this month, the word “courage” kept washing up on the shores of my mind. 

This month, the sun will courageously be born again. After the longest night of the year, after the Wild Hunt in the black skies, the days will grow in brightness again. In the meantime, evergreens contrast with the bare trees around them, their stubborn color are a promise and a memory of spring. The earth sings her song of hope to us in these ways. She reminds us that all things pass and are reborn. She insists we don’t despair, for no state of being is permanent. In a moment life can get brighter.

She gives us the gifts of freedom and of change. We can lay to rest our burdens, our outgrown ways of showing up and relating in the world. We can bury them in the snow, and then with fresh and easy breath turn our faces to the ever-growing light of the sun. 

At this time of year we must create our own warmth. We create our own warmth not only by heating our homes, but in the attitudes and beliefs we nurture within our minds and hearts. We grow in warmth when we are generous and kind, accepting and forgiving. We radiate warmth and light when we are open-hearted conduits of healing for one another, and intentional about how we show up in our communities. 

It takes courage to do these things. It takes courage to accept the invitation of winter, to look within, to let go of permanence, to release what is familiar but causing us pain. it takes courage to hold hope in our hands as a little flame against the aggressive darkness. It takes courage to have faith in the return of the light and the turning of the wheel.

Jessica Jascha is a clinical herbalist, intuitive consultant, and writer in Minnesota. She provides herbal medicine consultations, tarot readings and spiritual mentorship, hosts the Moon Ritual Subscription, and teaches. You can find her on Facebook.