Winter Solstice, the Cave, & the Crone
/As the chaos of Eclipse season begins to settle and we meet the WINTER SOLSTICE, a new energetic cycle sweeps in to work its magic on us… IF we allow it to. We’ve made our descent to the darkest point of the year, the silent night.
And while you may have been taught to fear the silent darkness, in reality it holds a treasure trove of wisdom just waiting for you to venture in and claim it!
Over the past decade I’ve found myself drifting from our modern Gregorian calendar system which marks a year cycle from January 1st to December 31st. And instead, I’ve found myself naturally embracing the rhythms of the witches’ “Wheel of the Year”, which is rooted in mother Earth’s energetic seasons (and comprised of 8 “festivals” occurring around every six weeks).
So rather than abruptly diving into the “New Year’s resolution” mentality on January 1st, I’ve begun to embrace the six week period between the Winter Solstice (on December 21st) and Imbolc (on February 1st), as a metaphorical CAVE where I retreat for deep stillness, rest, reflection, and releasing. And where I prepare for my rebirth into the new year at Spring.
THE CAVE
As Kim Krans, creator of the Wild Unknown Archetype Guidebook, says…
Those who are fortunate enough to find and enter The Cave are forever changed. It is a place of potent power, acting both as a portal to another realm and a space for sacred ritual and initiation. The Cave is a place to return for meaningful retreat, where one can “see” the true self in the darkness.
Because this next six week period of retreating into the cave to “die” and be “reborn” in the new year is so important, I asked my favorite oracle system (the I Ching) what we need to know in order to benefit from this deeply sacred time.
And to guide us, the I Ching gave us the following four hexagrams (note: hexagrams are the language of the I Ching… just like Tarot cards are the language of Tarot).
☯️RETREAT (#33)
☯️INNOCENCE (#25)
☯️DECISIVENESS (#43)
☯️GREAT EXCESS (#28)
RETREAT & INNOCENCE HEXAGRAMS
The first two hexagrams ask you to resist the brainwashing of our capitalistic hustle culture, telling you to go from 0-100 on January 1st. And instead, listen to your own inner rhythm, which is likely still calling you to RETREAT into the stillness of Winter a bit longer, to rest and find your way back to your most INNOCENT self.
Because it is only in that quiet, still place of retreat and innocence, that you can truly connect to the newer, more soul-aligned version of your values, needs, desires, and truths that are ready to be birthed from your all of your challenges, lessons, mistakes, and experience in 2021.
THE CRONE
According to the witches Wheel of the Year, the Winter is associated with the metaphorical Crone, or “old wise woman”.
In the words of Kim Krans, the Crone is “one who has witnessed endless cycles of death, failure, rebirth, conflict, and regeneration”. And thus she has accumulated great experience, wisdom, and understanding of herself, those closest to her, and the world around her.
And so as the chaos of the Winter Eclipse Season calms and you allow your inner Crone to awaken, you have a unique opportunity to see with the Crone’s wisdom, all the out-dated values, needs, desires, false-truths, and oppressive systems that have unconsciously been informing your actions (and creating any undesirable circumstances you’ve felt stuck in this year)!
And as you retreat into Winter’s cave of death and rebirth with your Crone’s experience and insight, you can begin transmuting them into real change over these next six weeks.
DECISIVENESS & GREAT EXCESS HEXAGRAMS
The second two hexagrams of DECISIVENESS and GREAT EXCESS give us more guidance as to how we can navigate our transmutation time in the dark CAVE now.
Once you retreat within and connect to your most innocent and truthful self, you must then begin to DECIDE which values, needs, desires, truths, behaviors, and systems you will consciously carry into the new year (and which no longer serve you and will either be consciously left behind to die OR actively dismantled in the new year.)
And if you’re still not sure what to release and what to embrace right now, let the energy of GREAT EXCESS guide you.
In other words, notice where in your life you have a sense of “great excess”, overwhelm or disharmony. What projects, relationships, or areas of your life feel like they’ve reached a tipping point of imbalance, and are literally taking most of your attention, time, or energy just to maintain (or keep from falling apart)?
My guess is, your inner Crone knows more than you’d like to admit about the old, non-serving patterns and relationships you’re still clinging to (even though you know better), in this final phase of the year.
And so your work these next few weeks is to continue carving out time and space to deeply reflect on those areas that have fallen into “great excess”, and are begging you to finally start making some tough DECISIONS around what’s got to go.
Ask yourself, “Which aspects of my relationships, projects, or other areas of life are aligned with my truest self… and which are not?” Which am I ready to actively un-learn and un-become over these next 6 weeks of mid Winter?”
In closing, the big takeaway I hope to leave you with is this…
These next six weeks are ruled by Winter, the Cave, and the Crone. And so, it is ultimately a time to REST (it’s been a looong year)… REFLECT (on what you’ve learned this year and how it informs what you’ll do differently next year)… and RELEASE baggage (so you can make space for the NEW dreams, new desires, and new ways you want to show up in the new year!).
Because when Spring arrives, and your wise inner Crone is reborn into a naive Maiden, you’ll slowly forget any lessons and knowledge that you didn’t take the time to consciously integrate in the cave of Winter. And then you’ll be destined to repeat them over and over again, until you finally claim the lessons and growth you’re meant for now.
“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.”