Good morning…
“Full moon rising,” a friend wrote from California at 5:00 pm her time, 8:00 pm my time. Her photo was soft and pastel, filled with layers of lush. She forwarded from a friend an encouragement she received.
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✨ Bring on the Cold Moon! 🌕 TONIGHT
• Stillness
• Reflection
• Release
• Intention
• Manifestation
The Cold Moon invites us to clear what’s old, honor what’s true, and welcome what’s ready to emerge as a new cycle emerges. As the last full moon of the year, it’s a powerful moment for wishes, direction, and renewal.
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I also was anticipating the bright beauty of this final full moon of the year, so I stepped outside and took this photo, returning the image to my friend.
“Your view is so gorgeous,” I replied. “It is cloudy and rainy here, so your amazingly colorful photo provides such a beautiful contrast. Thank you for sharing. It is true that the moon reflects the moods of our soul. No night quite the same, cycle by cycle. No moon in sight tonight, life’s fullness is hidden. This is an experience our souls have felt before. These clouds too shall pass.”
“So different how we are experiencing tonight,” she responded. “Clear and cold here. I ordered Wintering today (the book we will be studying in our classes next semester) and will look forward to it in January.”
Now, up in the middle of this damp, dark night, I go to my copy of the book and open to page 10, reading these words aloud to myself.
“Wintering is a season in the cold,” explains author Katherine May. “It is a fallow period in life when you’re cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast in the role of an outsider. Perhaps it results from an illness or a life event such as a bereavement or the birth of a child; perhaps it comes from a humiliation or failure. Perhaps you’re in a period of transition and have temporarily fallen between two worlds. Some winterings creep upon us more slowly, accompanying the protracted death of a relationship, the gradual ratcheting up of caring responsibilities as our parents age, the drip-drip-drip of lost confidence. Some are appallingly sudden, like discovering one day that your skills are considered obsolete, the company you worked for has gone bankrupt, or your partner is in love with someone new. However it arrives, wintering is usually involuntary, lonely, and deeply painful. Yet it’s also inevitable.”
We all experience wintering differently, just like tonight’s Cold Moon is viewed from various perspectives.
Let’s take time to scroll back through the three contrasting photos of tonight’s full moon. Which image best depicts the way your soul is wintering right now? What in yourself is being revealed?
The day and the night are both Yours—You fashioned the sun, moon, and all the lights that pierce the darkness. You have arranged the earth, set all its boundaries; You are the Architect of the seasons: summer and winter (Psalm 74:16-18, VOICE).
With God as the Architect of this wintering experience, what might be being built within your soul during this Cold Moon season?
…Sue…
