SADD and turning inward

I have tried light therapy as well as taking a lot of vitamin D. Nothing seemsto help. Studies show that light therapy is supposed to do wonders.

What does help is letting myself sleep as much as possible, and taking it reallyeasy, almost like you would when your emotions are raw from PMS. The more Ialign myself with introspection, creativity and rest during the dark part of theyear, the easier it is for me. I gain a little bit of weight every winter anddon't worry about it. I am starting to think that it is not something wrongwith me, but my body screaming at me to slow down, WAY down in the winter. Idon't feel bad about pushing harder in the summer months that way either.I'm also lucky that my current job is very busy in the summer (May throughSeptember) and really slow November through April. I felt bad last year for notwanting to work in the winter months, this year I feel like I earn my due in thesummer and now can spend more mental time on me at work. I feel like this setup was a syncronistic personal blessing!

As within so without, as above so below but in a different manner. The worlddoes reflect how we should live in harmony with its cycles. Sleeping extrameans that you allow your younger self and higher self more time in control. Insuch states you actually are letting your other parts of self shine through andcommunicate with you. If its all go go go all the time, we subvert the shadowand subvert the child self and cut ourselves off from our power as whole,healthy beings. Winter is a convenient time for me to tap into that, just likethe core of sap of a tree, down and within is wisdom as well, waiting to betapped, so that like a maple tree, we can taste the sweet syrup in the spring.

Samhain Harvesting

I start looking at the year's work at Lammas and Mabon. At that point I am taking an accounting of what was accomplished and what I was happy with. I'm also looking at what isn't finished or not quite good enough. My goal is to complete that year's work cycle by Samhain. In forlkore tradition, it is customary to leave anything that had not been harvested in the fields to the spirits and to rot. The idea was that it was no longer yours to have after Samhain and the veils thinned. What was left was for the Landvaettir, the Ancestors, and the creatures of the Wild Hunt. You wouldn't want to eat food that had had the energy taken from it by another being. The food itself would not nourish you or could make you sick. Folklore aside, I deal with SADD every year so its helpful for me to wind things down and focus on myself inwardly and my family for the winter months.

Between Samhain and Yule, I follow the Celtic idea that there is a space of time between Samhain and Yule that is not of the year and is an underworld and othertime space. December really is culturally for the US a crazy time of overboard feasting, but also a time of family and joy so between Samhain and Yule, I do a lot of cooking, journaling, review how things went, give thanks for what was a success and for all the blessings in my life, then dream, rest, and plan for the new cycle to come. I also work with the Morrigan during the winter months to help cull away and clean house per say in order to make room for new things to grow. Brigid looks over my kitchen, keeping my family nourished and comforted and safe. The Morrigan help my internal struggles with the season and both temper and form the sword within me so that I can be a more effective tool of the Divine in the year to come. Finally I look to Freyja to oversee my relationship with my partner that we can be a healthy, loving team.

Mark, author of http://clearandobscure.blogspot.com/, mentioned that he just found out that leaves don't fall off trees, the trees push the leaves off this time of year. What do you want to push out or set free? What can be a joyous outward sharing to the world in brillant color so that you can peacefully turn inward in the months to come?

Wassail!