Take advantage of winter's gifts to go deep within. Life slows almost to a stop in the natural world. In stillness and quiet answers are often revealed. This journey is exciting and liberating but frightening as well. The emotion fear corresponds to the season of winter, and the water element. In this season our fears are more accessible, unavoidable really. Our shadow self is reflected in the depths. Acknowledging our shadow is a form of wisdom.
Sometimes our fear alerts us to real danger but running from fear strengthens fear. Fear needs to be faced. When we learn the truth of fear, that it is not a thing but a feeling, we can overcome it. Acknowledge your fears gently and kindly and continue to move in the direction of what you want. Expect the fear to increase before it subsides. "Fear will never go away as long as we continue to grow. Pushing through fear is less frightening than living with the underlying fear that comes from a feeling of helplessness". (1) The other side of fear is excitement and courage.
The power granted by water is the capacity to create trembling, a letting go of tightness and pent-up tensions. Key words are fluidty and flow. This is the season of the kidneys and the bladder. The kidneys are the storehouse for our life force the vital energy we recieve from our very beginnings, from our ancestry. The bladder stores our reserves of energy; spiritual, mental and physical. Winter guards the essence of life. Conserve your resources. Let clothes protect you, don't consume your life energy to ward off cold. Practice saying "No". Reflect. Let your plans rest for now. Rest your senses by reducing outside input. Create a quiet space for yourself that encourages you to slow down and listen. Sit in silence. We are more able at this time to set limits and excercise restraint. In this way we come to an awareness of our strengths as well as our weaknesses and our fears.
The color associated with the season is blue/black. The climate is cold. The sense organ is the ears. The sound is a groan. The taste salty. Foods associated with the water season are dates, beans or peas, leeks and fish.
Water is responsible for our will, our drive and our ability to realize our potential. When water is healthy a person is neither 'driven' nor lacking in ambition, power and drive. Water is a symbol of the greater Will that encompasses our life work and the work of the planet. Torah is water. We are water and this is the Water Planet.
Let water bless your life.
Sources
Seasons of Our Lives/Nature's Plan for the Winter, Tom Balles for "Meridians" 1999
"Simple Ways to Feed Your Spirit" McCall's November 1999
Photograph "Snow in Jerusalem" 1993 Chana Elsa
"Acupuncture, Energy Balancing for Body, Mind and Spirit" Peter Mole
"Traditional Accupuncture, The Law of the Five Elements" Dianne M Connelly
"Feel the Fear -And Do It Anyway!" Susan Jeffers (1)
