Monday 28 March 2011

The End of a Season









So Winter has finally come to an end, or as much as it does at this time of year in this part of the world.

Over the past few months I have observed the Winter season and it's nuances of light and dark, shadows of trees, changes in the land buried under snow and ice and the mysteries that lie beneath that sparkling blanket that covers the earth. I have searched for the Greeman as he slumbers in the cold kissed by the winds of winter, safe under the snow. Snowflake by snowflake, thought by thought I have brought this season and all of its subtle shades and stillness into my heart and my onto my canvas.

As a meditative piece this was very challenging as Winter is not always an easy season. Much like the labyrinth at the heart of the Greenman there is only one way into Winter and it is the same winding path to which we can't always see the end that leads us back out again. This path through the darker time of the year is one that we and our ancestors before us have walked for generations, centuries and maybe longer. It is a sacred path we walk as we find ourselves wrapped deep in the velvety dark stillness of the heart of winter looking inward at our own selves and our own hearts with silence and time to contemplate all that exists with in us and all that could exist there.

I am thankful for this time that has brought me awareness of the blue shadows of trees on the snow, of the possibility inside the buds on the branches, of the need for quieter times, gathering energy for the warmer months of growth to come. Wishing you the blessing of a burgeoning spring as the sun gathers strength.