WYD: First Snow!
I've been asked to describe the 'whys' of some of the things I do, so essentially this is the first of the many WHAT YOU DOIN posts that are sure to follow over the winter.
I.
Love.
Snow.
I always have, and I always will, and snow is basically friggin magic falling from the clouds to earth in the tiniest, most precious, most fragile and sacred little frosty hexagons in existence. The FIRST snow symbolizes many things; the actual turn of the seasons to winter (for me), new beginnings, a fresh start, (or poetically) Cailleach stretching out her arms and walking the earth after a long sleep, Holda/Holle shaking off her bedspread, Morana beginning her assessments of the unprepared, Skadi is strapping on her skis for the first time this year, any way you slice it the Earth is moving into the slow stillness of winter in the northern hemisphere.
I have spoken of some western Beings, but the magic of the first snow fall is universal. There is a saying in Korea that says if you are out in the first falling snow of the year with the person you liked, that love would blossom between you. A similar legend exists in Japan, in which people who witness the diamond snow together will be together always.
It's so pretty.
Anyway, whichever mythological theme you prefer, for me personally the first snow has significance to my practice in that I view it as a fresh start, a blank slate, a starting over, berkana and isa. Ancestrally for me, both the duality of Cailleach and Bride/Brighid are found within the simple little six sided shapes falling from the sky. I'm no whiz at sacred geometry, but I can recognize that nature digs a hexagon, and the Cailleach with her heavy snows (six sided snowflakes) and Brighid whose honeybees create their combs of perfect hexagons to store their golden honey. However the connection came to be in Scotland and it's mirror-but-different-and-Irish version is an uncertainty lost to history, but I think the Scots were onto something here. And with regards to fiber arts, Frau Holle/Holda of my German ancestry produces snow with her own mattress and bedsheets. Holda has so many wonderful associations with the winter, as well as her southern twin Berchta, but that's a post for another time. What does all of this matter? Glad you asked.
I collect the first snowfall whenever I can; it's not always easy in this part of Maryland as it can snow overnight and warm up at the crack of dawn and oops you slept through the whole thing. I try to let it fall as it will, rather than smishing up snowballs and crushing them into a jar. In a way, I let nature determine exactly how much blessing I have to work with to start the winter. Once melted, I use it to anoint my paintbrushes, or the tip of my digital art stylus, or my sewing needles or fiber projects in the form of threads and yarns and fabrics. It separates the piece from the other winter works, such as a shawl I might lay out for Cailleach during a blizzard to collect the wild and frenzied power of the storm. Everything is association, and it's intensely personal. If you're lucky enough to be able to plan ahead, you can use the snow BEFORE it melts in the same way! I'm a bit too disorganized for that, I'm afraid.
For your own practice, you might not be an artist or crafter, but you might be a writer or thinker, or even something so mundane as a driver or student. Think creatively; an uber driver may wish to anoint their steering wheel with water from the first snow to serve as protection from treacherous driving conditions to keep one safe through the winter. You can certainly use it yourself, placing it on your third eye for meditation and journeys, or on your hands before you cook. Unfortunately, the days of industrial revolution have long affected our atmosphere, so while I do not encourage actually imbibing the water. And even though it should go without saying, make sure you have a clean jar to collect snow in. If you're super organized and want to make your own SPECIAL snow collecting jar and actually have the memory span to find it every year, by all means DO THAT. It makes things that much more special!
And you get to play in the snow. :)
I.
Love.
Snow.
I always have, and I always will, and snow is basically friggin magic falling from the clouds to earth in the tiniest, most precious, most fragile and sacred little frosty hexagons in existence. The FIRST snow symbolizes many things; the actual turn of the seasons to winter (for me), new beginnings, a fresh start, (or poetically) Cailleach stretching out her arms and walking the earth after a long sleep, Holda/Holle shaking off her bedspread, Morana beginning her assessments of the unprepared, Skadi is strapping on her skis for the first time this year, any way you slice it the Earth is moving into the slow stillness of winter in the northern hemisphere.
I have spoken of some western Beings, but the magic of the first snow fall is universal. There is a saying in Korea that says if you are out in the first falling snow of the year with the person you liked, that love would blossom between you. A similar legend exists in Japan, in which people who witness the diamond snow together will be together always.
It's so pretty.
Anyway, whichever mythological theme you prefer, for me personally the first snow has significance to my practice in that I view it as a fresh start, a blank slate, a starting over, berkana and isa. Ancestrally for me, both the duality of Cailleach and Bride/Brighid are found within the simple little six sided shapes falling from the sky. I'm no whiz at sacred geometry, but I can recognize that nature digs a hexagon, and the Cailleach with her heavy snows (six sided snowflakes) and Brighid whose honeybees create their combs of perfect hexagons to store their golden honey. However the connection came to be in Scotland and it's mirror-but-different-and-Irish version is an uncertainty lost to history, but I think the Scots were onto something here. And with regards to fiber arts, Frau Holle/Holda of my German ancestry produces snow with her own mattress and bedsheets. Holda has so many wonderful associations with the winter, as well as her southern twin Berchta, but that's a post for another time. What does all of this matter? Glad you asked.
 |
| Yeah that's an old pasta jar. Re-use! Recycle! |
For your own practice, you might not be an artist or crafter, but you might be a writer or thinker, or even something so mundane as a driver or student. Think creatively; an uber driver may wish to anoint their steering wheel with water from the first snow to serve as protection from treacherous driving conditions to keep one safe through the winter. You can certainly use it yourself, placing it on your third eye for meditation and journeys, or on your hands before you cook. Unfortunately, the days of industrial revolution have long affected our atmosphere, so while I do not encourage actually imbibing the water. And even though it should go without saying, make sure you have a clean jar to collect snow in. If you're super organized and want to make your own SPECIAL snow collecting jar and actually have the memory span to find it every year, by all means DO THAT. It makes things that much more special!
And you get to play in the snow. :)
 |
| Holly berries don't lie, winter gonna be somethin. |
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