Winter Round-up + Inspiration

A year ago I wrote a post about getting ready for winter, which you can read here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/getting-ready-for-winter.html

Now winter is coming again, and this year I'm going to do a round-up of previous winter posts and share some links with inspiration for the season. :)

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere you might like this post about celebrating Litha/the Summer Solstice and summer: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/06/celebrating-litha-summer.html

 

While I find it easy to be inspired by summer (since it's my favourite season and I like hot weather), I find winter a lot harder! I don't like cold weather and winter can be quite dreary. I like autumn because it's a beautiful time of year, but it seems quite brief really. By the end of November most of the trees in my area had lost their leaves and the lovely colours had faded. 

While we're still technically in autumn, if you follow the astronomical definition of winter which is around 21st December (the meteorological one is 1st Dec), it's starting to feel more like winter now. Some parts of the country have had snow. There hasn't been any in my town yet but in my area they had some. The temperature is 12 degrees Celsius (54 F) today though, so warmer. It's supposed to go down to 7 tonight. Next week the coldest during the day will be about 7, so we're not in proper winter weather yet! This past winter seemed quite long with more snow than usual in the UK and I was ready when spring arrived! It will be nice if we get snow again this year/early next year though.

I have depression and also I think Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) which is where you get more depressed during winter.* As I mentioned in last year's post about getting ready for winter, I spent the first few years of my life in hot countries (Swaziland and Lesotho in Southern Africa, and Fiji), so this could be part of the reason why. I find I feel down with the shorter days and longer nights as well. Since Litha aka Midsummer/the Summer Solstice, the days have been shorter and it's especially noticeable after Madron/Mabon, also known as the Autumn Equinox. Right now sunrise is around 7.45am and sunset 3.56pm. Yule aka Midwinter/the Winter Solstice which is 21st December this year (the date varies slightly) will be the shortest day and longest night. So from then on we'll see the days get gradually longer again.

Winter does bring some good things though- events such as Yule and Christmas, and also snow. (That depends if you like snow or not, but since we don't tend to get much in Sussex, I do like it when it snows!). I find that the run-up to Christmas keeps me busy. Christmas used to be so exciting when I was young. As you grow older you tend to lose a bit of that "Christmas magic", but I do still enjoy it and now I celebrate Yule as well. (Of course if you're a witch/magic practitioner you might literally do magic at Christmas and nowadays when I celebrate Yule I sometimes do rituals). All the lights and decorations at this time of year are beautiful. So here's some winter inspiration!

*Check out this post for tips on coping with SAD: https://www.kitchenstewardship.com/15-tips-combat-seasonal-affective-disorder/

 

First of all here's a round-up of previous winter themed posts on The Seasonal Life (in chronological order):

Hove Park in winter: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2014/03/hove-park-in-winter.html

Getting ready for winter: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/getting-ready-for-winter.html

Winter drinks: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/01/winter-drinks.html


Previous Yule posts on the blog:

2013: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/12/yule.html

2014: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2014/12/yule-2014.html

2015: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2015/12/yule-2015.html

Yule 2016 + Origins of Father Christmas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2016/12/yule-2016-origins-of-father-christmas.html

2017: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/yule-2017.html



Christmas themed posts:

Christmas vanilla roll cake: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-vanilla-roll-cake.html

White chocolate fudge: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2016/01/white-chocolate-fudge.html

Christmas and New Year 2016/17: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/01/christmas-and-new-year-20162017.html

White chocolate Christmas cake + New Year biscuits: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/01/white-chocolate-christmas-cake-new-year.html


23/12/18: Updated with new link.

Now here are some winter posts from other sites:

Family oriented pagan winter activities: https://otherworldlyoracle.com/50-fun-family-oriented-pagan-activities-for-winter/

Winter self care ideas from Self Love Rainbow (formerly Blessing Manifesting): https://www.selfloverainbow.com/2017/11/winter-self-care-ideas.html/

And December self care check in from Self Love Rainbow (formerly Blessing Manifesting): https://www.selfloverainbow.com/2017/12/december-self-care-check-in.html


Post on maintaining your spiritual practice during the holiday season: https://witchoflupinehollow.com/2018/11/05/how-to-maintain-your-daily-spiritual-practice-during-the-busy-holiday-season/

Mood boosting food ideas from Kris Carr: https://kriscarr.com/seasonal-affective-disorder-food/

Ways to fight the winter blues: https://mlovesm.com/2018/01/5-ways-to-fight-the-winter-blues/

Lydia Elise's Millen's guide to feeling festive: https://lydiaelisemillen.com/2018/12/my-guide-to-feeling-festive-this-year/

Winter magic/k, spells and goddesses: https://tarotpugs.com/2017/11/05/winter-magick-spells-and-goddesses/


Hope you enjoyed the post! :) Later this month I'll do a new post about celebrating Yule (which is on 21st December again this year) and Christmas.

How do you get ready for winter? What's your favourite thing about it? (Or summer/whichever season you're in). :)


Photo: Moonsparkle 2018.