As the daylight wanes and the nights grow longer, colder and darker, we draw our energy in. Instead of the labor of summer, we begin to curl inward, focusing on our internal landscape, on reading, writing, journaling, on feeding the fire, stacking and chopping wood, while cultivating our vision for the seasons to come.
December is a time to slow down, to gather with family and friends, to reflect and nurture the body and soul with warmth from the fire, with simmered stews, hot herbal teas and early nights.
“Winter brings introspection and observation,” says Natalie Bogwalker, the founder of Wild Abundance, a primitive skills and permaculture school in Barnardsville, North Carolina. “It’s a time of receptivity, a time for planning the year to come, for walking the land an envisioning.”