December Notebook: All is Calm
Peace, goodwill and stargazing
Hello,
Happy December!
Who’s ready for Christmas? Only joking, we’ve still got plenty of time before then. A whole month of Midwinter magic.
And this really is a magical time of year.
Now I know ‘calm’ might not be the first word that comes to mind when you think of December. But bear with me on this one, because underneath all the noise and fuss that comes along with Christmas, December actually has an incredibly peaceful energy.
If you’re able to get outside this month you can sense it - there’s a deep stillness in the natural world. Almost every plant and animal has taken the month off to hunker down and do the bare minimum.
In those big, silent landscapes it feels like there’s space to breathe and on a frosty day, when the Winter sun shines, everything is dusted with magic. The long, quiet evenings are beautiful too, with their dark skies and Winter stars.
So if you ask me, outdoors is where true peace and goodwill can be found this month.
Which is exactly what we’ll be exploring in this newsletter.
But just quickly, before we dive into all of that, a small update from me:
In case you missed it, I’ve recently removed the paid tier on my website and reverted this newsletter to a completely free one. Meaning everyone will now get all my seasonal emails completely free. Including my online seasonal retreats.
Surprise!
It’s an unconventional move I know, but it feels like the right one to me. Selling memberships felt a bit like running a commercial business, and that felt at odds with the peace and pleasure I originally found in writing these newsletters.
So I’m reverting back to a free model for now. And enjoying the freedom that has returned to me. I already feel richer in peace-of-mind, if not in pocket.
I probably win a prize for the shortest-lived paid community on Substack ever, mind you. But there you go. We live and learn! And my lesson from this year is that sometimes, just because we can sell something it doesn’t always mean we should.
Now, back to December magic.
In this newsletter, we’ll be embracing hibernation states, gazing up at starry skies, and looking forward to some ancient Midwinter fun. Who’s in?
Things to Love about December
1. ‘A light state of torpor’
As I said above, if you look to the natural world, no-one is doing anything energetic right now.
While very few animals actually go into full hibernation state in the Winter (only bats, hedgehogs and dormice do this in the UK), many put themselves into a ‘light torpor’ state in cold weather. This means they basically take really long, cosy naps during the day whenever it gets cold and they need to save energy.
This is such an excellent idea, I vote we all enter a ‘light state of torpor’ whenever needed this month.
2. Peaceful festive traditions
Although it might seem from my intro that I’m anti-Christmas, I am most definitely not. I love it with my whole heart, as anyone who knows me will testify.
But what I love about it are the older traditions. Those tiny moments of quiet magic that seem to tap into something ancient. I have a hunch that those are actually these moments most of us love, but it’s sometimes hard to hear them above all the commercial noice of the holidays.
Listening to candle-lit carols, looking up at winter stars, or sitting quietly in front a fire with tree lights shining; it feels like there’s some deep and old magic to be found this month if you stay still enough to find it. Ancestors and lost loved ones always seem closer at this time of year than at any other - there’s a sense of the veil lifting between this world and something… else. Ancient magic.
3 Things to do in December
1. Celebrate the Winter Solstice with me
Saturday 21st December is the Winter Solstice, a magical day that’s been celebrated since ancient times. It marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year; after this point the balance will start to shift in favour of the sun again, as the days start to lengthen and the light gradually returns.
I’ll be sending everyone a package of Winter Solstice emails soon with ideas on how to celebrate it, from book recommendations to cosy recipes and hibernation rituals. Keep an eye out!
2. Go Stargazing
Winter is the best time of year for stargazing. Nights are longer and the air is clearer than in the Summer months. Winter also offers some of the most dramatic meteor showers of the year. The best times to see the stars are the days around each new moon when the sky is darkest. (Interested in Lunar Living? Take a look at this post.)
This year the new moon falls on 1st December (today!) and the Geminid meteor shower will be active between 4-20 December and will peak on 14-15 December. Pop those dates on your calendar.
3. Bring evergreens indoors
The best thing about bringing branches of evergreens indoors is that delicious spicy, earthy, pine-y ‘Christmas’ smell they brings with them. Essential at a time of the year when we can easily be cut of from nature.
If you need a fun fact this month, you can tell people you’re bringing a Christmas tree indoors to honour the Ancient Romans who used evergreens to decorate their temples and homes during their Midwinter celebrations.
Ok, that’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed your December newsletter and I hope you have a wonderful month filled with Winter stars and quiet moments of peace.
We’ll meet again on the 17th when you’ll receive the first of your Winter Solstice retreat emails. Look forward to seeing you there.
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Until then,
Vicky x
Stargazing is my favourite thing to do on dark nights, especially after having to deal with all too human sources of stress (crowds, shopping etc). Though in the UK, winter night air isn't usually clearer than summer (so cloudy and damp!) but when those clouds do clear, the stars are brighter at this time of year because the Earth is facing a part of space that's full of very hot, giant, luminous stars like the ones in Orion and the Pleiades, which make our Sun seem feeble in comparison! And the brightness and beauty of those stars have layered this part of the night sky with so many stories across time and cultures. I'm really getting into star lore these days, to add more magic to my stargazing experiences.
We're winding down from a snowstorm that started on Thanksgiving (November 28). We ended up with 24 inches. We're in a lull now, but an Alberta clipper is headed for us on Wednesday, followed by lake effect (Lake Superior) snow. They're saying another 9 inches. This is very, very good for our local economy as well as for me, as my favorite weather forecast is: "Travel will be difficult to impossible."