My mom passed on last years winter solstice. I found that to be personally symbolic.

I believe that a light shining in the darkness may be the oldest image known to human awareness.

Growing up in Alaska I have felt the extreme of this. I currently live in the Midwest but still feel this deeply. Modern age demands the same productivity at work in summer as in winter. I have been privileged enough to lean into my primal need to rest more in the winter and allow the light to energize in the summer.

I have had the opportunity to live inside the Arctic circle where you get the extreme contrast between summer and winter solstice. The effects on the mind, body, and mood swing were quite apparent.

We “moderns” are not only exposed to too much light, we have an unhealthy expectation that we should be active, merry, upbeat, interactive during the natural annual resting time. Personally I love winter and the winter Solstice. Lots or rest!

Dear people, what a beautiful conversation. Thank you. I loved the comment about “ In the darkness we discover our fruitfulness.” Yes. I would add, darkness seems to be fertile ground for creativity. I absolutely love the Winter Solstice, not just because of the return to light, but because after years of experience I know the tail end of the darkness, which this day is, leaves gifts in its wake. I woke up this morning and one of my first thoughts was “ Whose words these are.” An idea for a podcast. A riff on my father’s favorite poem, and one of mine. Happy Solstice to you all!🎄✨🌚

“Rest into the wintering” love this. Gentle rest, like nestling into the leaves. 🍂

We all came from the darkness, we spent 9 months in a womb. Life comes from the darkness like a seed needs to be in darkness to gestate and grow towards the light.

Thank you for your honoring of Winter Solstice. I am a Solstice child by birth and am Grateful for your interpretations from All around the Northern Hemisphere. This year was the most bountiful year on our farm. Last year there were no fruits on the trees except Pomegranates! Long ago I was accused of being Ceres and that my daughter is Persephone. Now, both myself and my daughter are released from the accusation! Next year is the 50th year of our family being here at our farm!

I just joined Dream School, so intentionally inviting the Muse to visit. Last night I wrote my intention, but this morning the "bowl" was "empty." I drew a sketch. Later it looked like a closed mouth. Listening now, I honor the message of the Winter Solstice. Also, many of the more mature Yoga teachers will remind their students that this is a time to slow down, savor the privilege of not having to hurry, and preference functionality over performative asana. What a blessing to be here now!

As always Joseph, your contributions are the deepest, carrying in them a deep knowing- a gnosis that is palpable. Have you written a book? I would read them all because you feel like home. Authentic. Your knowing, I can tell, was hard earned through an embodiment of experiences first before it was enhanced by your intellectual pursuits. I can always tell when it’s the other way around. Thank you for your very necessary POV.

I had to get used to the pace of your conversations but I now I LOVE them! Such a treasure trove, you are truly wise and erudite. Thank you so much for contributing this.

.Thank you for this conversation I have found it very interesting but also rewarding and validating. I really enjoyed the mythological aspects of the conversations..I have a very pronounced connection to the natural cycles and the winter solstice in particular moves me in a deep physical way . Around the 21st December and during the midwinter I feel drawn to the countryside where only the natural lights provide illumination. I find myself wanting to be quiet and go inwards and feel a deep need to disconnect, turn off my phone and see no one. I find the hectic western Christmas activities of rushing, planning and shopping and making plans and getting together in groups challenging even off putting. I find myself wanting to dwell in silence and darkness slow down and to meditate and focus on the coming year. It is indeed a deep embodied experience and it is rich and pregnant point in the year where I feel a keen orientation towards my own soul which lights my path. It is also a time of creative gestation.

What a profound episode! The forces of collective unconsciousness will not prevail in this house! And the messages not ignored. Thank you all as I marinate in this astronomical-astrological phenomenon, feeling like I'm at the apex of a wave of light even as I appreciate the inevitable descent. It is, after all, a wave!

Too many adults are afraid of the dark, too. Take a walk down any city street at nightfall or later or much later, and you will see what I mean. May I recommend a book? Try "Night: An Exploration of Night, Life, Night Language, Sleep and Dreams," by poet and critic A. Alvarez, published in 1995 and 1996. It would seem to be right up your alley, as it were. Thanks for your timely video. Edit: Regarding the brighter or lighter side of darkness and depression, I found James Hillman's video "Kind of Blue" surprising and interesting. "Kind of Blue: James Hillman on Melancholia and Depression." (1992)

Bears are so amazing. We see them so oddly..not at all for as cool and magical as they are.

I loved how Joseph reminded us that this solstice season , especially with Saturnalia but also Christanity, is a time of celebration because the harvest stores are still plentiful & and sense of cornucopia prevails. It is actually in late winter & early Spring that starvation threatened - just in time for the pious fasting of Lent. Talk about embodied! So, thank you for bringing this to our attention. 🙏🏽

Loved this! One thing I want to share: in recent years, when at least where I live, the effects of global warming altered winter to the point we're no longer having heavy snows in winter, but spring days with 20°C ~ 26°C (not sure what that is in Farenheit, but it is very warm for winter) I get depressed becausewe no longer have weeks of clouds, snow storms, rains in autumn. I cannot be complete with sunny, dry, warm weather only. Also, I dislike artificial white or colored lights. I find them aggressive for the eyesight but also for the psyche.

As a small child I was deeply moved by the story of the Little Match Girl but as an adult I have not revisited that story. Away I go… sacred solstice to all. As always these talks are deeply thought provoking in a dreamy come-what-may way.

Thank you guys ❤ I had a dream a few days ago about an old bear fighting a younger bear. Thankful for your amplification.

Astounding conversation! ...connecting the Solstice with humans' traditions, ancient and modern, in these times of darkness and inner chrysalis.

Have wondered about this conversation. Much needed for me ~ many thanks!✨🙋🏽‍♀️💫👈🏼

Big fan here in Brazil ❤ Happy solstice!

Inspiring, intelligent conversation. Just the thing for the darkest day of the year!❤

Thanks for spreading the light❤.

Beautiful conversation 🤍✨ I really love winter ❄️ and darkness. It's very cosy for me . I like watching all lights in people houses on late evening walk . But also somehow I can focus more on reading my favourite books . Often in evening I like going early to bed have my Cacao and just read my mind is more slow down for that and in summer it's to active. In winter I feel home more homy more cosy 😊 But I never experienced low mood in that season. Even when I was living in Iceland somehow I did slowdown but my brain didn't experience depressional stage . And I love celebrating Winter Solstice. 🤍

This is truly excellent. Thank you.

Yes, Yalda is celebrated by Iranians with candles, pomegranates, dried fruits , and reading Hafiz. Each offering through the depth of the night to the light is symbolic and preserved in the rich tradition of storytelling.

This was a very well done and thought provoking program. Thank you!

rly uplifting episode. thanks.

Perfect timing for this podcast !! My sad mood seems to start in January through March, but vitamin D helps a lot.

Thank you for another great episode! Every week I'm excited to discover what you'll talk about next, love the winter solstice. About the dream, I wonder if it might have something to do with the shadow? The cat is black and white and he is bitten in the face, disfigured, grotesque… You picked up on the soulful aspect of the cat and been talking about it as the feminine, but in the dream he is a male cat, so could it be both, for example the anima being married to the shadow? The dog in myths is a guide to the underworld, so I wonder if the apartment he’s in could be the unconscious.. also compared to cats dogs have a sense of morality and in the dream the dog bites the face of the cat, who is a tomcat.. maybe the dream points to a change in the dreamer’s identity of himself, the friend he had in the 90s?

I dont have anything profound to say but this felt so good...❤❤❤

I love listening and learn so much every, single time. I wonder if we can perfectly equate the depression of today when light leaves, with the inner travel of a time when our nutrition was much more bioavailable. Vitamin D levels plummet these days and can be quite dangerous in ways that may not have existed when food was not factory farmed. So I wonder if we can the practice of the past and embrace shamanism, plant medicine and darkness, but also embrace the modern realities and the good parts of medical knowledge of today.

Reminded of the cat in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' in the dream analysis--in that case the cat seemed to represent a part of Holly's soul, her heart, that she had been denying. I think the loss of the cat in the dream and the anger in the marriage, (the dog's) had contributed to the loss of the cat--the love that had become neglected or denied.

We celebrate the winter solstice as it is a symbol for the end of darkness. As a symbol that every long dark night will come to an end and sun will rise again and will fill the world with its light. Scientifically, Winter solstice is the longest night of the year, and every night following it will be slightly shorter than the night before, and days start getting longer on daily basis.

01:30 🌌 The winter solstice, with its longest night, symbolizes the return of light and has been celebrated for its psychological significance. 03:03 🌍 The solstice occurs twice a year due to the Earth's tilt, marking the shortest and longest days, bringing attention to the psychological process of shortening days and lengthening nights. 05:39 🌒 The darkness of winter represents a primordial experience of death, hibernation, and vulnerability, rooted deep within human consciousness. 08:40 🌃 Winter can be a time for self-reflection, rest, quietude, and gestation, offering an opportunity for inner growth and renewal. 12:18 🐻 Wintering can be compared to hibernation, where life retreats underground, representing a profound, churning life in the unconscious. 16:43 💡 The darkness of winter, while representing a retreat from the light, allows for an expansion into the inner world, fostering creativity, dreams, and altered states of consciousness. 22:51 ✝ The solstice also marks the birth of great saviors in various myths, symbolizing hope that consciousness can stand against destructive unconscious impulses, emphasizing transcendence and redemption. 25:41 🎁 The podcast promotes audience engagement and support through subscriptions, dream interpretations, and the offer of gift memberships to Dream School. Understood. 53:24 🌟 Protect and guard your inner light amidst life's difficulties. 54:02 🌍 Be mindful of the impact of constant exposure to negative news on your consciousness. 56:17 💡 Retreat to your inner self, the "ryome," to rediscover your authentic self and shed external influences. 57:21 🍂 Embrace the beginning of winter as a time to let go of external distractions and find your natural essence. 58:21 🌞 Celebrate the great cycle of life and renewal during the solstice, regardless of your tradition. 59:10 😿 Dreams of wounded or lost animals may signify neglect of a tender, soulful aspect of oneself. 01:01:03 🏡 Explore the significance of the dreamer's choice to take the cat to an unfamiliar place and consider the role of trust. 01:03:25 🐶 The dog biting the cat's face in the dream may represent an undeveloped or misunderstood aspect of the dreamer's own aggression. 01:08:59 😱 The feeling of horror in the dream can indicate a shockingly disfigured or overlooked inner feminine aspect that needs attention. 01:15:26 🤔 The dream suggests an unconscious ritual process involving the interaction between the inner masculine and feminine.

That's the moon card in the tarot deck. Illumination in the face of the cthonic and shamanic.

I love the dark and have been spending many nights creeping myself out watching paranormal and other scary real stuff caught on film before I go to bed.

It would seem to me that SAD is an evolutionary survival strategy. If a cave man felt on top of the world in the depths of an ice age winter and went out of the cave ready to "seize the day" when the big game animals have migrated way for the season, little food to be found and winter blizzards we would likely be a dead cave man walking and less likely to reproduce. We are not supposed to feel great. Instead it's time to tell stories, make music and paint on walls. Something like that happens every mid winter day in Antarctica in research bases when teams of scientists put on pantomimes.

Have come to think of Hades as a fun guy!! More accurately, during Astrological studies Pluto (archetypically speaking) resembles fungi

I also thought the Charles in the 90s was a person, a best friend. Maybe he names all of his cats Charles?

Dr. Bairavee Balasubramaniam aka The Sky Priestess, recently put forth an interesting concept within the Persephone myth that has stayed with me; she knew quite well what she was doing by ingesting those pomegranate seeds, which was ensuring a break from her overbearing mother.

Interesting, because now that i have an empty house, other than pets, i fall asleep early. I work with plants, so it's a time of sleep and preparation for the following year.

I sleep more in the summer because the heat makes me very tired. I have more energy in the winter.

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The pineal gland is also associated with the bear in some Native American cultures. :)

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💛

If animals went to psychotherapy… bears would be diagnosed with MDD, SAD and agoraphobia. Deer- anxiety and panic disorders. Squirrels- hoarding and OCD. Turtles- antisocial and agoraphobia. Lions NPD. Maybe it’s time to look at humans as part of nature instead of pathologies.

because its my birthday haha

1.5x

Aboriginal North Americans used only the winter to tell LOTS of stories. Fertile darkness.

I was born on the Solistice. Why don't I have magic powers?

Winter=Darkness/Feminine Power/Matter/Maternal... Summer=Light/Masculine Power/Motion/Paternal

Jesus was neither a savior nor born about this time. Scholars think it may have been around the 1st of April. Seriously.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy%27s_Day