Long Snows Moon, November 24

The Long Snows Moon begins to signal the shift into the winter season that begins on the solstice (December 21). This is the time of introspection, of quiet meditation, of allowing the last year to fall away effortlessly, and of anticipating the quiet to come with the winter season.

The Long Snows Moon begins to signal the shift into the winter season that begins on the solstice (December 21). The solstice is the still point of the earth on its path around the sun.

While the solstice is technically only one day, to us, it appears as though the sun stands still for the three days following the solstice, before it begins to move back, lengthening the daylight hours. For many indigenous cultures of the Northern Hemisphere, they performed many ceremonies during the solstice time (some lasting three days) in which they asked the sun to return to the earth.

This is a time of introspection, of quiet meditation, of allowing the last year to fall away effortlessly.

During this perceived time of a still point between the sun and earth, it is a perfect time to allow yourself to be still as well – something that may be a rarity in your life. Even if you can’t be still during that time around the solstice, pick any day during this Long Snows Moon and dedicate it to stillness.

Another introspective task before the New Year is to allow any energies about your life that began this year and did not complete or come to fruition to be let go and returned to the earth for another consideration during another growing season. Resist the tendency to hang on to those partial energies as you enter the New Year. If they didn’t get completed this year, it was for some reason. Regardless of whether you’ve set yourself up for success next year with the same task, let it go now and decide next year if it’s a task worth considering again.

Now is also a time to appreciate the quiet to come with the winter season. Do you remember how snow disguises that which it covers and limits access? Have you ever appreciated these disguises and limitations? If you accept the quiet, muffled nature of snow and how it dampens sound, yet magnifies the light of the full moon at night, then you can appreciate stillness in your life in all its forms. Take some time this month to appreciate the emptiness and stillness of snow in this Long Snows Moon.

Next Month: Solstice on December 21. Earth Renewal Moon on December 24.