Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Or do you embrace it as the natural part of life that it is?

Today the clocks rolled back to Standard Time here in the US, and I say, “Hallelujah!” I’m a big whiner about Daylight Savings Time because I believe it messes with our circadian rhythms and health.

I did a quick search to see if I could find the real reason this practice still remains and found this article.

I know there are lots of you bemoaning the loss of an extra hour of sunlight. I get it. Really I do. I might have even agreed back in the day. Now, I’m not sure why but with each passing year, I embrace this inevitable darkness more and more.

It’s Scorpio season, and anyone who is or knows a Scorpio will probably recognize an affinity for or at least an acceptance of “the dark.” The underworld. Scorpios often know how to go there and experience deep healing in the process. Of course, as I mentioned in my post, “What’s Your Sign?” astrology is a lot more complex than just our sun sign.

My sun sign is Sagittarius, (you probably know that because I talk about it ad nauseum) and I do have planets in Scorpio. Sagittarius follows Scorpio on the astrology wheel. I wonder if the fact that I was a December baby has anything to do with my affinity for and comfort with the dark.

When I moved to this tiny house on a hill, my landlord said, “it’s really dark here at night.” I was thrilled. After almost two decades in the city and wearing an eye mask and earplugs every single night, I was ecstatic. Not a light to be seen in any direction. Or a sound, except for the occasional owl or coyote. I slept like a baby.

Of course, I’m not just talking about physical darkness (if that’s even a thing) but going to that deep, often dark place where we have to face our demons, our dark nights of the soul.

This can happen at any time of the year, but doesn’t it seem more prevalent during the winter months? Lack of sunshine? Fewer distractions? Or perhaps it’s just Nature’s natural rhythm.

Do you remember my first story here about The Quaking Poplar? Well, she sat happily on my patio all summer, but I knew I couldn’t leave her in a pot during the winter and so I scoped out the land and decided on this spot to plant her. Here she is, sporting her first-ever fall colors.

I can still see her from the patio and she seems pleased with her new location.

The leaves have since fallen, and I wrapped some yellow caution tape around The Quaking Poplar, so she doesn’t get mowed down accidentally in the spring. Right now, she just looks like a stick in the ground, but I know that she has sent all her energy down into her roots, and she will do what trees like her do in the winter. She will lay dormant. Like the bears and other animals who hibernate.

What if we did that during the dark time of the year? Well, maybe not completely lay dormant or hibernate. But even just a bit.

What if we slowed down? Went within. Sat in silence. In the dark.

Last year I started leaving all of my lights off when it got dark and instead just lit a few candles. I’m telling you, it’s magical and seems like the perfect gateway to a good night’s sleep.

Instead of watching a movie or wasting time online, I’ll shut everything down and meditate or read a book. We are so programmed now it’s not even funny. I want to be de-programmed so as not to miss out on the magic that can happen during these dark nights when the veil is thin between our world and the Otherworld, as the Celts like to call it.

Four seasons help me to be more aware of Nature’s rhythms. It was a must-have when I made my where-should-I-move list.

Soon it will be dark here at 4:00 p.m. on the east coast. I’m strangely ok with that. How about you? How do you cope?

Substack has a nifty little poll feature, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.

And, of course, the light always returns. We just have to be patient.

One of my greatest thrills living here is waking up when it’s still dark outside and watching the progression of the rising sun.

Try not to notice the chemtrail sky…:(...

I hope you enjoyed the extra hour of sleep if you’re somewhere where the time has changed. I’ll be back soon, rambling about Vata and the H-word. Can you guess what it is?

Much Love,
Barbara