Winter's darkness

It's here.

Wet and cold and, well, black.

Unlike my usual buddhist blabber, I'll have to take in some neo-pagan stuff this time. (Yes, I can hear you all starting to grumble and whine, but be still, there's a point to all this) Neo-pagan, because it's one branch of religiosity that puts a lot of emphasis on nature and the seasons glorifying them all for their proper aspects. So, there is this thing called the "dark half" of the year, that lasts from Samhain/Halloween to Beltain/1st of May.

Of course this codified way of thinking about the seasons does sometimes lead to funny liturgical situations in places where the natural conditions do not match the liturgical ideals, like chanting about snow during Yule/midwinter sabbat in places that haven't seen snow ever, probably having temperatures of +30C all round the year.

Anyways, that's not the point - the point is that southern Finland matches this depiction of "dark half" quite well (the north has more snow = magnified light compared to say Helsinki). And there are people who absolutely hate this, trying to do everything possible to escape the fact that when you live in the north this is what happens in wintertime. Me personally, I love it.

Or actually, I love candles. And, there is nothing to set off a flame as well as darkness. Incense is also better during darker times, I find. And combining darkness, candle flames and incense smoke, and adding a cup of tea to the mix, well, nothing gets much better than that. Spiced wine, glittery things glittering in darkness, quiet, watching the cold outside while warm and cosy, even chocolate tastes better in the winter. (Oh, and did I mention candles and incense?)

So, what's not to love?