Winter and the Underworld

What I’d like to cover today is how the Season of Winter actually reflects an aspect of our natural spiritual cycles. Before I begin, take a moment to read the following quotes and reflect upon them for a moment.

There is privacy about it which no other season gives you…. In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.  ~Ruth Stout

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.  ~Andrew Wyeth

When I was younger, I was somewhat fascinated with Greek mythology. These quotes reminded me of a story that I’d read before, but never fully understood until this year. A child of southern California, my winters were not very different from my summers. However, this year I found my own spiritual journey has lead me to the Pacific Northwest where I have found immense happiness– as well as my first true experience of living through a winter.

In Greek Mythology, there was a goddess named Persephone. She was a child of Zeus, the king of the Gods and Demeter, the goddess of Earth and nature. Persephone was wooed by many gods, but Demeter, ever the over protective mother rejected all their advances and eventually hid her daughter away. It was shortly after this that Hades, the god of the underworld abducted Persephone and whisked her away to his kingdom. As Demeter frantically searched for her beloved daughter, the world began to change. Life came to a standstill. The flowers wilted away and died. The grasses faded away. Trees bore no fruit and the temperature turned frigid. As Demeter’s sorrow grew, earth continued to die. Zeus intervened and demanded Hades return Persephone to her mother. Before he agreed, however, Hades tricked Persephone into eating four pomegranate seeds, which effectively forced her to spend one month each year in Hades for every seed she’d eaten. When Demeter and her daughter were together, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for four months each year, when Persephone returned to the underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm of darkness. This is an origin story to explain winter.

There is something about this season that almost forces you to begin a process of turning inward, of reflecting upon the events prior to this period of slowed activity. Surely during this time, Demeter would remember happier times with her daughter.

She would probably also reflect on those times before when her daughter was away. She would possibly even think forward with anticipation to the future when her daughter would return. Sound familiar? This is very common for most of us at this time of year. As we find ourselves no longer able to occupy our minds with outdoor activities we begin to turn inward to ourselves. It is almost as if Nature itself provides us with an instruction booklet of what we ourselves should undergo during the winter months. This is a time of year when the world, and our own spirit, is renewed once more. It is a time of endings and new beginnings that fills our hearts with peace, joy, love and laughter. We are almost forced by Nature to spend more time in close quarters with our friends and family, sharing our bounty with them.

I guess I should say, ideally this how it should be. After all, our traditions mandate it. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years are all celebrations of life and new beginnings. We surround ourselves with feast and family. We rejoice. We are merry. However, this is a very Norman Rockwell painting of modern winter. I’d like to paint a somewhat different picture for you, if I may. It’s actually a little image of the aforementioned Hades and his Underworld. Today’s modern interpretation of the Underworld is one of a Hell. We picture tormented souls, flames, and evil all around. This is not quite the same idea held by the Greeks. To them, the Underworld was, in fact, the Spiritual World. It was our connection to our spiritual side; the energetic, subtle reality that we normally don’t notice or perceive. It actually contained both of our modern views on Heaven and Hell, as well as a version of Purgatory. I’ll touch on this later.

And in this version of the Underworld, there were said to be five rivers. There was Acheron, the River of Sorrow; Cocytus, the River of Lamentation; Phlegethon, the River of Fire; Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness; and Styx, the River of Hate. Sorrow, Lamentation, Forgetfulness and Hate? Maybe this is that less idealistic Winter I’ve been hinting at! It is important here to draw a distinction between what is commonly known as Depression and another phenomenon known in the field of higher consciousness as the “Dark Night of the Soul”.

Whenever I see a new client with the symptoms of Depression, I make sure to ask the questions to really decide if they are in fact experiencing the biochemical condition of imbalanced hormones and misfiring synapses. Often, I find that they are actually experiencing a quite normal and necessary period of the “Dark Night of the Soul”. In the Dark Night, you feel profoundly alone. You experience loneliness, hopelessness, and darkness. But, much like Demeter, this temporary period of being alone will always be followed by a happy reunion and new memories and experiences. On a Spiritual Path, this Dark Night is vital to our well being. It is necessary as a sort of initiation on the road to Higher Consciousness.

Winter is the perfect time to go inward, appraise your life, and make those course corrections toward a wonderful, empowered and abundant life! In fact, one of the roles of Hades was to judge the souls of those who had departed the Earth. Three judges sat in the forecourt of Hades and Persephone. These judges, known for their integrity, justice and piety would reflect upon the souls and assign them a fate. There were three roads these souls could be send along. One group deemed to be neither virtuous nor evil were sent back to the Fields of Asphodel. Think of this as the concept of a Purgatory. Those souls that were deemed impious or evil were sent to Tartarus, or Hell. And those who were viewed as Heroic or Blessed were sent to Elysium, or Heaven.

These three different ultimate destinations, to me, simply reflect the different judgments we make of ourselves. How amazing that we, the evolved peoples of today, contemplate the same measures of our thoughts and actions as the Greeks did centuries ago! How interesting that the Greeks has their godly judges, which to me seem to mirror our current ideas of Inner Guides. Surely you can see how these concepts are so similar to the values we hold so dear to us today. The difference is that we today realize that it is actually our Intuition that guides us along our path.

We are able to connect to our Spiritual Laws and values, appraise our life and make those much needed course corrections toward a wonderful, empowered and abundant life. You may already do this naturally. You may even do it more than once a year because you’ve come to realize that the cycles of life and death constantly swirl around us in the various changes we encounter. But, if you have not learned yet to embrace this stripping away of the old life and eventual birth of the new, I invite you to embrace winter and the lessons it has to offer you.

Set aside a time when you will not be interrupted and go inward through whatever means you prefer. Quiet your mind and pose a series of questions to yourself and listen closely for the answers. Here are some starter questions for you, but remember, there is no limit to the exploration you can do within your own being.

1. What three things or people enriched my life the most this year?

2. Who or what drained more than added to my life?

3. What expectations do I have for myself? Are they realistic?

4. What expectations do I have for others in my life? Are they realistic?

5. How do I feel?

6. What do I need?

7. Do I need support?

Remember, connect to and listen to your emotions through your heart, not your mind. If you find yourself saying “I think I feel” or “I believe I need”, you should silence your mind and listen to that area that is deeper within you for answers. Allow those Inner Guides to allow you access to that encyclopedia of knowledge that exists within you called your Intuition. And if you find that you do need support, as for it. We are all here on this earth together, living our lives, mingling and sharing our experiences. Treasure that cohabitation. Seek support and guidance whenever you can. Offer it in return. Learn from others and share your own knowledge. Become on of the Hero souls of Hades, allowed access into Elysium.

From a speech given on December 10, 2006 at Tower Memorial Church in Magnolia, WA (Directed Focus – David Zarza)