Winter Deities

 When considering the world from a pantheistic view, it seems natural that there would be deities that are strongly associated with particular seasons.  We honor deities for a huge variety of natural phenomenon, as well as the many and varied aspects of human interaction and experience.  To put it plainly....if a thing exists, there is probably at least one deity associated with it.

Winter deities fill a bit of a unique role.  When we talk of other seasonal deities, often they are deities of other things that are simply associated with a particular season.  Fertility deities become deities of spring, deities of play become deities of summer, and deities of harvest become deities of fall.  But many of these deities are also associated with multiple seasons, or the seasonal connection is a secondary one. 

When we talk about winter deities, these are often deities that have a singular focus.  They are the deity of snow or ice or winter nights.  They aren't ones we tend to work with year-round, and instead find their way into our practice only when the days grow short and the winter winds blow.

There is nothing wrong with working with seasonal deities, in fact in a lot of ways it makes sense that some deities will be more present at specific times during the year.  In some ways it reminds me of breaking out the holiday decorations.  The act of decorating can feel like work, and taking the time to honor a winter deity may feel strange or foreign at first (because we aren't as familiar with them as we are with more year-round deities we might work with).  But once you get the decorations hung, they make you smile when you see them.  Likewise, knowing that you will mostly be working with a particular deity 'only' in the winter, makes that time special, like having a beloved family member come for a visit...you want to make the most of it and enjoy them while they are present.

I feel like winter deities aren't as widely worked with because so many of the things we associate with winter aren't the most open of things.  Cold, inner work, solitude, quiet, storms, death...the list goes on, and isn't as inviting as many of the qualities that we associate with other seasons.  And yet, there are other, somewhat hidden qualities that go hand in hand with many of these qualities:  peace, tranquility, stillness, beauty, rest.  

Now, I am a good bit of an introvert, so winter qualities draw me in.  For me, working with winter deities feels a bit like spending time with another friend who is an introvert.  You might be in the same room, but you're each doing your own thing...and it's still nice to have them there.  You might not speak for weeks, but then you think of something to share with them, and you have a furious conversation about that one thing.  

But not all winter associations are solitary ones!  We also think of gathering together in the winter, of spending times with family and friends, of huddling together in the dark and cold to share what we have.  These may not be things we do out of necessity anymore, but there is still that connection to years past, where we gathered around the fire, sharing our hope for the future and hiding from the fears that knocked on our door.

Whether you love the cold and quiet or prefer to find company around a warm fire, winter brings a different energy from the rest of the year.  Finding ways to honor that energy, to work with winter deities and learn how you can best embrace this season will bring different benefits from those you get during the rest of the year.  Winter may stand on it's own, but that doesn't mean we should ignore it.  Open your heart, and see what the winter winds will bring to your life this year!