{"id":950,"date":"2019-01-07T11:58:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T16:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betzking.com\/blog\/?p=950"},"modified":"2024-11-29T17:07:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-29T22:07:26","slug":"the-seasonal-psychologist-on-winter-solstice-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betzking.com\/blog\/the-seasonal-psychologist-on-winter-solstice-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Seasonal Psychologist: On Winter Solstice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Seasonal Psychologist is a year-long series by Pagan Psychologist Betz King.\u00a0 Each piece corresponds to one of the 8 Pagan Sabbats, or holidays, while exploring ways to use the symbolism of the season for personal growth and in clinical practice.<\/em><\/p>\n

I conceptualize both my personal development, and that of my clients, within the framework of our local 4-season landscape. Mostly this means a framework of trees, crops native to Michigan, and lots of plants,\u00a0 veggies, fruits and flowers. \"wheel\"<\/a>The Pagan path is a seasonal one, hosting 8 holidays called Sabbats. They parallel the movement of the sun across a year. Each holiday expresses a facet of the relationship between Light, Dark and life. I use them as lenses of reflection, opportunities to contemplate the cycle of birth, growth, harvest and death that impacts all living beings.<\/p>\n

As a Pagan psychologist, many of my clients have some form of an earth based belief system. This allows us to revisit treatment goals seasonally. The view from my office window is lush with trees. A simply glance outside provides the framework for our review; whatever the trees are doing becomes an invitation to consider the same within ourselves.\u00a0 The Oak trees that were at the height of their strength in midsummer have been usurped by the Holly, whose strength peaks at\u00a0Midwinter<\/a>, and we are reminded that one season\u2019s strength is another\u2019s weakness.<\/p>\n

Winter Solstice, also known as Yule, celebrates the return of the Sun.\u00a0 It occurs on the shortest day and longest night of the year, when the sun\u2019s daily maximum elevation in the sky is the lowest. Lasting only a moment in time, it marks the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days.\u00a0 Of all the year, it is the day with the greatest number of hours of darkness, often called \u201cthe longest night of the year.”\u00a0 Holidays at the end of our calendar year and the beginning of the next often thematically involve light, both real and metaphoric. Legends and lore share thematic expressions of miracles, hope, luminosity and triumph. Whether the birth of Jesus on Christmas, the enlightenment of Buddha on Bodhi\u2019s day, the festival of lights during Hanukah or the lighting of Kinara candles at Kwanza, these holidays and many more invite people to gather during the darkest time of the year, to celebrate and give thanks for having conquered both internal and external darkness.<\/p>\n

Imagine that your entire existence depended on the favor of the Sun.\u00a0 With it, your crops would grow strong, and after the harvest, you could store food for the winter.\u00a0 With it, the days would be warm enough for your livestock to naturally mate and reproduce, thus providing you with meat, milk and skins.\u00a0 With it, there would be enough warmth and daylight to travel safely to distant lands for supplies and celebrations.\u00a0 Prior to our \u201ccivilized ways\u201d we depended on the Sun, its light and warmth, for all aspects of our survival.\u00a0 Hence, the day that brought us the return of the sunshine was truly a day of celebration, as it brought hope to a time of darkness, and assured continued life<\/p>\n

Psychologically, this is a time to celebrate that we have lived through the darkness, and are guaranteed an emergence into light. It is the dawn that comes after the dark night of the soul. Consequently, we give thanks for all that has sustained us. In Michigan, even though the days grow longer, we have at least two more months of cold snowy weather, and it\u2019s easy to forget that each day brings another minute of light.<\/p>\n

\"holiday<\/a>As both a professor and a clinical psychologist, December finds me surrounded by anxious students who fret over final papers and exams, with grades needing to be entered, and a new semester to prepare for.\u00a0 Clients, cast back into family roles they\u2019ve worked hard to transcend, often regress and need help re-stabilizing. The peaceful vacation I imagine rarely comes to fruition, while the \u2018reason for the season\u2019 is buried under social obligations and caloric intake.<\/p>\n

This month, my clients and I will plot our way through these paradoxically stressful celebrations, while honoring the triumph of personal light over personal darkness. Like McCartney and Lennon, we acknowledge that \u201cit\u2019s been a long cold lonely winter\u201d.\u00a0 We trust that the lengthening days will show us how \u201cthat ice is slowly melting\u201d, as we joyfully declare \u201chere comes the sun\u201d!\u00a0 Another cycle of growth and harvest lays before us and the goals for spiritual growth and actualization that we named at Samhain are now articulated in greater detail.\u00a0 Therapy becomes a time for thumbing through the seed-catalogs and plotting out the actual garden of our next growth cycle.<\/p>\n

As your travels carry you past the seasonal displays of lights, I invite you to name the darkness you have traversed through and triumphed over. Name also the strengths that have served you, for they are tools that you can use again and again. As you negotiate parties, trips, family and gift giving, can you focus on the\u00a0real<\/em>\u00a0reason for the season?\u00a0 Can you feel, in your bones, heart, spirit or soul, the celebration that comes from overcoming adversity?<\/p>\n

By reminding ourselves of what our ancestors knew \u2013 that it is always darkest before the dawn \u2013 we are able to wait with faith for the returning Light, and to give gratitude for what is illuminated.\u00a0 Bright Solstice blessings to all!<\/p>\n

\"BetzBetz King, PsyD, LP<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0is a fully licensed psychologist in Farmington Hills MI. \u00a0About her blog series, she writes, \u201cThe Seasonal Psychologist explores my intersectionality as a Solitary Pagan and psychologist, through an integration of teachings and tools from both psychological and spiritual traditions.\u201d \u00a0Read more about Dr. King, including her\u00a0American Priestess \/ Priest\u00a0Training Program,\u00a0<\/b>here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Seasonal Psychologist is a year-long series by Pagan Psychologist Betz King.\u00a0 Each piece corresponds to one of the 8 Pagan Sabbats, or holidays, while exploring ways to use the symbolism of the season for personal growth and in clinical … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Seasonal Psychologist: On Winter Solstice - Betz-Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/betzking.com\/blog\/the-seasonal-psychologist-on-winter-solstice-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Seasonal Psychologist: On Winter Solstice - 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