As I write this we are one day past the autumn equinox when the time between sunset and sunrise is longer than between sunrise and sunset and we enter the dark of the winter season.

As Druids we celebrate the changing seasons by honouring the wheel of the year. As an explanation it’s convenient to begin at the Midwinter solstice, approximately six weeks later there is Imbolc, the greening of the land, on roughly this timescale we then have Spring Equinox, Beltaine or May Day , Midsummer solstice, Lughnasa, the first harvest. Autumn equinox, Samhain the equivalent of Halloween and finally returning to the Midwinter Solstice to complete the wheel.

The relevance of this post is that our house is heated throughout the winter season by a single wood burning stove which is sufficient as the building is heavily insulated. Preparation for this begins in the late winter with the acquisition of the basic fuel, generally from trees bought down by the winter storms, then cutting, splitting and stacking to ensure that it is suitably dry for use. I like to have completed all this work by the spring equinox which ensures it is below 20% moisture content by the time that we use it.

Without detailing the actual ceremony our Equinox ceremony it largely consisted of lighting the fire bowl out in the garden and then reflecting on the harvest of our past year giving thanks for the seasons that are past. Once this was completed the fire was then transferred to my meditation hut stove, the stove in our studio and finally the house.

This morning I bought in the first three bags of dry wood from the store. Thus begins our winter.

How do you connect with the changing seasons and what are you looking forward to through this time of darkness?