Hello, my friend.
Are you settling into February yet? How is it feeling to you? What has been happening in your world and in your life?
There has been a fresh, new feeling for me as February has started, mostly because of the noticeable difference in the longer days and later sunsets. Even on cloudy days, there is still a bit of light when I leave work at 4:30. It has been life-giving and hope-inspiring.
But, it has been quite a gray, dreary beginning to the month, actually. Both weather-wise, but also energy-wise.
February always begins with an annual remembrance of the child my wife and I lost later in pregnancy years ago, stirring up deep emotions of grief and lost dreams.
Then, this week, we had a terrible school shooting in Sweden. The worst one in Sweden’s history. As an expat American, born and raised there, I am very sadly used to these horrible tragedies. And, I find myself ahead of the “regular” Swede in my worries and preparedness and knowledge of what to think of, how to practice for potential school violence, and how to talk about these horrible moments in our society. Nevertheless, Sweden has been shaken. Thankfully, there are immediate talks of banning certain guns and putting in place more restrictive laws. Something that the US has not yet been able to accomplish. And, once again, I am beyond grateful for living here and calling Sweden home.
As the week moved on, somehow, out of nowhere, I found myself feeling a bit under the weather on Wednesday. I put myself to bed early, hoping that would take care of it, only to wake up feeling worse. So, I’ve been home and in bed ever since, fighting off some kind of bad February head and chest cold.
Today is the first day I have left the bed, and I feel quite weak and a bit wobbly, to be honest, but I just had to move out of the bedroom. Needless to say, I have quite of brain fog right now and am definitely not 100% back yet.
Anyway, it’s been a weird, but typical, start to February. A heavy, tough month that is somehow also filled with the hope and promise of new life and rebirth in a few weeks. For now, though, even as there are signs of spring and the light changes every single day, it is still winter. And, apparently, my body wanted me to burrow back down into my feathered nest for a bit longer.
Apparently, I needed to remember to trust that slowing down and seemingly doing nothing is actually part of the work of February. A month where the work and the changes and the growth is mostly hidden, deep underground. But, as the days and weeks move on, the signs of life are more obvious and energy, in both the earth and me, rises
Speaking of brain fog and my February cold, the oracle card I turned over for the week ahead is the fog card. And, to be honest, it is just perfect.
I feel like I say that with every card. Do I? If I do, or whenever I do, it is genuinely because I feel that it is perfect. Whatever my intuition whispers to me, whatever rises up from my soul, as I begin to prepare this message with you, is such a clear and timely message that I truly believe is meant for right here and right now. That’s the magic of oracle cards. They are simply tools for quietening your mind and tapping into your soul.
Fog conceals and softens. It rolls in, sometimes thick and heavy. Sometimes, light and misty. But it always brings a sense of mysticism and otherworldliness. It changes what we see and how we perceive things. It creates an air of uncertainty and unknowing. But, it heightens mystery and intuition. It’s luminous, never completely concealing. And, even if it is around for an entire day, when it breaks, the sun shines again.
February is a month of fog. Often literally, up here in Sweden. But, also energetically and symbolically, no matter where you may call home. It is a month that is in-between. Not deep winter, but not yet spring. Soft and luminous, as the light changes. Hazy and feathery, as if in a dream. It is a month that carries us from the coldest, darkest 12 weeks of the year (from November 1 - February 1) and into the beginning of spring and the light half of the year.
And, even though February is an in-between month and the shortest month of the year, it is not without its own magic and gifts. As I shared last week, it is a month that has been traditionally celebrated as one of purification and cleansing. Of quiet, hidden, behind-the-scenes, underground work. And that is great and inspiring to me when I am thinking of preparing my home for spring - for purifying and cleansing my home from all of winter’s old, stagnant energy.
But, it’s not just a month for focusing on shifting the energy in the physical spaces around me. February’s foggy vibe invites me to embrace the mystical, liminal, otherworldly mood of this month.
This is the perfect month for dreaming. It is the perfect time to begin to tap into my intuition and begin to plant and create some plans for the seasons ahead.
The foggy, moody, in-between days of February provide the perfect mysterious atmosphere to pause and feel my way forward, as I do when the fog obstructs my view ahead. It is the perfect opportunity to imagine what’s out there - the possibilities, the opportunities. There’s no need to be realistic and practical when the fog rolls in. This is the month of the hidden parts of the soul. Of moving carefully and slowly forward. Of envisioning what might be out there and how things might look one day.
But, for now, right now, as winter eventually gives way to spring, as fog eventually gives way to bright sun, this is the time to embrace the mysterious unknown. To settle ourselves in the middle of February’s fog - between certainty and uncertainty, reality and the unreal, what is and what is to be revealed. To just be present in the moment. To rely on our senses. To let our intuition guide us. To dance with the obscured, soft, muted parts of our soul. To use the slow, foggy days to create and dream. To let the fog wrap around us and envelop us, to listen as it whispers messages of spirit and magic in our ears. To trust whatever will be waiting for us when the fog lifts.
Stay soft and luminous, my friend. Use this week for feeling, intuiting, dreaming, and creating. Let the mystery of the changing of the seasons fill you with the wonder, quietness, and inspiration of a foggy February day. Move slowly and intuitively. And, listen to the messages of the otherworld. Be brave in the midst of uncertainty and be open to whatever will be revealed as February unfolds.
xoxo. liz.
Sacred Days + Folk Festivals this week
12 February - Full Snow Moon (also known as the bony, bear, hungry and groundhog moon in different traditions)
14 February - Saint Valentine’s Day
Playlist of the month
The earth is awakening from winter’s deep sleep, but it is not yet spring. Still, there are stirrings. And light is slowly returning. Feel the slow, sleepy predawn energy and the very first soft hint of the coming spring.
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