Healing through Nature

One of Nature's Greatest Gifts is Guidance and Promise of Impermanence.

Nature provides us with so many gifts. One of her greatest is guidance and promise of impermanence. Periods of light gently move into periods of darkness. This is also true in cycles of life, emotions, feelings, energy, inspiration and so much more.

She teaches us to notice the signs that a darkness (depression) is growing and also to notice the signs that the darkness is diminishing and that light is returning.

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A Woman, Teacher, Friend

Then, 20 years ago, I met a woman who, unbeknownst to me, would become a teacher, inspiration and a friend. The first gift which she provided me was a space to step into my purpose and further explore it.

A few years later, another lovely woman appeared in my life. She opened my eyes two the cycles of nature, their gifts and the importance of connecting with them through ritual. She introduced me to a community of like-minded women and invited me to participate in, and eventually, to co-facilitate a variety of nature-based rituals.

I continued learning about and exploring the Pagan Sabbats. I was shocked by what I was learning! Most of the holidays with which I (and most of us in the United States ) grew up were actually taken from/rooted in these pagan Sabbats. The holidays which spoke most to me were the equinoxes and solstices. These holidays mark the changing of seasons. Nature, the earth, goes through a never ending cycle of: light and dark being equal in duration; light waning/ diminishing/lessening as darkness waxes/grows (or light is slowly taken over by/replaced with darkness); darkness reaches her/its peak duration and light reaches his/its minimum duration; light begins to grow as darkness begins to diminish; light and dark are again equal; light continues to grow/increase in duration as darkness continues to diminish/lesson induration; light reaches its peak duration and darkness hits its minimum duration. Christmas, Easter and Halloween/Thanksgiving are associated with these holidays. In our traditional western culture, we do not have a holiday born out of summer solstice. However, the term “honeymoon” comes from the name of the June, Honey Moon. And, as many of us know, the summer months are the most busy months for weddings. So, I guess we could say that the Western tradition of marriage is based on a nature-based occurrence.

I began looking at depression as something that occurs naturally and is referred to as darkness. In traditional western culture, we’ve pathologies for this darkness. We see it as negative and something to be eliminated. In nature based cultures, it’s gifts are recognized and rituals are done to move through its challenges. Nature provides us with her never ending reassurance that “this too shall pass” – every day, we go through hours of daylight and hours of darkness provides us with a time for rest and rejuvenation; a time for our bodies and minds to prepare for the coming late. However, for the little ones, who’ve only just begun their time on earth, nighttime is often scary. They fear that there are monsters in their closet or under their bed. They feel safer if one of their parents is with them. To get them through the scary darkness of night time, healthy parents participate in time-honored rituals. These include things like getting a night light which the child likes and turning it on; Reading a bedtime story of the child’s choosing; saying bedtime prayers with the child; checking under the bed and in the closet and assuring the child that there are no monsters; saying things as the parent turns off the light like, “sweet dreams” And, “I’ll see you in the morning." During the day, at naptime, the child does not need these kinds of reassurances (certainly they may not want to take a nap, but it is not out of fear.) When it is dark and we cannot see, we can become afraid that things that were not there in the light have suddenly appeared in the dark. When a person is depressed, they suddenly feel completely alone in the world; nobody to call for support; That their life has no meaning; that there is nothing for which to look forward; that they will never feel better; that the darkness will completely enveloped them and perhaps kill them (suicide).

As I mentioned earlier, when looking through the lens of depression as a psychiatric illness, the goal is to get rid of it. Nature teaches us to go through it. She teaches us to notice the signs that a darkness (depression) is growing and also to notice the signs that the darkness is diminishing and that light is returning.

In my work with clients, we honor the four major Sabbats and I use them as metaphors to assist them in participating in personalized rituals.

Yule is the Sabbat which is celebrated during winter solstice (Christians recognizes this time as Christmas.) Winter solstice marks the day in the year where the darkness is at its peak. Long ago, before the time of modern conveniences like refrigeration, cars, electricity, insulation, nearby doctors, telephones, waterproof clothing and shoes, growing darkness meant the snow is getting deeper, the food supplies are running low, which meant having to restrict daily food intake. It also meant that if someone was sick or a woman was giving birth, it was more and more difficult to get to the doctor. Winter is a season of death. Is it any wonder that we seem to lose so many loved ones during this time? There is no avoiding the scary realities during this time. There is only finding ways to remember and hold on to hope that the light will again return and provide us with the continuation of life-sustaining growth. This brings me/us back around to the Yule traditions. They would go out and cut down an evergreen tree to symbolize that even amongst the death and darkness, there is still life. They would decorate the tree with things which they planned to “give birth to” when the light did return. They placed candles on the tree and in their window sills to represent the promise of the sun's return. Mistletoe of course, is a symbol of fertility.

** note: I refer only to Christianity, the religion of Christianity in this article because it is the Christians who abolished these pagan traditions and replaced them with the ones that I have referenced. I also want to note that this is not a judgment on the Christian faith rather a truth in our history.