I know exactly what you mean. I always feel like doing NOTHING at this time of year and I always thought it was just me. Some people get seasonal depression but its not for me. I don't feel sad, its a great time. The air and the snow are crisp, the sun is bright. I suppose I just feel lazy because all I want to so is sit by a fireplace and lounge - even though I don't have a fireplace.
Both Myles and I have January birthdays (he's the 7th and I'm the 8th) so January is an important month in our household. Growing up in Montreal, though, having a birthday in the dead of winter (snow snow and more snow) a week after New Year's Eve meant that everyone was partied out, or storm-stayed, or out of money. What a drag. Most years if people came over to take me out for my birthday, their vehicles got stuck in our driveway which was on an angle (the garage was under the house) and we spent most of the evening trying to get them unstuck! I envied people with birthdays in the summer months. Oh well. I do get to share the January 8th date with Elvis Presley, Davie Bowie and Stephen Hawking.
Well, all I can say is that it is an odd feeling - like you said Heather - not sad...just - blah! I wish I had an open fire here like I did in London!!!
And Judith, if I was there I would have come out to play - just like I do for Bianca every year - her Birthday is on the 11th of January and I always do my best to rally the troops for her! (Happy Belated Birthday to you Judith by the way and Myles)...
People keep asking me if I have made my new years resolutions - and they are surprised when I say I don't make them until spring - of course they ask me why and I tell them...for me - it's better to make them when the Leaves come back out and the Sun shines more - a time of rebirth! As opposed to now - right now it's a time to think and reflect - as it is so difficult to think reflectively over the Christmas period! The same way I sometimes see Sunday as the start of the week...
the seasons, the cyclesjrudakoffJanuary 22 2007, 19:09:04 UTC
Maybe there is some of Persephone in you, Nicci! I'm sure you know at least one of the tellings of the Demeter and Persephone and Hades story of why we have the four seasons. We, I say, laughingly...because of course there are lots of places in the world with one, or two or three seasons. The May I spent working on a Dramaturgy project in Prince Edward Island, Canada, the local residents used to refer to the Unofficial Fifth Season that happened every May: MUD! Red mud, because of all the iron in the sand on the island, but mud nonetheless.
Persephone...niccisawyerJanuary 23 2007, 14:12:22 UTC
Well Judith,
I had not read Persephone's story until now - I have only managed to get to grips with the gods/myths attached to our Planets!
So thank you for pointing me the right direction - fascinating.
You may be right there...maybe I do have some Persephone in me - never had it put that way before!
I could say in the UK you can split winter into two halves - entering Winter and leaving Winter...coming into Winter a sense of calm takes you over as the nights approach earlier in the day and you get those sunsets where you can see the Sun and the Moon in the sky at the same time...this side of Winter - leaving it - feels very long and drawn out...people are tired of the darkness and are just waiting to 'wake up'...a real sense of longing and waiting if you like - the air isn't so clean and feels and smells damp and heavy whereas the air on entering is crisp and fresh and refreshing...
It is the only season I can characterise in this way...
Re: Persephone...jrudakoffJanuary 24 2007, 15:36:16 UTC
one of the interesting things about the Persephone tale is that there are feminist retellings of it that make so much more sense to me. I was always uncomfortable with the part where Hades kidnaps her and, it's implied rapes her and holds her captive in the underworld till her Mother makes a deal with him for the six months custody (hence the summer/spring and the winter/fall as when she is in the Underworld her mother is in mourning and all is dead and cold and barren). I like the telling of the story that indicates that there comes a time for a daughter to become an individual human being and leave the mother/parents and strike out on her own, live her own life. I choose to accept the telling of the myth that has Persephone leaving with Hades of her own free will, to live with him as a partner not as a prisoner. She eats of the fruits of the Underworld (um...ya, well some of us call it sex) and then must stay with him. But does return, again, willingly and out of respect, to visit her mother and the world where she was raised, but
( ... )
Symbols...niccisawyerJanuary 25 2007, 12:40:33 UTC
I have to say - I was a little alarmed at all the deals being struck over Persephone to the point that Hades kidnapped her...I am a fan of choice!
I was also quite struck by the named fruit - a Pomegranate!
I never knew of this as a symbol of Sexuality and a fruit of the Underworld indeed!
I love symbolism - something I am getting to grips with more and more...
I love the way you connect Persephone with one of the questions we have asked throughout the project...it has made me thoughtful of her and her story further...
pomegranates are so intriguing. Some say the name means "apple filled with seeds" (pomme, from the french) and other say it means "garnet coloured apple". Either way it is fascinating as a symbol of fertility! Apples have always interested me too: if you cut them transversally you get a five pointed star! Avalon, the legendary land, means "Apple Land". If you can get your hands on Barbara G. Walker's Womens Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets or her Women's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects, you'll find lots on pomegranates, Persephone, apples and more. It's so inspiring to find the intersections and overlaps in mythologies from all over the world and from time eras that are aeons apart.
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And Judith, if I was there I would have come out to play - just like I do for Bianca every year - her Birthday is on the 11th of January and I always do my best to rally the troops for her! (Happy Belated Birthday to you Judith by the way and Myles)...
People keep asking me if I have made my new years resolutions - and they are surprised when I say I don't make them until spring - of course they ask me why and I tell them...for me - it's better to make them when the Leaves come back out and the Sun shines more - a time of rebirth! As opposed to now - right now it's a time to think and reflect - as it is so difficult to think reflectively over the Christmas period! The same way I sometimes see Sunday as the start of the week...
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I had not read Persephone's story until now - I have only managed to get to grips with the gods/myths attached to our Planets!
So thank you for pointing me the right direction - fascinating.
You may be right there...maybe I do have some Persephone in me - never had it put that way before!
I could say in the UK you can split winter into two halves - entering Winter and leaving Winter...coming into Winter a sense of calm takes you over as the nights approach earlier in the day and you get those sunsets where you can see the Sun and the Moon in the sky at the same time...this side of Winter - leaving it - feels very long and drawn out...people are tired of the darkness and are just waiting to 'wake up'...a real sense of longing and waiting if you like - the air isn't so clean and feels and smells damp and heavy whereas the air on entering is crisp and fresh and refreshing...
It is the only season I can characterise in this way...
Reply
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I was also quite struck by the named fruit - a Pomegranate!
I never knew of this as a symbol of Sexuality and a fruit of the Underworld indeed!
I love symbolism - something I am getting to grips with more and more...
I love the way you connect Persephone with one of the questions we have asked throughout the project...it has made me thoughtful of her and her story further...
Reply
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