It’s nice to cozy up in a reclining chair with a mug of warm coffee or tea in the hands, taking in the soft light of the Winter Sun, and even looking at snowflakes falling from the sky. Snow has an interesting effect. At night, even if overcast, everything appears brighter. And during the day, the white embrace turns our attention inwards, illuminating and warming the inner space.

When we’re snowed in, either by nature or by overwhelming daily duties, we have a choice. We can turn on TVs and radios and computers to drown the inner call for solitude and contemplation. The cold blue tech glare eagerly permeates everything with loneliness, whether you’re by yourself or surrounded by people. You have felt it before, didn’t you? A room, full of human bodies, isolated from each other by mindless chatter. Or we can answer the soulful call, and indulge in quality time alone, follow our exquisite thoughts. As we breathe Light, Love, Life into our earthly sheaths, we begin to emanate these benevolent forces outward. We can open our eyes and see the other person for who they are. We’re able to utter words that connect us.

When the Sun shines onto Earth during the short days of Winter at the beginning of February, something stirs in us. We’re still six weeks away from Spring in the Northern hemisphere. Yet, fresh drops of nourishing Spirit elixir are spreading through our energy field. The will to create arises in the mind anew. What seed shall I choose to cultivate this year? What shall I nurture into being for Spring Equinox? My Soul’s sight is now clearer because I’ve been tending to the new born Light from the Winter Solstice.

I experience
through all my senses.

My Soul gains clarity;
my Spirit has been reborn.

I think, I imagine, I create
bewildering, sprouting growth.

~ Soulful Spark 44 by Marta Stemberger

Connect within and connect without. Open to the insights from your Spirit core, and be receptive to the ideas from the outer sources. Observe. Cozy up in your reclining chair. Use the power of Imagination to create your dream. Imbue it with the feelings you desire. Make it as real as possible. Constructive daydreaming gets better and easier with practice. Enter into the new reality you’ve created with all your being. Savor it. Then write the inspired creation down in your journal. When you’ve finished describing the real experience you’ve had in the world of genuine Imagination, pause. Breathe, close your eyes. Feel the column of Light, connecting you with your Highest Self. Form a question in your mind: “What is the first step I need to take to manifest my dream on the material plane?” Allow the Light and Love stream through you. Listen to the answer with your heart, not your brain. Perhaps you’ll hear: “Be positive,” or “Write to this person.” Follow up with heart-felt action. Be gentle and patient though. It takes time for the roots to strengthen into resilient channels that can sustain the growth. If you launch too soon, the umbilical cord, supplying spiritual provision, breaks, and your plan simply evaporates into thin air. Hold your horses. Wait until after the Spring Equinox, when the will forces of nature shall transform your jump into sustainable long-distance flight.

In reaching for new sense attractions,

Soul-clarity would fill,

mindful of spirit-birth attained,

the world’s bewildering, sprouting growth

with the creative will of my own thinking.

~ Verse 44 by Rudolf Steiner from The Calendar of the Soul
(trans. Ruth & Hans Pusch)

You see, we always have a choice, but we need to understand where it lies. Things happen to us as they are meant to happen, based on the blueprint we charted with our Spirit allies before we were born. However, we can choose how we react to whatever Life brings our way. There’s a gift and a lesson in everything: in pain and in joy. I can enjoy the rough beauty of a windy snowstorm, or I can wallow in anxiety of “how will I survive.” Each one of us has a decision to make. Our task on Earth is to choose wisely. While clever and smart have their place, the Soul desires wisdom from the heart, a cherished treasure to keep for Eternity.

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Over to you, dear Soulful Reader:

WHAT AMAZING SEED DO YOU CHOOSE TO NURTURE INTO BEING?

I invite you to share your thoughts + impressions below.

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Treat yourself to insightful name analysis…

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