Dancing With the Sun
How the Wheel of the Year Can Teach Us to Flow
Nature Abhors That Which Is Linear
To Ebb is to flow.
Every year, our planet orbits the sun, and due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis, we experience the seasons. Whether your part of the world moves through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, or shifts between monsoon cycles or the never-setting sun of the Arctic, we all live within the rhythm of great planetary cycles.
This may seem overly simple, but beneath the ever-flowing tides, beneath the gentle rise and retreat of waves at the shoreline, more profound rhythms are at play. If the very Earth we all stand upon is bound to an endless cycle of return, why do we expect our own lives to move in such a straight and linear way?
The Cycles of the Natural World
We know the Earth moves through its seasons, but the cycles of nature do not end there. The moon consistently waxes and wanes, the tides rise and roll away, and day dissolves into night and is always reborn with the dawn. A well-nourished seed becomes a tree, which in turn releases its own seeds and begins the cycle anew. We, too, are part of this great rhythm; born of our mother’s blood, destined to one day return to the soil that once grew the food that our mothers consumed to grow our infant bodies.
So why do we resist this rhythm in our own lives? Why do we shackle ourselves to the exhausting ordeal of constant, upward, linear progress? Are we not all children of the Earth, pieced together from the dust of dead stars? Do our very lungs not remind us, with each breath, that for every inhale there must be a following exhale?
What joy and ease might we allow ourselves if we embraced the idea that every rise is meant to be followed by a natural descent? What if we leaned into the expectation that every high point will no doubt be succeeded by a season of rest, reflection, and dissolution?
No matter how carefully I plan, how well I take care of myself, or how much I hold onto my awareness, I always find myself returning to something familiar - a cycle, an orbit, a place that feels like a beginning, albeit never quite the same as before.
The Cycles of Ourselves
Just as the Earth moves through seasons, so do we. There are times of expansion and action (our personal summers), times of shedding and release (autumn), deep rest and reflection (winter), and the emergence of new ideas or personal growth (spring).
Although our personal seasons don’t always align with the annual calendar or the plans we made a moment ago (likely when we were in the intoxicating promise of spring), it is not their misalignment that causes the most despair. When we assume linear progress, that life moves only forward and never circles back, when we convince ourselves that we’ve completely learned a lesson or have finished a certain stage of life for good, we set ourselves up for disappointment, and, if we’ve gone around a few times without listening, burnout and breakdown.
Imagine a deciduous tree at the end of a lush green summer, filled with hard work and produce. Imagine it criticising and punishing itself for letting its leaves turn brown and fall to the ground as autumn begins. Imagine it resisting the winter of rest and trying to produce not only leaves but fruit without the high sun to fuel it along. How many years do you think it could keep this up before it begins to suffer and eventually collapse due to overworked branches and weakened roots? Even a seemingly evergreen tree, though it keeps its green needles year-round, knows to release and replenish in its own subtle way. Just cut through a branch and see the lines of slow winter and fast summer growth marking every year that the tree has seen!
We may not like the feeling of letting go, but we need it in order to live fully. Our lives may flow around and around, but when viewed from a distance, we may see a beautiful, enchanting spiral. If we listen to what we need and trust ourselves to receive it, then that spiral may start to flow increasingly upwards. Everything comes to pass eventually, and in that passing, something new is always waiting to begin. Is it time to allow winter to hold you, to trust its quiet so you can once again flourish?
☀️ Are you joining us for Imbolc?
Turning the Wheel of the Year
If we stop resisting the flow of these natural cycles and instead learn to move with them, we might just find more ease, clarity, and fulfilment in our lives. Many of our ancestors have long understood this, mapping time in circles rather than lines. The modern Pagan Wheel of the Year is one important way that I have personally begun to understand the ancient methods of cyclical living. With the guidance of this wheel, I have begun to bring a profound peace to each season of the sun and the deeper personal cycles I am moving through.
The Wheel of the Year offers a system for recognising, honouring, and working with the seasons of the year, and in turn, understanding our own seasons and cyclical flow. As it’s split into eight seasons instead of four, it offers a more nuanced understanding of the yearly cycle and a chance for us to become more sensitive to the subtle shifts around and within us.
Take a look through the brief overview of each season below and feel where you might be in your own cyclical journey. You may find that different aspects of your life are experiencing different seasons at the same time. One of the many lessons of cyclical living is that everything is always flowing, so nothing is ever misaligned or out of time. Sometimes the moon is new and dark, but the summer sun is full and bright, and no matter the season, the Earth keeps spinning the same way!
Yule (Winter Solstice) - The longest night, a time for rest but also hope. From here, although it will still be cold for a while, the days are about to grow longer. It’s here that we are given a chance to nurture the soil before planting new seeds in spring.
- What dreams might you brew in the dark?
Imbolc - A candle flickers in the dark; the first whispers of the waxing year and the warming spring sun.
- What new ideas and desires stir within you?
Ostara (Spring Equinox) - Green returns, rivers rush, and the world takes a fresh breath in. Balance holds us, ready and willing, as the day and night equate.
- Where are you seeking renewal?
Beltane - Heat rises, excitement brews, and the air is filled with the scent of blossoms and wild possibility.
- What desires/seeds are ready to bloom?
Litha (Summer Solstice) - The sun stands high and tall, the dark has vanished, and the world is alight with abundance and potential.
- How will you shine at your fullest?
Lughnasadh - The trees are heavy and full, the first fruits are gathered, and the harvest has begun.
- How can you embrace the rewards that lie in front of you?
Mabon (Autumn Equinox) - The winds shift, and the harvest slows. Balance has returned, and with it, the chance to shed and descend with grace.
- What must you lay to rest?
Samhain - The veil thins, the ancestors call, and the hush of endings and beginnings echoes through the glow of early dusk.
- What wisdom does the new darkness hold for you?
Life, as It Wants to Be
There is always a new day coming, and, despite how long certain winters may feel, the sun will once again shine and warm your weary skin. You are allowed to feel pain, you are allowed to seek freedom. There are no real rules to follow, but life has a way of letting you know which way you no longer need to go. Living a cyclical life does not require you to learn the details of any given system, and, although I encourage you to further explore the wheel of the year, your own inner compass is always your best bet.
I’ve wasted many moments of joy wondering how to make them last, and I’ve kept myself suffering by trying to push pain away. Life, as it wants to be, is free to roam the myriad senses and experiences offered. I believe in a world that trusts what sadness has to offer and allows love without restriction. I hope that by exploring a cyclical life, you can allow yourself to flow between moments of challenge and reward with ease, dance in both the rain and sunshine as if it were all the same, and honour what your mind, body, and heart need as the wheel continues to turn.
When you find yourself in darkness, know that the Midwinter sun still glows below the horizon. When life is bursting with possibility, let yourself rise with the promise of flowers and luscious moon glows. When it is time to slow, to gather, to listen, let the knowledge that balance will always return, hold you in its gentle arms. And when the winds of change blow through your soul, know that the cosmos will walk beside you as you cross the next threshold.
If you knew this moment was exactly what it needed to be, could you let your whole being breathe with ease?
Keep seeking,
Logan Pike.
☀️ From the Winter Solstice to Imbolc
Things are starting to grow again here as I step ahead of the wheel into a creative springtime for myself. Connection for the Curious officially becomes The Sacred Grove this week, although the website links are having some issues, so the old website can still be used to view everything.
You’ll find me atop Maungawhau/Mt Eden every Thursday evening this season and at Piha for a fireside Imbolc gathering on August 2nd. See you there!