the meaning of January

Years ago, I remember questioning what the month of January meant. If February is all about love, April has Easter, October has Halloween, December has Christmas, so on and so forth, what was January all about? Once News Years passed, in the blink of an eye, January felt bleak, cold, and kinda lonely. It felt so starkly contrasted to the warm, family oriented holidays of the fall.

Until this year, when I realized just how magical, potent, meaningful, and beautiful the month of January really is- how beautiful winter really is.

January gets it’s name from the ancient Roman god Jānus, god of doorways, beginnings, sunsets, and sun rises. He’s depicted with two faces, one looking at the past, one looking towards the future. I now understand the poetry of that mythical symbolism. January’s energy is all about transitions, shifts, and changes- setting goals, intentions, and “New year, new me!”- except it’s not in the way it’s depicted in traditional consumerism culture.

In her wisdom, Mother Nature sets the stage for January’s power with the season of winter. On the outside, at least right now in the Northern Hemisphere, the outer world is dark, barren, cold, and sleepy. The harsh weather causes most people to stay indoors, the plants to grow dormant, and the animals to hibernate in their underground dens.

It is in that “darkness” -our underground dens, caves and homes- that all kinds of transitions, shifts, and changes are occurring. Very similar to a pregnant mother, while her belly grows on the outside, a majority of the magic and transitions are occurring in the darkness of her womb. From inception to birth, everyday, huge changes occur with out us ever really seeing them or forcing them. What transition and shift is more huge than growing arms, legs limbs, eyes- a real human life!

Winter is a season of clearing. That which no longer serves moves on and the life remaining goes dormant, resting and replenishing its energetic reserves for the spring. The month of January is a month of reflection, dreaming, and acknowledging where we are in our journey. While Jānus’ two faces are looking at the past and future, respectively, his body remains in the present.

I could never get on board with changing my habits cold turkey on New Years. Many times I’ve tried on New Year’s Days past to set my alarm and “just” go to the gym or “just” create new habits out of thin air, thinking I was going to honor them. By the end of January I was miserable, cold, feeling like a failure, and quite frankly exhausted. Little did I know I was working against the energetics of the month and the season! I fell into the machine that was the consumerism culture.

Listen, all power to you if you are one of those people who could just “poof” shift their habits. You are a literal magician in my eyes. My roll is much more slow.

This year I realized that working with the season is much more potent, enjoyable, and rejuvenating. For once in my life, I feel warm, comforted, supported, and nourished, despite the cold and harsh weather. Like Jānus, I have spent my month staying present in my warm den, reflecting on the past year, evaluating 2023’s lessons, challenges, wins, and failures, and choosing what I get to bring with me this coming year. I’ve also been dreaming, contemplating, and planting seeds of intentions in my journal, imagining what new gifts 2024 will bring.

While I may be influenced by the cold to stay indoors, it does not mean there isn’t a lot of work to be done! Some of this reflecting, dreaming, and clearing is emotional or “intangible,” however, it can also be a very physical process in the form of cleaning house, organizing, donating things you don't need, and clearing out clutter. I mean it’s freezing cold and soggy outside, what else are you going to do?

The thing about transitions, changes and shifts is that they all require space. Things must be cleared in order to create the space to birth, sprout, or bring the new. Transitions, changes, and shifts also require A LOT of energy, which is why there are months of rest and recharge in order to have the ability to sprout through the dirt, crack through the shell, and push life out into the exterior world. Have you ever seen a baby chick hatching? It gets exhausted.

The wisdom of Mother Nature knows the energy it takes to birth new creations, so she takes at least three months (I’d argue 6 months with the Fall) to prepare for the new life in the spring. Even though things on the outside may seem barren and dead, underground, or within the home, there is still a lot of work happening. Clearing, cleaning, organizing, contemplating, resting, sleeping, dreaming, those are all verbs which means it’s not like we’re all being lazy here.

We are simply using our energies in alignment with grander forces, such as Mother Nature, to propel us further than if we tried to go at odds with these forces. A surfer does not change the waves, he rides them.

So ride the wave that is the beauty of January’s energy (this energy is still present in February cuz winter). You can still set goals and intentions and “new year, new me” things, but try doing it in a way that partners with the energy you have, the energy that’s outside, and the way you personally feel on the inside. That’s alignment. You’re still working towards your goals, but maybe you’ll have a less miserable and more fun time doing it. I know I’m having fun.

“And that’s the meaning of January, Charlie Brown.”

love you,

e.