A Magical Midwinters Journey

Enjoy a winters journey with the Winter Goddess this Yule; The Cailleach. The crone goddess and queen of winter. During the darkest months, she sweeps her cloak of winter white over the land, freezing the ground. The personification of the elemental power of nature, the Cailleach is the creatrix of the land: she carves rocks and mountains to serve as her stepping stones.

Transcript

Greetings,

My darlings.

This is the time of Yuletide and festive Christmas celebrations,

Where we bring a little extra light and warmth and fun and food into our homes to ward off the chill of the winter.

Now for today's meditation,

I'd love to connect you to the Celtic goddess of winter,

The Kaliak.

Her name literally means old one or crone,

And she is always represented as an old woman with beautiful white hair.

But she is also very beautiful.

She is the embodiment of winter and the cold elements of the land.

And they say that she sweeps her white mantle of snow over the earth as the land is covered in snow during the cold months of December.

And so we shall journey with her today.

So take your time.

Settle into a place that is very warm,

Because where we're going is very cold.

Wrap yourself up and find a comfortable place.

Gently close the eyes.

And we'll begin to let the breath become unhurried.

Each exhale releasing the breath,

But also releasing any noise of the day,

Whether that be busy thoughts in your head or sounds of distraction.

And here in our minds eye,

We journey and find ourselves amongst the snow of Scotland.

The great mountains looming around us.

And they say that the Kaliak dropped these rocks so that she could leap and move through the land.

They are her stepping stones.

And as soon as you think of this goddess,

The Kaliak,

Goddess of winter,

With her white mantle of snow that sweeps over the lands,

It is as though you have called her.

Because no sooner have you thought of her,

And she arrives by your side,

Almost as white as the snow around her.

She is so light and bright,

And she moves as quietly as the falling snow.

This beautiful old woman holds out a small hand and you take hold of it.

It is warm and soft.

She wants to guide you on a journey.

And even though she does not speak to you,

She smiles and you feel that she is friendly,

Warm and welcoming in this land of snow she calls her home.

She moves so smoothly over the snow,

At first you think she must have very steady feet,

But in fact she is not walking,

But flying.

And before you know it,

Your feet have also left the ground as you sweep up the mountainsides,

As you see the white of the snow sweep beneath you and you rise.

You rise towards a clear blue sky.

You rise towards mountains topped with snow,

Light and bright in the sun.

As you sweep through the mountains,

You spot the great white wings of owls and little ptarmigans sweeping around,

Almost as though playing a game and joining you on your flight.

You feel as light as snow,

As light as a white feather as the Kaliak goddess takes you to the very peak of the snowy mountains,

Sheltered from the wind in a place that feels almost soundless.

When you have reached your destination,

At the peak of the mountain,

In a sheltered spot,

You gently come back to ground and now you hear your feet rest upon the snow.

The winter goddess lays out blankets upon the snow and wraps you in more soft white blankets,

So you already feel warm and comfortable.

But then,

With a skill of many years practice,

She lays out a fire and lights it,

Creating a flickering warmth that casts shadows upon the snow.

You feel warm and comfortable and able to take in the beautiful,

Sparkling snow around you.

All is cold and all is quiet,

But you feel calm and comfortable.

This Krone goddess is a wild woman,

Connected to all the wilderness and nature of the earth.

And as you sit in the comfort of the elements of the fire and the snow,

She encourages you to connect to your own inner wild woman,

The untamed and passionate being within you.

This idea of the divine feminine and the feminine wild is within all of us,

Whatever our gender.

The element of feminine is intuitive and powerful and in tune,

If we allow it,

In tune with the ebbs and flows of energies of the world and the power of the elements.

This energy helps us connect with our own inner goddess and our inner wise one.

Just as wise Krone goddess Kaliak is so ancient,

She knows the ways of the world and how to connect with all the elements.

And it may be looking upon this fire now,

In this special place of snow and calm,

That the goddess has a word of wisdom or two for you.

And she may speak it aloud or guide you to a knowing or an intuition of your own.

You may hear it now within this meditation or it may come to you in the coming days.

There is no right or wrong,

So do not worry about how this message may arrive.

And do not worry if nothing comes to you right now.

Just allow yourself to be in this peaceful place of snow and flickering flames,

A beautiful place of the elements and the power of nature.

And soon enough,

The time has arrived.

You strive to leave this special place as the goddess once more holds out her warm hand.

You shrug off your blankets of warmth and once more an exhilarating flight along the slopes of the mountains that the Kaliak herself uses as her stepping stones through the land.

Like the birds in flight,

You sweep down the side of the mountain to once more bring your feet onto solid ground,

Gazing up once more at the beauty around you.

The Kaliak smiles.

When you are set down upon the earth and ready to take your next steps,

She sweeps up her white mantle and once again,

Like a soundless owl,

She is gone.

Here amongst the snow,

You have found that gentle,

Beautiful,

But complete power of the winter,

Of the cold and of the goddess.

May you carry it with you and may it keep you warm in your next steps on your journey underneath the cold moon.

Thank you for joining me today,

My darlings,

And our journey with the winter goddess.

Stay warm and I will see you soon.

Thank you and Namaste.

Reviews

Lovely Winter tale to reconnect with stillness and warmth within ❄️🔥

Beautiful and evocative meditation. Many blessings 🙏

Oh how I love The Cailleach! Thank you for this lovely meditation! Blessed be! 💖

I’ve been listening to this guided meditation each Yuletide since it’s release.
It never fails to take me to a place of peace and insight.
Because if this it remains one of my favourite of Sarah’s winter time meditations.

A stirring, beautiful midwinter’s day journey. Thank you 🙏

I love the imagery, what a beautiful journey.

This meditation was beautiful. I loved the sounds of the fire and wind. Helped me sink more deeply into it.

Beautiful. Thank you. 🙏

The perfect Yule time meditation. Well done Sarah!

What a great meditation to do at advent/ solstice. I loved being taken to such a cold dark landscape. Also the connection with the WILD without and within. Thank you!

This one is rather short (I wanted more!), but I loved the winds whistling & the fire crackling. 🙏🥰✨

Your meditations are always so wonderful. Thank you, blessed to be!

Such an exquisite meditation which I'll return to again.

that was wonderful!!! thank you for that journey!

Fantastic!! Namastè 🙏❤️

So beautiful and inspiring! Namaste 🙏

Lovely imagery and sound effects. Definitely a favorite. 💗🙏

I was so excited to see a meditation with a goddess I’ve been learning more about this winter, thank you!

I just love your meditations, including this magical one. You have such a beautiful way of weaving words, resulting in the illustration of the most wonderful imagery. You also have a fabulous voice!

Thank you for all you do. Love and light to you.
💖🌠

It was nice to be out in the woods ✨ I like the spacious feeling around this full moon. Thank you for the journey !