Breaking the Cocoon

In the thick of the dark season, it's not unusual to feel a little cramped; familiar habits that we once swaddled ourselves in like a chunky knit sweater may no longer fit. At home, the ceilings might feel too low, the walls and tables and countertops all too crowded. Your cocoon—that energetic wrapping paper you've spent the past three seasons nurturing, hoping it might obscure your true self from the world outside—is just beginning to unravel around you. It's perfectly normal to feel uneasy at this time, but you certainly aren't alone in your discomfort.

The transition from autumn to winter can look different for each and every witch; for some, it might mean a deepening of their ancestor work, or a return to daily tarot card pulls, or a new journal to fill with all sorts of musings from this upcoming period of hibernation. But for others, the dip into winter might mean the shattering of the chrysalis that's held you for the past several months. For others, this is a time of rebirth, of transmutation, and of radical change.

As the wheel turns, our energy shifts dramatically. Traditionally, the dark season is acknowledged as a time of great contemplation, of rest, and of regeneration. Spring and summer demand an outpouring of our energy; autumn and winter ask only that we restore ourselves. But what happens when rest is the last thing on our minds in the dark months? What is a witch to do when they're itching to shed their chrysalis, to dismantle each and every barrier between them and the light?

You are never more vulnerable than you are at the exact moment you choose yourself—the moment you choose to be seen, to be witnessed, to become, and to keep becoming.

Think of the moth, beating its fragile wings against the inside of its cocoon, seconds before it bursts through and the sun caresses the little creature for the very first time. Sit with the moth inside yourself, and meet it with gentleness.

What would it feel like to give yourself the freedom you crave? To shed, and snap your wings open?

What's stopping you from unleashing your true self?

At first, you might feel unsteady—and you wouldn't be the first. Don't let the fear of failure keep you trapped inside patterns you've already outgrown.