Winter Light & Heart Wisdom
What this Season is teaching me - and an invitation for you to listen inward

By Marian Nielsen Joos, Modern Shaman & Soul Seer in the Swiss Alps

““There is a tenderness in winter that opens the heart — a quiet invitation to feel what is true inside us.” — Marian Nielsen Joos

There is something about this time of year that moves me in a way I can’t fully explain.
Maybe it’s the quiet. Maybe it’s the early darkness. Maybe it’s the lights appearing everywhere — on streets, in windows,
in little corners of our homes — reminding us that even when nature turns inward, something inside us still wants to glow.

I feel it strongly this December. A tenderness. A little melancholy. A deep sense that we are shedding the very last layer of the Snake Year before we step into the movement, clarity, and fire of the Horse.

And as always, winter invites me inward.

Here in the Alps, the mountaintops are dusted with snow. The air has that crispness that makes you breathe differently.
The kind of breath that goes deeper than the lungs and touches something ancient inside.

And as I move through these December days, I notice how much of the outer light — the Christmas decorations, the illuminated trees, the way cities suddenly sparkle — awakens memories within me.

Especially of my parents.

My father passed in February 2021, and Christmas was his season.
He loved the lights, the gathering, the playful magic of it all. Whenever I play a Danish Christmas song, I feel him close — not as a heavy grief, but as a warm presence. A soft reminder that love doesn’t disappear; it simply changes form.

Maybe that’s why this season feels so sacred to me. It holds both: the beauty of what is here and the ache of what is gone. And in that space between the two, something real opens. A quiet inner light, a wisdom that arrives only when we slow down enough to feel our own heartbeat again.

Winter changes the way we listen

This season invites us gently toward our own truth.
Not the year — but our inner knowing.

Lately, I’ve been asking myself:

• What am I carrying that no longer belongs to the coming year?

• What wants to be honored before it is let go?

• Where is my own inner light guiding me now?

I ask these questions as I walk, as I sit in cafés, as I watch the lights, or when I lie quietly on the sofa with a cup of tea.

There is a softness in December I didn’t always understand.
Years ago, I loved the excitement, the gatherings, the movement.
Now, I feel the medicine of the still moments — the ritual of lighting a candle,
tidying a corner, breathing deeply, listening inward.

This season is not only about celebration.
It is also about coming home to yourself.

These questions draw me closer to my own inner light.
Perhaps they also awaken a whisper in your heart — something ready to be heard.

The outer lights help us see our inner ones

Winter may feel dark, but the darkness is not empty. It is full of guidance.
It slows us down enough so we can finally hear what the heart has been whispering all year.

Maybe that’s why December often brings a blend of emotions — gratitude, longing, joy, tiredness, reflection.
We are being shaped. We are preparing. We are becoming.
Not by doing more — but by allowing something deeper to rise to the surface.

What is winter whispering to you?

• How do you feel this shift of seasons?

• Where is life inviting you inward?

• What inner light is asking to be tended — gently, quietly, truthfully?
  
  

A gentle closing

As the year turns toward its end, I return to a simple truth:

When the world becomes quieter, the heart becomes clearer.

May this season offer you the stillness you need, the warmth you long for,
and the inner light that guides your steps into the year ahead.

With love & light from the Swiss Alps
Marian 🌿💛
Soul Seer • Sacred Space Holder • Modern Shaman

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About Marian Nielsen Joos

Marian Nielsen Joos is a Soul Seer, Modern Shaman, and Sacred Space Holder based in the Swiss Alps.
She weaves the ancient wisdom of Chinese Medicine and Shamanic Healing to support deep transformation and heart-soul alignment — both online and in her Swiss practice.

Learn more at www.mariannielsenjoos.com

P.S.

As we move toward the winter solstice — and my own birthday on December 21st — I’m gathering a special gift to support your reflection, your rituals, and your inner light.
This is a beautiful moment to listen inward and reconnect with what truly matters.
More soon… stay close.