Human lives are sometimes divided into segments that resemble the seasons. A young person just starting out in life is said to be in the springtime of his life. That time in which he has acquired a livelihood, a home of his own, and created a family, is known as the summer. When a woman looks in the mirror one day and realizes she has become old, she has entered the autumn years. I have never heard anyone refer; however, to the winter of one’s life. What would that be exactly? Is it that period of time when one is simply waiting for death to arrive? When you realize that you can no longer do the things that you used to do and your body fails you, is this the winter time of life?
The pentagram, or 5 pointed star, represents for me the 5 stages of a woman’s life. The first stage is birth. We grow into childhood, then adolescence, and finally arrive at the second stage of maidenhood. The third stage is motherhood, a very busy time of life, that generally includes raising a family. In what seems like no time at all, she has arrived at the fourth stage. She may have grandchildren and great grandchildren by now. This is known as the stage of the crone, by which time wisdom has been attained. From here she travels to the final stage, the release from life, the fifth point on the star.
Our lives can easily be compared to plants, as well. As a seed, we germinate, begin to push our way through the soil, and sprout as seedlings. We grow, some slowly, some rapidly, and then we produce flowers. Our flowers may hang on for some time, or they may bloom like the day lily, for only one day. Eventually, and without fail, our flowers fade. We set seed for the next generation and then we disappear back into the soil. As human beings, setting seed is like reviewing the life we have lived and putting our affairs in order. It is the time to prepare for the journey of death, the passage into a non physical realm.
I am in the winter of my life now. I do not know how long or how hard the winter will be. Some winters are short and mild. Others are brutal and long. The only thing that is certain, is that when my winter season is finally over, I will be gone.
