WINTER GLOW

Inspiration:

The glow…light is so important in winter.

Every winter morning,

as soon as I get up

I step outside and look at the glow of the rising sun,

My body wants the light, and I drink it in.

Downstairs in the living room,

The guardian of the fire has the wood stove ablaze.

The glow of the flames

The smell of warm woods.

My body wants the warmth.

I soak it in.

Outside,

I walk in the mountains

The snow glistening like fairy dust in the sun.

My spirit wants the glowing joy of this moment

I revel in it.

The Balsam Fir tree is strung with lights

Shining like constellations

Glowing in the night sky.

The tree smells of resins and liquid light.

My body and spirit reach out for this medicine.

I inhale deeply.

I write these words,

In the early darkness of winter

A beeswax candle flickering

Glowing warm, smelling like honey.

Body and soul reflections of light on a cold winter’s night.

Notes on the Ingredients of “Winter’s Glow”

“Winters Glow” is composed primarily from resins, resinous needles and resinous wood from local conifers that I harvested in the forest.  I think of these trees as the keepers of the light because they remain green and continuing to eat light.  The fragrant breath they produce, persists to clean Earth’s air through the darkest months.

I consider Balsam Fir to be, as Hildegarde von Bingen would say, “The Living Light”.  All plants are light eaters and carry light,  but Balsam Fir has a particular liquid resin that is produced naturally in blisters on her bark not by trauma.  This resin has exactly the same refractive properties as high quality glass.  So, when white light goes through the resin it slows down but remains largely intact.  Sunlight and Balsam Fir resin seem to hold the same vibrations.

In one of those beautiful golden threads from nature, both wild and honey Bees harvest conifer resins to make propolis and wax.  I added organic propolis to the blend because its honeyed aroma reminds of rich winter deserts and the candles I burn to give life to long winter nights.  Bees harvest most heavily in spring and early summer, when the resin is soft and freshly exuded. In fall, they may also harvest cracks and blisters on balsam fir, spruce and pine as temperatures warm during the day.  The resins sticky and antimicrobial properties are imparted to the bees’ work helping to keep the hive healthy and happy

Winter’s Glow also includes exotic resins which I chose to specifically support and help hold the aromas of the Northern Trees and propolis.  I find that botanicals from hot places tend to vaporize at a higher temperature than botanicals from here in the north.  So, I add small quantities of similarly scented exotic botanicals to make a incense that lasts a long time on the heater.   Clean and bright White Copal and Frankincense hold light just like Evergreen resins while Benzoin is one of the ingredients used, along with propolis, in the traditional Indian incense blocks also known as “amber”.