My Love Affair with the Dark
It would help with the algorithm immensely if you could do me a huge favour and "like" the video, comment under the video and/or subscribe to my channel. Thank you. 🙏 ☺️
My Love Affair with the Dark | A Samhain Meditation on Winter, Cold Water & Descent
Tonight marks Samhain, Calan Gaeaf - the Celtic New Year - when the veil between worlds grows thin and we cross the threshold into winter's darkness. This is my love letter to the dark season.
In this video, I explore why I'm drawn to winter's shadows: swimming in freezing lakes and rivers at night, walking into storms, and embracing discomfort as a spiritual practice. Drawing on Celtic mythology (the Cailleach), Chinese wisdom (winter as the water element), and alchemical transformation (nigredo), I share why winter asks us to descend - and why that descent is necessary.
Timestamps:
0:00 Everything begins in darkness and Halloween
0:38 Alchemy and Winter
1:16 The Calleach
1:34 Cold Water and feeling alive
2:10 Dark water and discovering our shadow selves
3:20 Experiencing cold water as a spiritual rite of passage
5:59 I'm not waiting for spring
🌑 Topics explored:
Samhain, Halloween & the Celtic New Year
Cold water immersion as spiritual practice
Winter swimming & wild swimming at night
The Cailleach - Celtic goddess of winter & water
Alchemical nigredo - transformation through darkness
Meeting our shadow selves in the dark season
Why discomfort keeps us connected to our life force
This video was filmed on location in Wales, featuring cold water swimming in rivers and lakes, fire-lit rituals, and the wild beauty of winter landscapes.
🖤 If you love winter, darkness, wild swimming, mythology, or seasonal living, subscribe for more videos exploring the magic of the natural world.
A huge thank you to everyone supporting this work on Patreon - your support makes it possible for me to create films like this. For newbies, if you would like to support me on Patreon, here is the link: https://www.patreon.com/c/katherinebe...
Music through Epidemic Sound:
"Whispers of the Banyan" by Aks and Lakshmi
"The Bard's Tale" by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen
"Sunset over Varanasi" by Aks and Lakshmi
"Il Reste du Temps" Lo Mimieux
"The Sunken Library" Trevor Kowalski
#halloween #samhain #wildswimming #celtictradition #calangaeaf #theCailleach #thevoid