I live in Western Maryland, which means that September often still feels like summer for us. Temperatures in the 90s aren’t unusual. What generally changes first is the early mornings and late evenings. We start being able to open the windows overnight to cool off our homes. There’s a crispness to the air that promises the change to come. That little hint of fall started to appear in my region a couple weeks ago, and it’s my cue that it’s time to begin preparing for the winter to come.
The English chronicler the Venerable Bede described what we now call September as Hāliġmōnaþ. It translates to Holy Month, and modern scholarship indicates that this name was a recognition that while the hard work of harvest and winter preparations were happening, a truce period was observed. Any conflicts were just going to have to wait until the work in the fields was concluded. It’s a funny concept in today’s life: “Look, you can’t argue with strangers on the internet until the fields are cleared for winter.”
Reconstructing and reviving practices based on deep history often centers on exploring the meaning within a tradition and finding ways that meaning manifests itself now. Holy Month was historically a time of focused work: of preparation, of gathering in, and of cooperation. In the old Germanic calendar, this time was the earliest hint of the tide of winter holidays to come. That remains true today. As we spiral toward the dark season, the feasting holidays in the United States are ahead of us: Thanksgiving, the many holidays people celebrate around the winter solstice, and the turning of our calendar to the new year.
This is the thread of connection we can access and follow. The season is changing, the days will grow colder and darker, we will gather together with those we love, and we will need to ride out winter until the flowers blossom once more.
As I reflect on the passage through September, one of the first things I consider is what needs to be wrapped up or finished in some way. In my region, this month and the next one are the last good months for certain kinds of house maintenance. It’s still warm enough to touch up paint, repair siding or windows, or spend a day reorganizing the garage. As the temperatures cool, that shifts to gardening. Beds can be cleared, soil amended, and some planting for the winter as well as the early spring can occur.
This same philosophy of wrapping up also applies to less physical things. What was your work this summer? What did you harvest? We all spent our time on something. Does that body of work need to be tidied up, preserved, prepared, or finished for winter? What messages should be followed up on? What areas need their last i’s dotted and t’s crossed? It can feel really good to finally set things down and know that they are effectively done. This clearing then creates space to winter well.
The other thread of historical practice we can look to is the idea of storage – of putting up the bounty of summer to keep us fed this winter. Winter comes with challenges. Cold and flu season is ahead of us, many people wrestle with varying degrees of seasonal affective disorder, and cold temperatures can simply be harder on one’s joints. We can approach the tide of autumn as an opportunity to take the edges off some of the more challenging aspects of the winter to come.
In my own life, this means winter remedy preparation. Every year, I make a large batch of honey-fermented garlic cloves for my own household but also for my friends. Many members of my community also make fire cider. Honey-fermented garlic cloves and fire cider are both combinations of ingredients that include antimicrobials and antifungals. Many of the ingredients are associated with strengthening the immune system as well. I enjoy the process of making remedies, but it’s not the only way to support better health over winter. This is a great time to go through your medicine cabinet and pantry and make sure you have what you need. If you’re out of your preferred decongestant, cold medicine, or soup, pick some up the next time you’re grocery shopping. It’s easier to head a winter cold off at the pass if we can start treating it quickly.
Likewise, remember that this is the time when the various vaccines for winter appear. My own family and community includes people who have delicate health conditions, so I do my best to protect them by getting the flu shot and updated covid vaccine every year.
A lot of winter preparation simply comes down to knowing your own patterns in winter. I have some friends that absolutely love and live for the season. I have others who really struggle with the shorter, colder days. I’m kind of in the middle myself. There are things I love about winter. There are also some aspects I find really challenging. So consider: how do you do during winter? What do you need? What could be made easier?
Wintering well is more than being prepared for illness. An approach to winter that I really value is encapsulated by the Danish and Norwegian term “hygge.” The word translates roughly to “a cozy mood that’s supported by comfort, warmth, and closeness.” When I’m trying to describe the concept to others, I often fall back on the idea that hygge means snuggling yourself and your loved ones through winter.
By focusing on the cozy aspects of the winter season, we can find more joy in a time that can be challenging. In my own home, this manifests in a few different ways. One involves light levels. I like to shift over to candlelight and low lights in the evening during autumn and winter. I use a little book lamp if I’m reading, but the rest of the house is lit gently. I use a lot of flickering LED candles these days since I have a cat with asthma, but the impact remains the same. This shift in the light helps me settle down for the evening. It’s relaxing, and for me the flicker of flames whether real or LED creates an ambiance I love. It emphasizes the comfort and peace within my home. The contrast of warmth and comfort with the cold and darkness outside.
As I shift my household over for the cozy season, this also means shifting the furniture and items in the house a bit. I move the furniture in the living room a little closer together. I add pillows and blankets to the couch and chairs so I can bundle up and build a little nest of soft surfaces. This goes for clothing, too. I’m a big believer in the power of a good pair of fuzzy socks. So, one of my winter preparations is getting out my warm, snuggly clothes and making them available. I also tidy up the bookshelves and reshelve anything that I’d pulled out so my full library is available to me easily. Reading in the evening is one of my favorite dark season activities.
Coziness can be addressed through managing our spaces and the tools within them, but the other thing to remember is that coziness includes activities. I sometimes think of this as planning ahead for dopamine sources. Interestingly, one of the really effective practices around wintering well still includes going outside, but it’s in a way that is appreciative of winter. There’s a beautiful botanical garden relatively near where I live that puts on a Garden Lights display every year – an after dark illumination of the gardens in their autumn to winter transition. It’s exquisitely lovely and I make sure to get tickets as soon as they come on sale. There’s something so beautiful about winter days and their openness. If it’s an option for you, make plans to bundle up and go outside specifically to encounter the winter landscape. As the Icelanders are fond of saying, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.”
On the indoor coziness side, intimate gatherings tend to really fit the season. This is a wonderful time to start planning game nights, potlucks, or afternoon coffee chats with some of your favorite people. If you’re not currently part of a supper club of some kind, consider gathering a few friends to start one. Long, rambly conversations over candlelight and good food are such a beautiful part of the winter season. For many people, after the initial whirl of the holidays passes, schedules are a bit more open for low-pressure gatherings.
For our ancestors in northern climates, winter was the time of repairing tools as well as creating new ones. Work was done in fairly low light, so a focus on handwork was present. When we’re looking at very old tools and furniture, we often admire the carvings and artwork on them. These additions were frequently a winter project when everyone sat around the hearth fire for long periods of time.
This approach to winter appears in contemporary Pagan practice as something called Winter Work. Winter Work is a selected area of study or focus that we choose to engage with during the evenings and weekends in winter. It doesn’t necessarily have to be spiritual – some people choose to learn or practice a craft, some select a path of study, and some develop a skill. Just as our ancestors built and decorated tools that then supported a better growing season ahead, we can learn and practice in ways that allow us to step back out into springtime more nourished, rested, and joyful.
If the idea of Winter Work appeals to you, consider a few questions. What have you always wanted to learn about? Not in order to add it to your career path, but just for fun and the joy of seeking knowledge? Is there a craft that you’ve wanted to learn? Fiber arts like knitting, crochet, and needle felting can be a fun focus for winter. I’ve known people who chose to do more painting, whittling, or creative writing. One of the important aspects of Winter Work is that it shouldn’t add wild amounts of pressure to produce. It should be a way to engage with ancestral rhythms that’s uplifting and enjoyable.
Most of all, the pattern of winter we tend to ignore in profound ways these days is that of rest. All around us, the natural world slows down and settles. The turning of autumntide is a herald of this shift from the outward growth of summer to the inward healing, rest, and recovery of winter. There is such beauty in simply allowing the darkness to be dark. In simply allowing ourselves to rest more. To pause more frequently. To linger over steaming mugs of tea and take our time as we make our way through winter.
As the autumnal equinox approaches, consider how you would like to connect with this holy month. Are there threads of summer’s work that you’d like to wrap up? Consider what you harvested, or what you’d like to complete in order to enter winter less encumbered. Are there ways you’d like to prepare for the season ahead of us? Consider how you could best support yourself this winter. What would make for a better season for you personally whether that’s more rest, more creativity, or simply arranging for a more peaceful and cozy home? Consider what would bring you joy within the season: walks outside, star gazing, a big bonfire or two, or going skiing or ice skating. Think about what it would be good to plan whether that’s specific outings or intimate gatherings with those whose company you most enjoy. Consider whether you’re able to make space for deeper rest, longer pauses, and more open spaces in your schedule.
The Wheel of the Year is turning, the sunlight is shifting, and the harvest is coming in. Hāliġmōnaþ, the Holy Month, is here. As always, how we move within the context of larger seasonal patterns influences the path ahead. It is a good thing to pause, recognize the natural cycles around us, and consider what they mean for us personally.
May this autumntide bring in new opportunities to connect deeply with the season. As the tide rolls out, may it reveal a steadier, more supportive path through the winter ahead of us.
This sermon was first offered to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley on Sunday, September 13th, 2026.
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