There is something quietly violent about January.
The forced optimism.
The pressure to “start over.”
The insistence that now (in the darkest, coldest, most inward time of the year) is when we should become new.
But if you’ve ever felt tired, resistant, or even vaguely rebellious toward January’s “New Year, New You” energy… your body isn’t broken.
It’s remembering.
January, Janus, and the Hijacking of Time
January is named for Janus, the Roman god of doorways, thresholds, and duality—often depicted with two faces, one looking backward and one forward. The month was never neutral. It was ritualized. Symbolic. Pagan.
This matters not because paganism is inherently “bad,” but because January as the beginning of the year is not aligned with creation, agriculture, biology, or Scripture.
It was a political and religious restructuring of time, and one that slowly pulled humans out of relationship with the natural world and into abstraction.
The Calendars That Shaped Our Lives
The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE, formalized January 1st as the start of the year for administrative convenience—not ecological truth.
The Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, refined the system for astronomical accuracy, but kept January 1st firmly in place.
So here we are– living by a calendar shaped by empire and efficiency, while our nervous systems quietly ache for something older.
Something truer.
God’s Calendar Begins in Spring
In Scripture, God Himself establishes the beginning of the year in spring.
“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.”
— Exodus 12:2
This declaration occurs just before Passover—the great story of liberation, deliverance, and rebirth. And this is not a coincidence.
Nearly every major act of God’s deliverance happens in spring:
- Israel freed from Egypt at Passover
- The Red Sea crossing shortly after
- The first harvest offerings
- Pentecost and Resurrection themes woven throughout the season
Spring is when life returns. When seeds break open underground. When blood moves again.
God’s rhythm is not arbitrary. It’s intelligently designed and embodied.
Winter Is Not Death — It Is the Bleed
In the feminine wisdom traditions of the earth, winter corresponds to the menstrual phase of the cycle.
This is when:
- Energy turns inward
- The body sheds what is no longer viable
- There is less outward productivity and more truth
- Rest is not indulgence—it is biological necessity
During menstruation, a woman is not meant to:
- Launch new projects
- Force clarity
- Perform joy
She is meant to bleed, rest, and listen.
So is the earth.
Winter is Mother Nature’s bleed. The great shedding. The sacred undoing.
To demand “new beginnings” during winter is to ask a bleeding body to run a marathon.
Why January Feels So Hard
January asks us to override the wisdom of the womb.
To bypass the shedding.
To plant seeds into frozen soil.
This creates:
- Burnout
- Nervous system dysregulation
- Spiritual confusion
- A sense that we are always “behind”
But you are not behind.
You are simply still in the dark phase.
Winter Was Never Meant for Reinvention
Winter is not for blooming.
It’s for composting.
In the natural world:
- Trees pull sap downward
- Animals hibernate
- Seeds rest in darkness
- The earth grows quiet
Yet we’ve been told to optimize.
To push.
To rebrand ourselves while our bodies are begging for slowness.
This dissonance creates exhaustion—not because we lack discipline, but because we’re moving against design.
Honoring the Dark Season (Without Forcing the Light)
If winter is the womb, then your only job is listening.
Winter is not the time to become.
It’s the time to empty.
Here are gentle ways to honor this phase with simple extracts—supporting the nervous system, the blood, and the listening body.
For Rest & Nervous System Downshifting
- A few drops of milky oats or valerian root in warm water before bed
- Pair with candlelight and an early night
- Let your body exhale instead of striving
For Reflection & Inner Vision
- Mugwort or blue vervain in ritual doses
- Journaling prompts like:
What is decomposing? What is asking to be laid down?
For Warming the Blood Without Forcing Growth
Preparing for the True New Year
You don’t need a resolution right now.
You need honesty.
Rest.
Space for what is dying to finish dying.
What you need is fertile, composted soil.
Spring will come whether you hustle or not.
But how it arrives in you depends on how well you honored the dark.
As Passover approaches—when Scripture marks the true turning of the year—something ancient begins to stir again.
Not a makeover.
A resurrection.
And it doesn’t start with willpower.
It starts underground.
Spring—Passover—resurrection—is ovulation energy.
It is emergence.
It is yes.
But ovulation only comes after a complete bleed.
When spring comes, the body will know.
God’s timing is written into your tissues.
And rebirth will happen the way it always has—
not through force,
but through a time-honored and intelligent rhythm.