For those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, November heralds the onset of winter darkness—when the daylight hours become shorter and shorter with each passing day. I think most people truly enjoy sunlight much more than gloomy darkness because we are creatures who revel in the light and relegate nights as the time for sleeping.

For some people the dreary winter months can trigger depression, tiredness, oversleeping, and weight gains, a condition often referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Aside from spending the winters in South America or Australia, which is not doable for most of us, there is no easy cure for SAD, although light therapy will often help. Or maybe we could all cuddle up next to a bear in November and hibernate until the spring.

Our beautiful planet presents many daunting challenges for souls who choose to incarnate in this very tough school, and the waning of light in the winter months is just one of them. The good news is that spring and summer always follow winter, and once we reach the winter solstice the daylight hours will slowly but surely chase away the darkness of the night.