Reverence in the Threshold Between Winter and Spring

by Kathleen McIntyre, LCSWA

Reverence: a deep, heartfelt respect that carries awe and humility

Reverence thins the veil between the seen and unseen. To walk with reverence upon this fragile Earth may be one of the most essential movements for us as humans. It is this inner turning toward the numinous that softens suffering, loosens our grip on the small urgencies of daily life, and expands our perception so we can fully live.

When I remember to orient my inner compass toward sensing beneath the pull of my five senses, a doorway to reverence appears. What I was holding begins to soften. Awe stirs and takes its place in my heart. For a moment, time opens. The way I perceive the world shifts.

Through the portal of reverence, the land beneath our feet is returned to her rightful place as sacred. Even when she has been paved over, fenced in, or reshaped by human hands. When we remember reverence, we remember that we are always walking on holy ground.

The winter solstice asked this kind of reverence from us. It invited us into stillness, into darkness, into the fertile unknown. A cosmic pause where the Earth exhales and we are invited to rest inside the mystery.

But now we find ourselves somewhere else.

We now stand in the threshold between winter and spring.

The deep stillness of winter has not fully released its hold. The visible world may still appear dormant. And yet, beneath the surface, everything is in motion. Seeds are stirring. Roots are stretching. Sap is slowly beginning to rise. The Earth is not asleep. She is becoming.

This in-between season asks a different kind of reverence.

It asks us to trust what is unfolding before it is visible. To sense the subtle shift from rest toward emergence. To listen for the first whispers of renewal before any outward sign appears.

In our own lives, this threshold can feel both hopeful and tender. We may sense change moving within us, even if we cannot yet name it. Old identities, patterns, or structures may no longer fit. The new has not fully formed. We are asked to remain present in the uncertainty.

Reverence in this season means honoring the unseen work of becoming. It means staying connected to the body, to breath, to the ground beneath us, as we move from stillness toward action. It means allowing our inner fire to warm and illuminate what is ready to grow.

At the Heartwood School of Forest Therapy, this is part of what we practice. We learn to slow down enough to notice these subtle transitions in the land and in ourselves. We cultivate the capacity to accompany others through their own seasons of change. We develop the steadiness to stand in the unknown with compassion and trust.

The Earth reminds us that emergence is rarely sudden. It is rhythmic. Cyclical. Relational.

So as we stand in this threshold between winter and spring, we are invited into reverence once again.

Reverence for the unseen roots.
Reverence for the stirring.
Reverence for the courage it takes to begin again.

You might take a moment to ask:

What within me is beginning to awaken?
Where do I sense the first movement of life?
What support do I need as I grow toward the light?

Let us walk this threshold with humility and awe. Let us tend the fragile beginnings within ourselves and within the Earth.

Because the way we meet this season shapes the way we enter what comes next.