Goddesses of Yule: Yuki-Onna, Japanese Goddess of Stillness
Yuki-Onna is a Japanese Goddess of Winter, Snow and Stillness.
A beautiful, pale and ethereal Goddess, she was seen as an incarnation of the Snow. Along with being seen as responsible for the lovelier aspects of winter such as cloaking the land in a beautiful blanket of snow, she was also believed to cause chaotic snow-storms and could turn humans to ice with a stare (mood-depending).
Of all the Goddesses I’ve learned about, Yuki Onna has an extraordinarily mixed representation across mythology and literature. This could be because of how Mother Nature and the harshness of winter was perceived from ancient times up until the 18th century when attitudes seemed to shift and she was spoken about in a more empathetic light. In some folk tales she has been depicted as a demoness or in an extremely frightening light (almost like an ancient version of a horror film) - as a staggeringly beautiful yet extremely vengeful Goddess who depending on her mood might simply knock a weary winter traveller down on their path if they didn’t honour her properly or if the wind so blew - her icy breath on their face would prove instantly fatal.
These depictions can be taken as symbolic of the vagaries of winter and the fears that sudden snow-storms would have invoked in ancient times. The stories of Goddesses usually arise out of an anthropomorphic desire to try to make sense of the intimidating mysteries of Mother Nature.
Some folk tales depict her as an erotic Goddess who would go to partners of her choosing and, like various mythologies that emerged over the centuries about another sexually liberated ‘succubi’ Goddess, Lilith, there are mentions in some tales of child-snatching and energy-vampirism in tandem with this.
Yet in other mythology, particularly in later times, she’s presented more as a merciful Goddess. Instead of being depicted as instigating the deaths of random, unsuspecting victims she was seen as a Goddess who would come to those who were fatally ill or wearied travellers who had laid down in a snow-storm to ensure their transition to death was peaceful and calm, carrying their souls to the Underworld.
WORKING WITH YUKI ONNA
In this sense, as a Goddess of transition and Winter, she is a Yule Goddess - where Yule is seen as the gateway portal of death and rebirth. She can support us to transition through this harsh, dark, still season with a sense of peace and calm, in a state of stillness or surrender. As nature goes underground, we too are pulled into our own Underworld of sorts. Whilst nature has slowed and nothing is growing above the surface, likewise she asks us not to start running around trying to action and force all sorts of New Year’s resolutions and goals but to stay in sync with nature and honour stillness for now.
To truly harness this potent portal she asks us to really slow down and still our bodies, minds and spirits with whichever meditative and mindful practice best suits us, to deeply rest and recuperate from the previous year and to conserve and re-generate our life force. Instead of resisting this womb-like time - as we are often wont to do in our Energiser—bunny-productivity-treadmill world we are programmed into - we can embrace this ‘yin’ portion of the year. By turning inward and being more open and receptive to our dreams and messages from the universe we can more easily receive inspiration for all we need. In this way, we can gently set our intentions into motion and allow, with less efforting on our part, the manifestation of those intentions into form. As Colette Baron-Reid says in the Goddess Power Oracle on Yuki-Onna:
Just as the life force quietly builds within a seed buried under the snow, so too will the energy build in the seed of your desires before manifesting with no effort on your part. You will find how easy it is to co-create while implementing a practice of stillness and receptivity. - Colette Baron-Reid
Yuki Onna brings to mind the Buddhist practice of Non-Doing or Taoist practice of Wu-Wei: "Non-doing: to refrain from doing as the basis for allowing the body to function naturally, and for learning to act in such a way that we do not get in the way of this natural element in performance." (1)
Indeed, this allowance is key to embracing Yuki Onna energy. I feel her medicine is embodied perfectly in the ‘Snow’ card by Lorriane Anderson in her Seasons of the Witch: Yule Oracle:
Illustrated by Giada Rose
“Keywords: Softness, Patience, Allowing
Snow is falling in your spread as a reminder to soften. There is no need to know everything at once nor is there any reason to rush. Allow things to gently come to you over time. Operating from a place of force is when mistakes happen. Or worse, you can end up running over everything and everyone in your path causing more obstacles, heartache and disruptions. Snow reminds you that force breaks more than it creates. Be gentle as you move ahead and trust that all will be revealed in due time.” (Seasons of the Witch: Yule Oracle, Lorriane Anderson & Juliet Diaz)
YUKI ONNA RITUALS TO EMBRACE STILLNESS:
Start a Meditation Ritual: The best way to connect in with an inner sense of stillness and be open to receiving messages from your intuition/the Universe is to meditate. The new year is a good time to start a meditation practice if you don’t already have a consistent one. If you don’t have a particular meditation practice already you can try just putting on music such as this track with 111hz which is an ideal frequency for deep meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_RteEP_pOI (I would also highly recommend Joe Dispenza and the Meditation Queen https://www.youtube.com/@themeditationqueen on YouTube. Play around with what might work - some people prefer guided visualisations, some with affirmations, others find it difficult to visualise or listen to instruction and prefer just music / drumming/ bells to listen to. Others prefer total silence and to just focus on their breathing. If you struggle to sit physically still you could try a mindful walking meditation.)
Try a Yin Yoga class: Yin yoga is a slow-paced style of yoga as exercise, incorporating principles of traditional Chinese medicine, with asanas (postures) that are held for longer periods of time than in other styles. I personally love Yoga with Kassandra’s yin classes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yogawithkassandra - her 30 minute Chill Out Yin class is great.
Go on a Digital Detox - whilst there are many positives to social media such as connection, education and discovery, very often it can become a distraction and the longer you spend on certain platforms the more ‘noise’ and energy you’re absorbing into your energy field. One way to facilitate more stillness in your week is to have at least one day a week on a Digital Detox. Trust me, you’ll be amazed at how a break from frequently engaging with the digital world allows you to feel so much more intuitively connected, calmer and more creative in the physical world. If you feel you’re particularly addicted to scrolling social media a longer break - for a week or even a month - may help to break the addiction.
Practice the art of doing nothing. Self-nominate a Snow Day (ideal if you live somewhere snowy but you could always just use a rainy or cold day instead) - remember when you were at school and you woke up to find the world blanketed in snow and school cancelled (or at least in parts of the world where snow is rare this would happen!) and how exciting it was to have a whole day of doing nothing ahead of you because everything was closed? Carve out a day (or a few days if you can) to do just that….nothing! Or at least nothing that’s ‘productive’ or chore related. Set up a blanket tent in the living room, make it cosy with loads of cushions and blankets, make yourself a hot chocolate, leave your phone outside and just lounge in there and daydream, doodle, read a book, hum, colour-in, come up with make believe stories, cross-stitch, scrap-book, play with oracle cards or playing cards. Whatever floats your boat.
References:
Goddess Power Oracle - Colette Baron Reid
Seasons of the Witch: Yule Oracle - Lorriane Anderson & Juliet Diaz