Field Notes for a Turning Year- January
- Blair Butterfield
- Jan 1
- 4 min read
Cold Light, Long Roots
January arrives without apology, under the cold light of stars that seem closer in winter's clear air. The land is stripped to structure. Bones of trees. Frozen water. Sky pared back to its essential blue or iron gray. Nothing is pretending to be lush.
Both Celtic and Native American traditions named January's full moon for the wolf—when these animals were more likely to be heard howling during winter's hunger. Anglo-Saxon culture called it the Moon After Yule, while Celtic names also included Stay Home Moon and Quiet Moon. Janus, the two-faced god for whom this month is named, looks both backward and forward from winter's threshold, teaching us to honor what was while preparing for what comes.
This is not a month for spectacle. It is a month for truth, rest, and re-orientation.
Where December spirals with memory and obligation, January insists on clarity. The noise falls away. What remains is what you actually live with.
Seasonal Atmosphere
Light increases, but imperceptibly—only the most attentive notice the extra minutes daylight gains each day.
Sap pulls inward. Energy is conserved.
The earth holds itself tightly, conserving warmth like a secret.
Mars burns bright in opposition this month, a red ember in winter's crown, reminding us that even in dormancy, life force pulses.
The Quadrantids streak across early January skies like silver needles stitching winter's dark fabric.
This is a root month, not a bloom month. Anything that tries to flower now will exhaust itself. I'm certainly laying groundwork right now and not trying to peak.
The Work of January
January is not about goals. It's about alignment.
The Wolf Moon opens the year on January 3rd with full illumination in Cancer (my personal moon sign)—a rare moment when winter's truth is completely visible through the lens of home, nurturing, and emotional security. This bright beginning in the sign of the crab asks us to see clearly what we carry forward, what truly nourishes us, and what feels like home in our lives.
Before action comes:
What is heavy?
What is essential?
What is no longer worth carrying through another cycle?
This is the month to name things honestly, without decorating them:
This job drains me.
This habit sustains me.
This relationship asks too much.
This practice gives me life.
January listens well to truth spoken quietly. The Cancer full moon illuminates our deepest needs for safety and belonging, while the new moon in Capricorn on January 18th creates the perfect conditions for foundational work—not dramatic breakthrough, but the patient, structural preparation that makes breakthroughs possible. Capricorn's mountain goat wisdom teaches us about building slowly, with integrity, one sure step at a time.
Body & Nervous System
Cold asks the body to contract. Modern life does not allow for this easily—we heat, stimulate, caffeinate, override.
In Celtic tradition, this was the time of the Stay Home Moon, when wisdom meant conserving energy and turning inward.
January medicine is the opposite:
Warm food
Slow mornings
Earlier nights
Fewer decisions
More repetition
The body wants predictability right now. So does the nervous system. Rituals of repetition are medicine.
Kitchen & Hearth
Favor foods that have already survived winter:
Roots
Long-simmered broths
Fermented things
Fat and protein that hold heatw
January digestion thrives on warmth and patience. Nothing rushed tastes good in this month. Venus graces the evening sky early in January, reminding us to find beauty in simplicity—the steam rising from soup, the ritual of breaking bread in lamplight.
Creative Practice
January creativity is infrastructure, not output.
Like sap moving invisibly through winter wood, creative energy travels underground now. The waning moon through mid-month supports releasing what no longer serves, while the new moon on January 18th opens space for quiet intention-setting.
This is the month for:
Cleaning studios
Editing drafts
Organizing archives
Revisiting abandoned ideas without judgment
If you make something now, let it be:
small
private
unfinished
Creation in January is for you, not the world.
Emotional Weather
This month can feel stark. Loneliness surfaces easily. Doubt speaks louder.
Do not confuse this with failure. Winter removes distractions; it does not invent despair.
The Wolf Moon on January 3rd illuminates what we've carried into this year, while the new moon on January 18th teaches us that even in darkness, renewal moves underground.
Ask instead:
What is this feeling pointing to?
What truth is easier to hear now that things are quiet?
January emotions are diagnostic, not directive.
A January Practice
Once a week, choose one small act of order:
Clean one drawer
Sort one folder
Finish one neglected task
Stop before you're tired.
Order, applied gently, restores dignity to time. Follow the rhythm of the first quarter moon on January 26th—building slowly on the foundations laid in darkness.
Closing Note
January does not promise joy. It promises honesty.
If you meet it without resistance—without trying to make it productive or pretty—it will quietly return something rare:
A sense of orientation. A clearer inner compass. The feeling of standing on solid ground again.
Spring is already moving underground, gathering strength in root and seed. Jupiter's steady presence in the evening sky reminds us that some forces grow through patience, not haste. You don't have to rush to meet what's coming.
The wolves knew this. The winter stars know this. January asks us to remember.
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