There are seasons in life when everything feels uncertain—when unease clings, and joy, if it comes at all, appears only as a flicker of light in the dark that disappears as quickly as it came. But it is from this place—in the dark, in the stillness, in the breaking down of life as we knew it—that something profound begins to grow.
This reflection is for those moments.
For the woman who senses there is so much more that she yearns to be, do, and have.
For the woman who knows, deep down, that the life she was born to live is waiting for her to decide, to choose and to emerge again in ever-increasing alignment with who she was born to be.
This is as true for her as is her knowing that spring will always emerge from winter.
But sometimes, just as the winter soils can need a little encouragement to let the first signs of spring poke through, so too do we.
But before I offer the tools that are to come, I want to guide you to step back, because from there we can leap forward.
History shows us that the ever-growing need for greater ease and comfort dates back to the time when our primary purpose in life was simply to survive.
However, there was a tipping point.
Our obsession with comfort and what is fast, cheap, and easy has led us to overlook a vital truth: evolution shows us that the willingness to face what is unknown, and a little or a lot of uncertainty, discomfort, and even pain, is essential to creating something new.
The greatest wisdom, courage, and strength are created in the darkest times.
Facing what is uncomfortable is where the change we yearn for lies.
As a mother draws on strength to face struggle, pain, and vulnerability during childbirth, who she is on the other side is someone she has never met before… the next evolution of who she was born to become.
The same is true for the creator of any masterpiece: acceptance, courage, and wisdom continue to grow with every next act of courage.
In the modern world, where avoiding any discomfort has become the primary goal, we as a society are sadder and sicker than ever before in history.
A life spent avoiding the unknown, with no struggle and no pain—whether emotional, physical, or spiritual—is a life that slowly withers and dies.
It is a life that loses its strength and will to grow.
It is a life that gets caught in the web of the "one day" fantasy, forever waiting.
It is a life stuck in the modern-day fairy tale of being rescued and living happily ever after… with never another struggle to face.
We can create a vision board filled with all the things our heart and soul yearn for, and gaze at it from the comfort of the life we are living now, but with no perceptible change to our thoughts, words, or deeds—the three levels of creation—little if anything will change.
It is akin to lighting a match in the dark, using the flicker of light to glimpse a vision of our dreams, only to let them disappear as the flame inevitably blinks out.
We turn away and go back to living the life we yearn to change.
And there we can stay stuck in the thoughts that keep us there:
What if it can’t? What if I try and fail? What if they think I am ridiculous?
If we stay stuck for long enough, we will eventually die with our dreams unmet.
“Cemeteries are full of unfulfilled dreams... countless echoes of 'could have' and 'should have'… countless books unwritten… countless songs unsung... I want to live my life in such a way that when my body is laid to rest, it will be a well-needed rest from a life well lived, a song well sung, a book well written, opportunities well explored, and a love well expressed.”- Steve Maraboli
Courage-destroying thoughts keep us stuck, while the truth that there is always another choice hovers just on the other side of a different thought.
There is a story, a traditional fairy tale, that has been told for many centuries across the world in various languages. It is a story that speaks to the inner knowing that resides in all humans, regardless of race, sex, or age.
Crafted as both a cautionary tale and as a seed of wisdom, it is designed to plant itself in the deepest recesses of our being, where it waits until the time is right to blossom into a thought that acts as a flicker of light in the dark.
With this, we have what we need to emerge again into a new season of spring in the ongoing evolution of our lives.
You will likely be familiar with this story, but I encourage you to listen anew with the whole of your heart, mind and soul.
When you are ready, relax, be very still, and listen - listen carefully to this tale about
The Little Match Girl.
🜃 The Archetypes Live Within You
In The Little Match Girl, we are meeting what lives within each of us.
The archetypes and symbols live within our own psyche. These stories provide a soul-map of the tension between inner longing and outer reality. A story of the wild, intuitive self, surviving in a world that has forgotten that the power to create the life we want lies within, with every thought, word, and deed.Initiation often represents an internal journey—a personal trial or challenge that an individual must confront and navigate. This process involves facing fears, overcoming doubts, and emerging with greater wisdom and resilience.A Rite of Passage, in contrast, is typically an external, ceremonial event that marks a significant transition in an individual's life, such as puberty, marriage, or a graduation.Understanding these distinctions enriches our appreciation of how individuals grow and evolve, both personally and within their cultural contexts.
🔮 Archetypes
🕊 The Innocent / The UninitiatedThe Little Match Girl herself—innocent, uninitiated child, ill-equipped to survive in the world-relies on an external saviour.
🕸 The Crone / Wise GrandmotherIn her power as an initiated woman, unconditional love and ancestral wisdom - knowing there is a time for sweet love and a time for tough love.” Hop up, you are ok, move your body, and I will show you how to survive.”
In her shadow form, as an uninitiated woman, she offers the illusion of love, but it has no life force, only the permission to lie down and die.
🪓 The Shadow FatherThe implied abusive or negligent father represents the absence of protection, authority, guidance, and love.
🌫 The Distant MotherAlready dead—her absence speaks to the loss of nurturing and feminine care in the girl’s earthly experience.
👁 The Bystander CollectiveThe townspeople represent the many choices we fail to make, and the willingness to hear ‘no’ 100 times until we hear a ‘yes’.
🕯️ Symbols
Each image in this story is a vessel for meaning—whispers from the soul, waiting to be remembered.
🪔 Matches 🔥 Light / FlameDivine spark, brief moments of insight, the soul's inner radiance, connection to the unseen realm. Flickers of potential, imagination, vision, and the thin veil between worlds; also, the soul's longing to see and be seen.
❄️ Cold / SnowThe absence of warmth in the form of life-force energy.
🦶 Shoes and Bare FeetIn Women Who Run With the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estés speaks of shoes as “psychic coverings for the feet—the basis of our understanding.” She sees them as symbolic of the soul's readiness to journey or stand in its truth.
* Shoes are part of our psychological protection.
* When we’re barefoot, we may be raw, tender, or on holy ground.
* When we wear someone else’s shoes (too big, too small), we walk a path that doesn’t belong to us.
🦢 Roast GooseEarthly nourishment, celebration, warmth.
🎄 Christmas TreeSpiritual illumination, divine presence, joy; fleeting glimpses of heaven.
🏚 Corner Between Two HousesLiminal space—between safety and exposure, between the seen and unseen, between life and death.
🕛 New Year’s EveThreshold time—symbolic of endings, transitions, and the potential for rebirth or spiritual awakening.
🌹 A Closing Reflection
Notice what you notice—the archetypes and the symbols—because what is meant for you will speak to you.
The match girl: the tender self who still believes in something more.The grandmother, who coddles and fails to revivify the innocent spirit.The cold, the hunger, the longing… and the light.
This story invites you to pause and listen—to the knowing within who is striking matches, showing you visions of all that is meant for you.
Ask:
✨ What visions flicker in the dark, asking to be honoured?✨ What part of you needs to be warmed, nourished, seen?✨ What guiding presence—within or beyond—is ready to take your hand?✨ What decision, and what choice will see you rise from where you are?
You don’t need to force answers. Just sit with this story and let it speak to parts of you that are ready to receive and awaken with a new thought, a new word, and a new deed that will support you in continuing to evolve into the next evolution of who you are here to be.
And be ready if, as she did for me, The Little Match Girl and her message for you comes to you in your dreams.To explore this beautiful work in ever-expanding and deepening conversations, you are invited to subscribe to the Vault, and if you have any questions about how I can support you on your journey of becoming, please message me direct via email or direct messages on any social platform.
The Inner Sanctum - $88/month or $888/year - 8 resembles the infinity symbol (∞), representing endless cycles and the interconnectedness of life. In numerology, it signifies balance between the material and spiritual realms, as well as the flow of energy - to give is to receive.
With warmth and wisdom,Edwina🕯
