Winter
Under the influence of gabriel, archangel of yesod
December 21st 2014
On 21 December, the winter solstice occurs. This event is placed under the influence of Gabriel, the archangel of Yesod, the sephirah of the Moon. Gabriel means ‘God is my strength.’ A few days later, on 25 December, we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ.
The archangel Gabriel commands the forces whose role is to condense matter, which is why symbolically he presides over childbirth. For what is a birth? It is the passage from the invisible to the visible, from the ethereal to the physical. And the Moon, the feminine principle par excellence, has an essential role to play in all forms of incarnation, on the physical plane as well as on the spiritual plane.
During winter, when the nights are longest and the life of nature slows down, conditions are less favourable for outward manifestation and more favourable for turning inward. People are naturally drawn then to go within, to prepare for the birth of the child of light, who in certain traditions is symbolized by a pearl. Pearls come from the sea and, like the sea, are connected to the moon. On the sephirotic Tree, the pearl oyster is Yesod, the region in the cosmic body which relates to the genital organs. That is where the pearl must develop. This pearl represents the purest quintessence of love. The pearl oyster is the feminine principle, which brings a pearl, the divine child, into the world.