The power of winter is the power of emphasis: it emphasizes the essence of life. Without the external ornamentation of leaves, flowers, and fruits of the growing season, the plant is just bare essence: a seed, with its potential deep inside, or a tree stripped to its core of trunk, branches, and roots. For us, winter is a time of self-recollection, when we can go inside to that place where we are unadorned essence. Water, the element that corresponds to winter, points us to that dark, quiet pool within ourselves where our essential self-identity resides. We can use the energy of this season to more deeply discover the essence of our self.
Great article by Neil Gumenick about the Winter Season.