With her characteristic integrative and creative practices, Paintner, abbess of the online Abbey of the Arts, guides her readers to view darkness as a place where seeds of holiness begin to germinate. Each chapter of this book unfolds as an invitation to grow in understanding of holy darkness and also meditate, reflect, and create with these elements:

• Paintner’s reflections on various themes of loss and acceptance
• Insights on a scripture passage written by Paintner’s husband, John
• A guided meditation to bring the teachings into your heart
• Prompts for an expressive arts practice to process these insights through creativity
• Reflection questions to integrate what you have experienced
• Writing samples from people who have worked through this material in an online retreat

Autumn and winter are vital to the health of nature and to our own bodies. It is a time of releasing and letting go—a season that invites us to slow down, to welcome the growing darkness, and to grow stiller and quieter. Darkness can be an uncomfortable and uneasy place, but it is also a place of profound incubation and gestation, a source of tremendous and hard-wrought wisdom. With Paintner as our guide, we can encounter this midwinter God with vulnerable courage that leads us to hope-filled wholeness.