A gate is usually a building but we could also imagine many other forms of gates. Gates to the Otherworld might exist on another plane. The idea of a wormhole as portrayed in science fiction seems also to be a gate, which allows you to reach a distant planet or galaxy without loosing time and which presents more a concept rather than a literal gate. Gates exist between different countries or between different dimensions. Sometimes a gate is made for protection. In many stories a gate only opens when the hero passes the test.
We are walking through many gates in our lives. Perhaps a gate can also be a certain moment in time. Winter Solstice in some sense is a form of a gate itself. Every year again we enter this gate, and it’s the darkest time of the year. We don’t see much, and things are lurking in the dark…
The time between the winter solstice and New Year’s Eve is a time of transition. A lot of people believe that the veil between our world and the Otherworld becomes thin for some time. It’s often a time when old fears come up and we become intimidated.
In some stories there are dragons and other dangers waiting in the dark before the hero reaches the gate. In a metaphorical sense this applies also to many other circumstances. We need to pass through the gate if we want to see the light again. We hope for a safe journey, but if we see winter solstice symbolically as a gate, which opens up to a new beginning, this gate is a dark gate. It challenges us and it does test us in many ways before we see the light again. The gate of darkness might lead you also into your own darker side if you are not aware. If the veil between our world and the other world becomes thin not only well-meaning entities but also darker forces can open this gate from the other side and will have a stronger influence upon us. Many old rituals teach us that if we want to keep the darker forces away we need to become for some time a demon ourselves and even to dance with the demons. The biggest danger is always to neglect their existence. Maybe the dark gates, which exist in various forms, are supposed to check our weaknesses before we’re allowed to see the light again.
