North Country Blues

The neighbors to the north of us have taken down a string of trees along our fence; trees that grew big and blocked the view so that our yard was very private. Trees that overhung our kennel, giving weather protection to the two beasties we always keep. It feels naked now, and exposed to the northern sky as well as a whole row of second floor balconies. I can't fix this, can't substitute another barrier, as nothing I can think of is anywhere near reasonable. So, instead, I must get comfortable with the North, consider the benefits, look at the view.

Personally I identify with the North anyway: ancestors from northern Europe, hate the hot, love my Zone 3 location, and winter is my favorite season. Good, that is all good, and it means to me that instead of feeling exposed, I should open up to these northern skies and reap their wisdoms, ready or not. After all, I now have the Northern Star to guide me.

Here are a few things I found out about the symbolism of the northern cardinal direction over several cultures.

Native American
Illumination, Discovery, Logic, Understanding, Mental wisdom.
Science and knowledge accumulated through our life cycles is purified, and trickles from the tips of ice-capped mountains of wisdom. As these streams of knowing move to our awareness, we prepare for Intellectual illumination. In this mentally-focused quadrant, the greatest reaches of our comprehension roll back into us, causing avalanches of deductive reason. Intellectual knowing is processed and crystallized.

http://www.tokenrock.com/articles/cardinal-symbolism-taking-direction-from-native-american-wisdom-126.html

Cool. On the other hand:

Masonry
Symbolism of the Cardinal Points, North, South, East and West.
Mackey uses as an illustration of this the fact that the sun in its summer journey never passes north of 23° 28´, and that a wall built anywhere above that will have its northern side entirely in shadow even when the sun stands at his meridian. As this fact became known to early peoples it led them to look upon the North as the place of darkness. Accordingly, in all ancient mythologies, that portion of space was regarded with suspicion and even with terror. This prejudice was carried over into the Middle Ages, and traces of it, often dim and vague, survive to this day in popular customs. In his "Antiquities of Freemasonry," Fort writes that the "North by the Jutes was denominated black or sombre; the Frisians called it 'Fear corner.' The gallows faced North, and from these hyperborean shores beyond the North everything base and terrible proceeded." To the churchmen of mediæval times it carried a like sinister meaning.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/syma/syma16.htm

But, finally in my own preferred symbolic culture:

Celts
The Earth element, season of winter, time of midnight, the new moon, wisdom, stability.

http://www.buildingbeautifulsouls.com/symbols-meanings/cardinal-directions/

This is clearly a case of feeding the right wolf! I'll get right on that.