It doesn’t snow where I live, but lately the air has been growing crisper and the nights colder. Winter is approaching swiftly. Maybe it’s easy to romanticize the changing seasons when you live in a temperate climate, but I’ve always thought there is something special about feeling these shifts. Even without snow, it gives you a sense of connection to nature’s rhythms.
Snow has a magical quality in the way it transforms the landscape, and it carries a long list of associations, even for someone like myself who has never lived in a snowy place. Over time, people have created rituals, traditions, and myths surrounding snow and what it brings.
Even in medieval Germany and Austria, people built early versions of the snowman. These figures were known as “snow husbands” or “snow mothers,” and they were tied to fertility predictions or hopes for strength and abundance in the coming spring.
In Scandinavian Yule traditions, crushed ice or snow was scattered at entryways as a form of purification before the return of the sun. The whiteness of the snow was connected to divine cleansing, a way to welcome back the growing light.
Throughout Europe, families carried small bowls of snow indoors around the new year. Letting it melt inside the house was believed to refresh stagnant energy. The melted snow was then used to water houseplants or livestock, allowing winter’s cold to nourish the living in a symbolic gesture toward renewal.
In the Nordic region, freshly fallen snow was sometimes gathered for protective charms. It was thought to guard against misfortune or envy, especially when sprinkled across thresholds or used to wash hands before important work.
Folklore across Germanic regions told that fairies, elves, or household sprites left faint footprints in the snow that were visible only at dawn. Discovering these delicate tracks was considered a sign of good luck or a sign that helpful spirits were nearby.
One tradition that has endured across cultures is tasting the first snow of the season. Children in the United States still catch snowflakes on their tongues for luck, and in medieval England it was believed to “sharpen the wits.” The key is that the snow must be caught directly as it falls because the blessing only works if it comes straight from the sky.
Across cultures and across centuries, snow has been seen as a charm, a seasonal rite, and even a boundary between worlds. These beliefs remind us how deeply we look for meaning in the natural world, and how something as simple as falling snow can carry a sense of wonder.