Happy Yule! 🔮
Happy Yule*, witches!
Even though I’m not personally a Wiccan witch, I’ve always really connected to the mythology of the Wheel of the Year — and pivotal within this narrative is the Winter Solstice, aka the shortest day of the year and the official beginning of winter. According to the Wiccan Story, the seasonal shifts can be closely linked to the evolving relationship between the Goddess in her three aspects (maiden, mother & crone) and her masculine consort, the Sun God; every Beltane, we celebrate romance and sensuality as the goddess in her maiden aspect unites with her consort, and by Samhain/Halloween, the Goddess is pregnant while her male counterpart (the Sun God) is slowly dying, decreasing in strength as the days become colder and shorter. The days leading up to the Solstice are somber and reflective; primal feelings of survival and vulnerability emerge as the weather becomes brisk and the elements intensify (and this is certainly the case where I live in Upstate NY, where the winters are quite brutal and certainly humbling.) At Sunset on the Winter Solstice, witches of that hemisphere grieve and mourn in solidarity along with the Goddess as we remember that death is the most certain and unknowable part of life. As we grieve the Sun God’s annual demise, we’re also grieving whatever (or whoever) we’ve lost within the past year — the people, relationships, opportunities and intentions which, for one reason or another, did not come to pass (or did, but then served their purpose or made their way out of our lives.) It’s a solemn, heartfelt moment, but one which is quickly accompanied by celebration and festivity as the very moment after the sun sets, the Goddess goes into labor, an event which will last the entire evening until she finally gives birth to the newborn sun at sunrise the following morning, guaranteeing another year of life on Earth (which we experience as gradually warmer, longer days.) The symbolism of the day is poignant and emotional but perhaps above all, it’s celebratory: with the Solstice, nature reminds us that despite the inevitability of death, new life will always prevail (or in the words of Dr. Malcolm from Jurassic Park, life finds a way to triumph and persist — even where the conditions are challenging or adversarial.) Many witches stay up all night on the evening of the Solstice, anxiously awaiting the Goddess to give birth at sunrise, and while you don’t need to celebrate any of the December holidays to find comfort and peace within this narrative or connect to it’s symbolism on this most magickal night of the year, below are a few mini spell ideas to keep you busy this evening should you choose to catch the rising of the Newborn Sun (and yes, if this sounds strangely familiar, the Christian myth absolutely has it’s roots in this more ancient archetypal story.)
🙏Bake a warming pumpkin pie. IMO, kitchen witchery and food as ritual become more significant practices in the colder months as nesting instincts kick in, our desire to connect to our ancestors both living and deceased becomes stronger and filling the home with warming smells of cinnamon and clove is especially welcomed. You can bake anything warming and delicious today and infuse it with the intentions you’d like to set for the new year (bonus points if it’s a handed-down recipe which connects you to your personal heritage or family line!), but since I’m having dinner out with my man tonight in celebration, here’s a super easy and delicious pumpkin pie recipe, along with my recipe for a delicious caramel sauce to drizzle on top (to magnetize the intentions and sweeten the results.)
For the pie, you’ll need:
🔮2 large cage-free eggs
🔮3/4 cups of granulated sugar (for manifestation and magnetism)
🔮A pinch of salt, for cleansing and purification
🔮A generous sprinkle of cinnamon for vitality, prosperity, abundance and health
🔮A pinch of clove, for warmth and root chakra balancing
🔮A pinch of nutmeg for good luck (can sub ginger)
🔮1 15 oz. can of pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, which is already seasoned)
🔮1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
🔮Store-brought crust (if you have the time and a recipe you like, you can certainly make your own! I personally am a witch about the short-cuts and happen to love a good store-bought crust.)
🔮A 9” pie plate (I use one from my maternal Grandmother, adding some ancestral magick to this recipe!)
Simply whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl to create the filling, adding them intentionally and taking this time to infuse the mixture with any specific intentions you have for the year ahead. Place the pie crust on the baking sheet, carefully crimping the edges, and then add the filling. Bake for 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 40-50 minutes, checking on the pie continuously. Allow to cool for an hour or two and then refrigerate. Serve chilled with French Vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon (or a drizzle of caramel sauce!)
For the Caramel Sauce: You’ll need 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of water*, a teaspoon of baking vanilla, 6 tablespoons of butter, a pinch of salt.
Add the water and sugar to a pan over medium heat, spreading the sugar-water into as even of a layer as possible. For the first few minutes, you’re essentially creating a simple syrup: allow the sugar to dissolve undisturbed until the water turns clear and starts to bubble. Watch closely as the liquid begins to darken, turning a honey-amber color (which may take up to 12 minutes but make sure to stay near your pot — this caramel sauce can quickly burn.) During this time, contemplate how quickly this alchemical process was able to take place. We often forget that cooking is a form of alchemy — with just a splash of water and a little heat, the sugar in this recipe completely transforms in appearance, flavor and texture. Meditate on how you’d like to transform and transition in the coming year as you gaze meditatively into the bubbling liquid and steam, and contemplate how you can enlist the assistance of the elements to support you in this process. Avoid stirring or touching your sauce at all during this process, which can cause the sugar to crystallize and form clumps rather than preserving a smooth, rich texture. Once the sauce has darkened, carefully and slowly add the butter and whisk in completely. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream. Finally, add the vanilla and salt and allow to cool for ten minutes; serve warm or cold and store in the fridge (the sauce may look thin at first, but it will thicken as it cools and will likely need to be warmed slightly for serving.)
*You can infuse your baking water with the energy of a particular crystal to give the caramel sauce a specific energy, or to align it to a particular intention. If you do this, I’d recommend using spring or distilled water rather than tap which tends to contain other minerals which can energetically interfere. Also, always make sure a crystal isn’t toxic before making crystal water using the direct method (as a rule, quartzes and calcites are fine.)
🌸Conduct a simple burning ritual. As the most yin night of the year, the Winter Solstice is a powerful time for wish-making and releasing work. Make yourself a warm beverage, wear your cutest pair of jammies and grab some paper and a pen along with a fire-retardant container (if you have a cauldron, this is ideal) and write down a few things you’d like to leave behind in the old Solar year. This can be anything from people, habits, relationships or even old beliefs or self-imposed limitations (and because this Yule falls on a Dark Moon, it holds extra potential for releasing work.) One-by-one, tear off these words or statements and burn them in the cauldron (of course being careful!) and as the smoke dissipates, imagine the fire spirits carrying those old ways of being up and away, returning them to Source who will convert these phrases and ideas into neutral, reusable energy. Then, do the same thing but this time writing down your intentions for the new year — aspects of yourself you’d like to emphasize or channel, energies, people or opportunities you’d like to call in, or even experiences or outcomes you would like to manifest. As you light them and allow the smoke to carry them away, imagine these intentions being delivered to the Goddess herself and birthed into fruition along with the Newborn sun. Once finished, cast the ashes into running water (and if you don’t happen to live near a magickal river or stream, flushing them down the toilet works just fine.)
✨Bless all your gifts. If you celebrate any of the December holidays, gifting is pretty much part of the deal. Most households do their gift exchanging on the 24th or 25th, so if you choose not to exchange on Yule, this is an awesome opportunity to bless and consecrate your gifts before handing them off to their recipient. It’s important to remember that a good gift is more than just a thing the recipient will like or use; yes it should add to their life, enrich their daily practices or solve a problem they currently have or fill a void they face routinely, but more important is that the gift serves as a symbol or carries a distinct message (it might, for example, convey the message of I listen to you, I see you, or even I accept you and the ways in which we’re different.) As you hold each gift (whether it’s been wrapped or not) contemplate the intention that’s really behind your selection of this item. It might be fairly clear-cut — if, for example, you got massage oil and a candle for your mom, the obvious implied intention there is that she carve out some time for needed self-care — but other gives may require a little more thought. Begin this simple ritual with however you open a sacred space — for some witches, this might entail a quick sage smudge or the burning of incense, while for others it may involve some tingsha or the playing of a singing bowl — and as you go through each gift one-by-one, clarifying your intentions for the recipient and what you hope the gift will come to symbolize for/support them with, envision the gift being surrounded by a bright light (either white, or another color of your choice which may resonate more.) When finished, place the gifts beneath the Yule tree and prepare to delight your recipients!
*I wanted to get this email out before sunset today and had finished it in plenty of time but alas, the Substack website was completely down and unresponsive when I went to send it out this morning! I’m going to chalk it up to Mercury Retro shadow weirdness and remind you that modern Yule (while technically today) lasts through January — so please feel free to conduct these rituals well after your reception of this email!
From my home to yours, Merry Yule witches!
-Ali