Winter Solstice Wishes

WINTER SOLSTICE

As the longest night wraps its quiet frosty velvet cloak around us, we find time to reflect and gather ourselves for the returning of the light. ...

Marking the shortest night, and the returning of the light. I don’t know about you, but I find there is a strange seasonal comfort that comes with knowing this. As the lead up to yule/winter solstice always puts me a little on edge, almost like a panic sets in at seeing less light. We are flowers after all..

How can you as a modern mystic celebrate this turn on the wheel with reverence and meaning to your own practise?

The Winter Solstice is a potent time for casting wishes, marking the birth of a new cycle of abundance and renewal.

This guide beautifully blends a pagan Germanic and Austrian roots of the Rauhnächte (the "Smoke Nights") with modern manifestation practices. Historically, families smoke-cleansed their homes of negative spirits during the 12 nights representing each month of the year. Modern witchcraft has adapted this timeline into an active manifestation practice, making a wish for 12 nights, burning one every night from winter solstice onwards.

The core magic relies on cleansing away the old while simultaneously inviting in the new. There is no single "right" or "wrong" way to practice something like this. Do what feels good. When crafting your intentions, aim for realistic goals and remember to include wishes for loved ones or the collective. there is immense power in community magic. For the greater good and harm to none.

Here are the step-by-step guides for both rituals, adapted for modern practice.

WINTER SOLSTICE CLEANSING RITUAL 

• Inside the home, herbal smoke rituals are performed with mugwort, sage, cedar, pine and frankincense burned on charcoal.The smoke is carried from the hearth into every corner of the home, then outward into the land and outbuildings blessing, purifying, and sealing protection into the space like a woven spell against winter’s darkness.
• You can use a fire proof dish and burn the above or burn the Yule Incense I made for you and walk it through your home.

recite the blessings below:

“May everything that is dark, everything that no longer serves us, leave this space and disappear from our home. We invite in love and blessings. May this home be filled with lightness, joy, love, peace, and renewal.”

THE 13 SOLSTICE WISHES 

As modern witches, a lot of us have adapted traditions like this and put our own spin on it.

We are burning the same herbs at winter solstice and committed to purification and protection rituals with the same value: to hit that reset button. Because that is what the season of Winter holds deep at it’s core. The earth pauses and so do we for a brief time. So that we can ‘come back to life’. Just like nature does.

• Step 1: Write — On Solstice night, write 13 specific wishes on separate, identical small slips of paper.

• Step 2: Fold — Fold each piece tightly so you cannot see the ink, and place them into a jar, pouch, or bowl.

• Step 3: Smoke Cleanse — Each night, burn a bundle of winter herbs or incense to cleanse your home of stagnant energy and old arguments. Use our Yule incense if you have it.

• Step 4: Burn — In that freshly purified space, pull one random slip without looking and burn it safely to release your intention to the universe.

• Step 5: Act — On the final night, open the 13th remaining slip. The universe handles the first 12; this last one is your personal responsibility to work towards.

Tell us below what winter solstice traditions you practise or what rituals you have created for yourself that help you to celebrate this time of year.

Did your wishes come true?

BLESSED SOLSTICE