5 Little Ways to Work Magic This Yuletide

Call in some Winter Solstice magic this season with one of these simple and delightful Yule ideas.

Often simple rituals are the best rituals. Here are some simple and elegant Yule ideas that will help you bring warmth and joy to your heart this Winter Solstice season while celebrating the return of the light.

1. Bless Your Home with a Cinnamon Broom

Cinnamon is a solar-aligned scent that brings warmth and sweetness to the heart, promotes prosperity, and enhances spiritual alignment. All of these qualities make cinnamon an absolutely perfect scent for Yule! While you can purchase an affordable and attractive natural cinnamon broom at Trader Joe’s (if you have one in your area), you can also create your own by adding a few drops of cinnamon essential oil to any cute whisk broom.

Hold your cinnamon broom in both hands and call in the energy of the sun by envisioning blinding, golden-white light filling it and radiating out from it. Then move in a clockwise direction through each room and area of your home while waving the broom around as if you are sweeping the energy and sprinkling blessings everywhere you go. Then find a good place to display your cinnamon broom for the remainder of the season.

2. Drink a (Magical) Hot Toddy

I’ve heard a lot about this cocktail over the years, but I never realized just how cozy and comforting it actually is until I finally tried it a few weeks ago. Here’s how to make yourself a delicious hot toddy this Winter Solstice, and how to infuse it with the magical energies of happiness, comfort, and (of course) warmth.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• hot water
• 3 tablespoons spiced rum (I’ve been using this one)
• 1 round organic orange slice (be sure to wash the orange first)

Place the lemon juice, honey, and vinegar in a smallish mug. Add hot water until your mug is about 3/4 full, and stir until the honey is dissolved. Add the rum and float the orange slice on top. Before you drink it, hold the mug in both hands and conjure up a feeling of expansive joy. Imagine the bright sun shining over your head, and inwardly see it pouring its rays into the drink. Smile, feel gratitude for all your many blessings, and enjoy. As you drink, feel that you are internalizing the bright positivity of the sun.

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3. Soak in a Yule Blessing Bath

Cleanse your aura, raise your vibration, and uplift your spirit this Yuletide with this magical blessing bath.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup epsom salt
• 1/2 cup sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
• 1-2 drops frankincense essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Light one or more white or green candles in your bathroom and dissolve the salts in a warm bath. Soak, and feel your worries dissolve away and your spirit begin to soar as you happily anticipate the beautiful blessings that await you this Winter Solstice season and in the New Year.

4. Wash Your Front Door and Sweep Your Doorstep

Like all sabbats, Yule is a portal: a sacred moment when we step from one energy into another, and when we are empowered to let go of the old and welcome in the new. That’s why it’s a powerful symbolic ritual to physically and energetically cleanse your entry. After all, your front door is always a point of power: it’s the point where the energy of the world at large becomes the unique energy that swirls around and defines your personal realm; and by extension, your life experience.

So this Yule season, it’s a good idea to sweep your doorstep after giving your doormat a good shake. Add a few drops of pine needle essential oil to a bucket of warm water, and use a clean rag to give your front door a good wash. As you do so, imagine that you are clearing away any heavy energy left over from the previous year and clearing the way for beautiful new blessings to flow into your life.

A few practical considerations: you might want to start with the inside of the door and then move to the outside, because the outside is likely to be much dirtier. Also, be very careful if you have sensitive skin! For example, wear gloves or dispense with the essential oil altogether.

5. Do a Silent Yule Spell

Finally, on Winter Solstice itself, you may like to do a silent spell. This is a simple yet profound way to honor the darkest and coldest moment on the Wheel of the Year while also welcoming the rebirth of the light. If it’s possible to do so, bundle up appropriately and go outside, either before the sun has risen or after the sun has set. Light a white candle next to a glass or a chalice of ale or wine, and sit silently before these two items. Quietly be, as you reverently open up to the vastness of the sky and the unique magic of this sacred time. Consider both the yin and the yang: night and the day, moon and the sun, earth and cosmos, the Goddess and the God. And marvel at all of it. Silently give thanks for it, and acknowledge your place within this dance of duality, as well as its constant presence within you. Stay with this for as long as it feels right, and then recognize that you’ve awakened a spark of magic within you. Give silent thanks once again, and then pour out the wine or ale upon the earth as a libation of gratitude to All That Is.

Brightest blessings to you and yours this Yuletide season!

You may also like:

 Winter Solstice Affirmations (Guided Meditation Video)

How to Celebrate Yule: Rituals, Traditions, and More

Honoring the Darkness at Yule (Video)

Do you have a favorite Yuletide tradition? Or do you plan to try one of these ideas? Please share in the comments below.

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