The holiday season offers dishes that warm the body and comfort the soul. At the Winter Solstice the focus is on rich, hearty, and nurturing. The season celebrates displays and masterful cooking through roasted dishes, slow cooked stews, bright salads with pops of fruity flavor, and sweets that double as delicious gifts. Seasonal fruits and vegetables include beets, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Citrus Fruits, Cranberries, dates, escarole, fennel, horseradish, kale, parsnips, pears, persimmons, pomegranate, radishes, sweet potatoes, and winter squash.
At this time of the year I like to honor the traditions and the foods that my family cooked. I love the nostalgic feeling of creating recipes that my parents had at Christmastime, so you may find recipes inspired by that. Do you have a dish that reminds you of the winter season and December holidays? Is there something you traditionally make for your Yule or Winter Solstice celebrations that I didn’t put on this list? Please let me know and I will add it!
Main Courses
The main courses of the winter holidays are warm and inviting for a full table of friends and family. Common main courses are rich, filling, and lavish – classic main courses include roasted or baked bird, hearty beef dishes, pot roasts, and meat pies.
There is nothing like a rich and hearty soup to warm you up during the winter season. Soups that kick up their spice game are a great feature at the Winter Solstice.
There are many traditional breads baked at this time of year all around the world – some favorites are featured in this list below, along with flavors perfect for the holidays.
Sweets flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, or peppermint work out perfectly for Yule. Other classic sweet treats for Yule include traditional holiday cookies like shortbread, snowball, caraway, or ginger snaps. Pears and oranges are also a nice touch to a dessert at Yule.
Nothing says “Happy Holidays” quite like a warm and rich drink curled up in front of the fire. Yule and the Winter Solstice feature beverages that warm the soul and bring cheer to hearts.
I love it when the seasons change. Each shift of warmer to cooler months feels like a fresh start, and the seasonal magic is really where it’s at. In the summer I like to focus on cleansing, doing things outside and lots of gatherings. But in the winter things change to a more personal perspective and I want to work on inner growth and spending time with myself.
I’ve put together a list to give witches some ideas on what they can do this winter. Feel free to add to it in the comments and write your own take on things. Happy winter witches!
1 Winter spell jar - Sometimes I like to create a fresh spell jar for the season. I view this jar as me, my psychic energy, and I place it in things I want to cultivate during the season. Maybe it’s an image of the High Prestress from tarot, because I want to learn to connect more to my higher self. Or maybe it’s a rose quartz because I need to work on self-love. Place it in whatever feels right for you and leave it out to remind yourself of where you’re going this season.
2 Melt away the stress snow spell - Collect snow from outside and bring it in. Pace it in the center of a circle of white candles. Say your intention over the snow and let it melt away whatever you were stressing over. Modify this spell in any way you want as a release spell.
3 Collect snow for other spells - Snow melts. But you can use it otherwise in place of water during the winter. You can use it to cleanse crystals or wash ritual items. If you’re feeling very witchy you can collect snow from graveyards. Just be mindful of ‘who’ you’re collecting the snow from if it’s from the tops of graves.
4 Cinnamon ornaments - Make cinnamon ornaments with cookie cutters, glue and powdered cinnamon. Mix together and make a dough, cut out with cookie cutters and tie up with string. Not only does cinnamon smell good, it brings in prosperity energy.
5 Winter wish fire spell - If you have a fire going, use it to write a wish on a bay leaf and toss it in the fire.
6 Winter graveyard walk - Nothing is prettier than an old graveyard covered in snow. Walk around and take it in. Leave pennies as offerings to anything guarding the cemetery.
7 Winter offering - Don’t forget your ancestors this winter. Leave them out their favorite holiday treats, drinks, or light candles in memory of them.
8 Yule ornaments - Collect pine cones, sticks, or berries from outside and make yule ornaments to hang on your Christmas tree.
9 Pine cone candle holders - Pine cones also make great candle holders. Cut them in half and hollow out a space for a candle on the inside. Perfect if you want to add a little winter decor to your magical working space.
10 Charm your soup for a winter healing spell - The winter blues is real, and this spell helps with feeling blah during the cold months. Make a soup (any soup, really) and say your intention over it. Mix your spoon clockwise and imagine a white light mixing into your soup, while you eat it imagine it going into your body and warming you up from the inside.
11 Herb jar candles - Evergreen is a nice winter herb to burn and looks great in candles. Make your own jar candles with melted wax and jars you might already have. Add evergreen herbs and even white quartz crystals to the tops of your candles.
12 Lavender sachets - If you’re having trouble sleeping, make a lavender sachet. Use purple felt and sew up three sides. Flip inside out and fill with lavender herb. Sew up the remaining side.
13 Bird feeders - Love making these during the winter. Only because I feel like birds need a break too and there’s less food for them during the winter months. Take a toilet paper roll and smear peanut butter on them, then roll them in bird seed. (Kind of preschool project, I know.) Hang them outside on your trees.
14 Read read read! - Since most people are spending more time inside during the winter, it’s the perfect time to catch up on any witchy reading. Try your local library and see what they have on witch books, cook books and more.
15 Orange slices - Make orange slices for citrus cleansing baths by slicing fresh oranges very thin and baking them on low 175 degrees for 3-4 hours or until they are dry. String them along for a garland for another variety.
16 Winter blessing - Do a winter blessing spell for you and your loved ones.
17 Baked breads and cakes - Lavender bread is my favorite but make sure you purchase edible lavender herb first. Try cinnamon cakes or anise for a winter theme. Look up the meanings of the herbal properties before adding them into your dough.
18 Tea leaf reading - The colder months are a great time to brush up on your tea-leaf reading. You’ll need loose tea leaves and a keen eye to pick out the shapes in the cup.
19 Tarot meditation - Brush up on your tarot by doing tarot meditations. Choose a tarot card that you would like to connect with more closely. Light a candle and place the card in front of you. Close your eyes and meditate with the card taking in any messages, feelings or visuals you receive.
20 Write your grimoire - Get creative and start your own grimoire with your favorite spells and rituals.
️ Create freezed potions: set some herbs and spices in an ice tray, and add them to your water or natural juice.
☃️ Take care of a moss terrarium or an ivy. You can put some chrystals on the soil as “decoration”
️ Go for a walk outside. Feel the cold temperature in your face and let it “clean” yourself. Be properly wrapped so you don’t get a bad cold! Watch the changes in your environment. Are the leaves gone? Is it snowing? Is it something different?
❄️ Learn something new. As the weather is getting worse, get cozy at home and use your phone/tablet/computer to know about anything: mythology, correspondences, simple spells…
☃️ Draw a sigil in your morning tea/coffee before taking it to prevent colds.
️ Meditate for 10 minutes everyday before sleep.
️ Buy a generous amount of incense/candles and say it was a secret-santa gift.
❄️ i wrote a little book on winter witchcraft!! ❄️
the mistletoe moon is a small-press book featuring medieval pagan wisdom + recipes, ancient winter crafts, witches’ holiday traditions, snow magick, and more - each page is full of ink illustrations to put you in the spirit for some yuletide spellcasting!
a few of the contents you might find inside: a medieval gingerbread recipe, a spell for winter cheer, a snow + rose beauty spell, a brigid’s cross craft tutorial, a winter ritual for renewal + rebirth, the symbolism of yule + imbolc, and festive green witchcraft pages with info for your grimoire… all that and more, across 28 pages total!
an excellent gift to yourself for some festive witchy self-care, or a yule present for witches young and old, new and experienced. there’s a little something for everyone in this book, and it’s sure to make you feel inspired, festive, and empowered.
Witch Type/s: Astronomancer, Hedge Witch Familiar: Snowy Owl Primal Forces: Winter, The Celestial Bodies, The Veil Crystals: Moonstone, Citrine, Jet, Garnet Artifact- The Garnet Arm: Can reach beyond the Veil Between and pull things through into the physical world.
This witch studies the stars and times her magical workings according to their alignments and positions, gaining power and insight into possible future events. When they alighn just right and when the days are short, she can even reach and see Beyond, through the veil and into the spirit world.
Seasons Greetings, My Friends! I am happy to say that the time of the Winter Solstice is almost upon us. December 21st will be the longest night (or shortest day, depending on your outlook) of the year. Winter is officially here, and though there is still darkness, the wheel will continue to turn and daylight will return.
Yule is one of the most widely celebrated of the wiccan/pagan holidays. It is a time to spend with family, spreading love and appertaining friendships. Peace, joy, positivity, warmth, happiness, love. Celebrate this holiday by creating a feast, burning the Yule log, and preparing to dive into the new year with spells and charms to bring motivation, hope, and positivity. And, of course, we can’t forget to exchange presents to our loved ones and leave a special offering to the Lady and Lord!
Take a look at the following Yule activities and crafts:
Yule Log –
Traditionally an oak or birch was harvested for the purpose of a Yule log. One could drill small holes to fit tapers or votive candles, and burn the Yule log in the fireplace. It sits on the altar, decorated, until Yule Eve at sundown. It is lit, and the fire is kept until sunrise, to represent the sun.
Of course, this may not be possible for all people, but there are many alternatives. Such as burning a candle throughout the night. It is tradition to keep a small piece of the Yule log to ignite next years log, or the stub of your candle to ignite next years candle. (witch tip – for those that use a candle as opposed to a log…you can still find and decorate a log. Just place it on display and you can use it year after year!)
Written Wishes –
Similar to a New Years Resolution, people like to write their goals, wishes, or dreams to burn during Yule. I had once read of a tradition in which people would leave out pens and papers during their Yule celebration. Guests could freely write a wish, fold the paper, and hang it on the Yule Tree. Later on in the night, during the ritual burning of the Yule Log, people would collect their wish from the tree and toss it into the Yule fire, sending their wishes and dreams up to the divine.
Bake –
Who doesn’t love holiday cookies, winter spice, and buttered rum. The kitchen is the best part of any winter celebration! Here are some links from around the web for you to try:
