How 2 Hoodoo: Workings for the Winter Solstice
SOLSTICE DATE: DECEMBER 21, 2023
(southern hemisphere winter solstice is on June 20, 2024).
As we know, the Solstice (aka Yule) days are the ~3 days every year that mark the beginning of winter for folks in the Northern hemisphere (usually Dec 20-22). The path of the sun is the shortest on the solstice, meaning the longest nights and shortest days are here.
As a practitioner of the nature tradition of Hoodoo in this part of the world, your healing needs darkness and dormancy to thrive right now. Hibernation. Stillness. The good and rightful death of things is NECESSARY (not an afterthought).
It may help to imagine that the land you’re on is on her period or in postpartum. Rest, rejuvenation, and energy preservation is a top priority. We are nurturing and growing our internal light within a container of safety & darkness. That way, we have ample light to share during the Summer solstice. We celebrate the eventual return of solar light from this day forward.
NO/LOW COST WINTER SOLSTICE RITUALS TO CONSIDER
🏔DEATH WORK TO LET THINGS GO:
What needs to die right now? What literally can’t you bare to carry into 2024? What fat or filler in your life can be cut? What load (emotional or otherwise) or burden has become too much and needs to be chopped? What straws done broke the camels back?
Find a decaying or dead leaf outside (or DRY bay leaf) and write the load you commit to removing on there. Set it on fire safely and watch it burn into flames and ash. Don’t worry about building or picking up new loads, habits, or intentions right now. Simply watch it burn and feel the lightness. Use as many leaves as necessary. Blow the remains into the dirt to be composted.
This can also be done on paper but the HOODOO of using unprocessed dead materials to represent dead things will not only be more effective, but is more caring of the earth. If you know the spirituo-pharmacology of the leaf you are burning, you can keep the ash for use in future works.
This can be matched with a SHORT TERM fast (abstinence of certain foods or drinks or activities for spiritual purposes).
I also advise you to spiritually cleanse to assist the process of letting things go. If you need more support on how to spiritually cleanse using breath, movement, visualization, herbs and more, take my Spiritual Cleansing 101 Course, available for instant viewing HERE:
https://thesankofaschool.thinkific.com/courses/spiritual-cleansing-101
🏔Ancestral intimacy:
The same way many of us gather as a family for the holiday season, those of us who practice Hoodoo never neglect inviting our Ancestral family to the celebrations. Build intimacy with your Ancestral family by feasting them on these days. On December 20th, start with pouring a libation of cool fresh water (if you need help, here’s a starter prayer). On December 21st, feast your Ancestors with a meal of hearty food and a liquor libation. On December 22nd, offer them a plate of sweet foods and the smoke of a sweet cigar. Commit to making this a more frequent practice. Do these things in good faith, and watch the Ancestral community respond in reciprocity to you.
🏔NURTURING YOUR INNER FIRE:
If you have a fireplace or a fire pit, now would be a good time to use it! Light that wood in the belly of the pit or hearth, and notice the symbol of fire (which is usually chaotic), now being guarded in a safe container.
Infuse that symbol to your body --meaning use your breath and visualization to create a heat/fire deep in your own belly, and imagine it being protected by you, your living family, your Ancestors, your Spirit guides, your Head Deities, and the Creator.
This can also be done in front of a candle or 3. Keep gentle and soft with yourself; yes, you’re doing it right. Don’t trip.
Drink something warm and nourishing to assist this process.
🏔WATCH SUNRISE + STARGAZE
Make an effort to watch the sunrise for the next 3, 5, 7, or 9 days, and just drink it in. Look at the colors, the light, feel the temperature change, and just be present with it. That’s it.
If you’re a night person, do the opposite; watch the sun fall and look up at the stars. Look at the colors, the light, feel the temperature change, and just be present with it. That’s it.
All of these works can be paired with prayer (especially), healthy use of psychedelic medicine, and spiritual bathing for maximum benefit.
The AfroMystic