I was thinking in the middle of the night when all three of our fur kids, Cleo, Star, and Merlin, woke me up for cuddles that you might enjoy knowing how I celebrate the Winter Solstice and Yule. If you would like to use an idea from here, please do.

I’ll start with the Solstice because it’s a little more in depth than our Yule celebration. About 2 minutes before sunset, I light a black 4-inch candle to bid the Holly King a restful slumber and thank him for what he has helped me during this wheel of the year. I place a small black or dark blue piece of material over his statue to symbolize his passing. I mourn with the Triple Goddess for the lost of this consort I meditate and let my mind wander to all I want to let go of and speak it to the candle to burn it away. I sit until the candle has burned down to a small stub usually about 1/2-inch is left I snuff it out so as not to release the negative energy it holds into our home or the universe. I take the small stub of the candle and in the moonlight, I bury it on the west side of our yard as far away from our home as possible with all the negative things I ask Mother Earth it to take all negativity I may still unknowingly be harboring from me for her to renew and reuse however she sees fit to do with the energy.

Then I completely clear my altar and use the small broom I have to sweep away to the west all the negative energy that might have been left after doing spell and ritual since Samhain. I sweep off all the items that had been on my altar also so everything is clean and shiny to welcome the Oak King.

I then set up my altar to welcome the rebirth of the Oak King and to rejoice his rebirth with his mother /consort the Triple Goddess. Now I only have one statue to represent the Holly and the Oak King. When I place this statue back on my altar, I place a white piece of material around it like a swaddled baby to represent the Oak Kings rebirth. About 1 minute before the exact time the Winter Solstice “officially” begins I light a 4-inch white candle to help the birthing of the Oak King and for RA to honor him for bring the Sun back for longer days. After welcoming the Oak King and thanking RA I meditate on the candle speaking to it the goals I have set for myself for the coming calendar year. Once it has burnt down to about a 1/2-inch I blow it out to release my goals to the universe with a chant to please help me achieve them. I bury this on the east side of our yard close to our home in the morning as the first rays of sunlight are showing in the sky. I ask Mother earth to hold my goals so I can revisit the spot I have bury the candle stub in when I feel I may not achieve them.

This year my main goal is to write a short story on Esbats, New Moon one or two but one for every Full Moon, and each Sabbat as the wheel of the year turns. My second goal is to quit smoking cigarettes, eat less red meat and other things high in the bad fats as my cholesterol level is so high, I am on 2 different medications for it and am in very real danger of having a stroke. Will I completely achieve these goals? I’m not sure but if I just break them down into pieces to do each month there is an excellent chance that I will completely achieve my goals for 2024. I actually start the short stories with Yule as I follow the Celtic Tree calendar and tradition that the new year starts on Samhain.

Now for our Yule celebration I fix a nice meal, or we may even go to a favorite restaurant for supper. We come home light our Yule/Christmas tree exchange gifts, riminess about the preceding year which had many real high ups, our legal marriage, the birth of my 10th grandchild and a few very low downs, putting our beloved Dreamer into eternal sleep. Then I get into my favorite pair of pjs, curl about with which ever fur kids want to join me to watch Its a Wonderful Life. Then the fur kids and I will watch The Nightmare Before Christmas which always makes me laugh. Big Dawg goes in the other room and does whatever on his laptop while I binge on movies until it is time to celebrate the rebirth of the Oak King. This may sound pretty simplistic, but it works for us. Big Dawg and most of my children with their families celebrate Christmas. Along with a daughter-in-law who celebrates Hanukkah with my son, who is Christian, and their two boys, this is another home in my family that celebrates 2 different holidays in December and a couple of other times during the year. What this means for me is a lot of family stuff in one month, but I enjoy the diversity of spiritual paths in my family.

Now that this post has gone from a simple few lines to as a friend referred to an email he sent as his “War and Peace” that’s fits this post…ROFL! Thank you Owen Firewolf for this fantastic way to describe long posts!!