Winter Solstice - The ritual of home

Winter truths at my home: pine needles will be scattered across the floor. There will be a pile of fire wood on the floor, soot and ash on the hearth. Boots will live by the back door, just as hats and scarves will occupy all of the hooks in the hallway. The basket of blankets will be full. The tea kettle will rarely get cold. The outdoors will make its way inside, and I’d want nothing less. 

I see and experience my home as an alter. An ode to the season of life I am in. So when it comes to living in harmony with the seasons happening beyond the walls, I see no other way. Winter brings us home. It invites us into retreat, luxuriate, and soften. 

I find support by embracing these darker months through crafting and creating. Be it a cinnamon bead garland, (recipe below!), or a new hearty meal, my creativity is safe and boundless within the cozy walls of my home, contributing to the cocoon in which I return to myself. 

Ritual might be an intimidating word. What I offer here to you as ritual may already be acts of live and service you actually partake in regularly. The difference then is the pause you find on either side to simply acknowledge the gentleness you’ve created. 

 ~

Welcome Winter // Solstice Rituals

Burn - Light candles around your home, dimming your main lights in order to move through your motions at a slower pace. I also love to burn herbs and cedar that we bundled from fallen branches around our home. 

 Adorn - Dry out citrus rings, bring in branches, pinecones, flowers...there is no wrong way to adorn your space in a way that creates an authentic expression of coziness that the winter season emanates 

Feast - Gather ‘round your table with a hearty and warming meal. Bake with winter spices that fill your home. Share your abundance with your loved ones and neighbors

Craft - I love making this cinnamon dough in the wintertime as the scent persists for months and months. This is a versatile craft, where you can roll the dough out and shape with cookie cutters. I prefer to make round beads and string them onto a garland for our tree. Here is the fragment and wildly simple recipe : 

1 C Cinnamon powder

1 C Applesauce

Mix your ingredients together! The mixture can feel quite wet. Add more cinnamon or flour to make it a workable dough. Create your forms of choice and allow to dry overnight. If creating beads, roll into balls and make your hole while wet - I used a chopstick to make mine. Enjoy for the whole season! I have also reused garlands from past years. Simply store for the following winter.