WINTER SOLSTICE NEWSLETTER -The Sun Stands Still, and Perhaps So Should We.

Yvette Sheppard
Dec 16, 2025
10 min read

From me to you, with love and magic!

Hi there beautiful souls!

We’ve entered one of the most mystical thresholds of the entire year, the Winter Solstice, the cosmic pause, before the rebirth of light. Full of tradition and gratitude! So get cosy. Let’s wander through the remainder of the darkest nights together.

The Solstice: When the Sun Literally Stands Still

Every year, astrologically, the Sun reaches its lowest point in the sky on the 21^st December, or thereabouts, and… it stops for three days.

This is where the word Solstice comes from: “sol” = sun, “sistere” = to stand still.

It just hangs there, barely moving, suspended in the longest night. Ancient people, our ancestors felt this, the animals felt this, and I’m certain most of us feel this too; that instinctive turning inward, the urge to rest, reset, and retreat. Something that modern day living doesn’t necessarily accommodate.

Then on the third day, the Sun rises a little higher – the sun is ‘reborn’ some might say! December 25th - the rebirth of the light.

This is why so many ancient cultures celebrated a divine child of light around this date, long before Christmas. The Christ Light, Mithras, Horus, Sol Invictus - all versions of the returning Sun – symbolic perhaps.

Christmas inherited so many Pagan threads that it’s basically wearing a Yule cloak with a festive bow. I love celebrating the traditions of the season, as I’m sure many of you do in some way or another.

As a child, I remember feeling quite confused at school. I was dressed up as Mary in a play about a newborn baby, I loved being in the Christmas play - yet the wider tradition of Christmas involved Santa, or Father Christmas: a fat man in a red suit who would only bring gifts if you’d behaved yourself all year (now that is some programming, if ever I saw it - behave and tow the line or don’t get the things you want).

Then there was the Christmas tree - a fir tree, beautifully decorated with baubles, but how did that fit with a baby born in Bethlehem, three Kings, and camels? It was all very, very confusing for a five-year-old. The church had its own fully decorated fir tree too, so it must all link somehow… right?

I was far too busy trying to behave - desperate to receive a Cabbage Patch Kid from Father Christmas (blow’s my mind now having read Rise of the Clones- Cabbage Patch Babies) I was not about to ask the Vicar any awkward questions about his - what I now know - to be a very pagan evergreen Yule tree.

All that aside… if you’ve ever felt that this time of year is steeped in a kind of ancient magic, you’re right. Of course it is. How could it not be, when the light of the sun is returning and the days are slowly growing longer again, bringing with them the promise of growth and abundance.

🌲 Yule Traditions That Are Still Alive Today (Even If Clandestine to many)

Evergreens – collecting the holly, the mistletoe, the pinecones etc to decorate the house.Wreaths – the eternity of life.Candles everywhere – the lightFeasting – gratitude and abundance.Gift-giving – love, gratitude and abundance.Decorating a tree – the magical evergreen adorned with witch baubles reflecting the darkness away! Kissing under mistletoe – a little fertility magic if ever I saw.

Absolutely - all Pagan, but wonderful that other traditions have continued this.

Yule was all about celebrating what survives the dark and calling the Sun home.

🍊 Drying oranges to honour the Sun

Oranges I love that the garden centres are full of slices of oranges dehydrated and cones for craft and creativity. They look magical when hung by a window and the light shines through. I love dehydrating my own oranges. In the past I’ve used a dehydrator, but there’s nothing more magical than slicing them and placing them on a tray close to the log fire. The scent fills the home with such a beautiful aroma.

🔥 The Yule Log

Burned from the 21st until the end of December, sometimes carved with runes or sigils (a special symbolic language), protective herbs, and intentions.

A symbolic fire to guide the Sun back to strength.

Of course as a magical practitioner, the chimney is as a portal and it’s important to keep the fire burning throughout this time to stop any uninvited trouble makers (demons) from coming down the chimney. An offering is placed out for our ancestors as gratitude for their guidance, and help over the past year.

As a child like many I’d offer a mince pie, a carrot and some advocaat for Santa in the hopes that I had conformed suitably that he would visit. These days I prefer to see the energy of Father Christmas/Santa as the Spirit of the Season, giving gifts from a place of love. I do thank my lucky stars that the fire was most certainly burning through the night preventing unwanted energies being welcomed in. I’m also pretty sure that eating an offering - be it all a mince pie, is not the done thing… but I imagine most have survived drinking Santa’s ‘spirit’ of whisky.

My fire will burn continuously for the 3 days, not until the 31st like my ancestors may have. The ash from the fire is reserved and a ritual to protect the home and land will be undertaken at the start of the calendar year. Here, I’ll walk around our property spreading the ash whilst chanting words of protection.

🌿 Mistletoe

Ancient Druids loved mistletoe. A ritual where they cut down the mistletoe with a golden Sycle…. I don’t have one of those, but I am planning of having a go at growing some mistletoe from some seeds I have.

It was the plant of:

peace
protection
fertility
sacred blessings

Kissing under it was originally a magical pact, not just naughty Victorian’s trying to have their wicked way, but a part of an age old fertility ritual.

🕯️ Candles Everywhere

If I’m completely honesty I’d take a candle over a light bulb any day. Both symbolic of light, but there’s something very magical and relaxing (no blue ray burning my retina) when staring into a candle. That cosy feeling one feels when surrounded by candle light. I almost feel that lighting a candle gives me permission to slow down, and go within… exactly what I should be doing at this point in the wheel of the year; not running around like a crazy woman.

🔮 A few simple Winter Solstice Rituals that you may find useful.

These rituals are gentle invitations - not chores, not pressure. Just ways to honour this cosmic stillness.

🕯️ Candle Intention Ceremony

Turn off all the lights.Let the darkness be soft for a moment.

Then light one candle for each intention you’re calling in as the Sun begins its slow but certain return. I love to use the colours of Yule, green, red and gold (you can use a white one in there too).

Each flame = a future version of you quietly unfolding, or heartfelt gratitude.

✍️ Shadow Journaling

Solstice is basically the spiritual version of cleaning out a drawer you’ve been avoiding.

Try these prompts:

What am I finally ready to release?
What truth have I been avoiding that’s ready to be honoured?
What wisdom did this year gift me?

Let whatever wants to speak… speak.

🌞 Solar Plexus Meditation

Visualise a tiny Sun glowing in your solar plexus.

Every inhale → it brightens.Every exhale → it expands.

You’re literally syncing your inner fire with the rebirth of the actual Sun.Astrology loves a bit of micro–macrocosm magic.

🌬️🌱🔥💧✨ Elemental Ritual

A simple full-body, full-soul clearing:

Earth — Write what you’re keeping. Bury it. Let it grow with you.

Fire — Burn what no longer belongs. Let the ash free you.

Water — Cleanse with moon water; rinse the emotional residue.

Air — Breath work to release tension and heaviness.

Ether — Build an image of what you’re creating, place it in a bubble of light, and send it into the field.

The Universe is listening. Command and control the elements within you… Earth is for stability – the body and the material world. Air is for your intellect, how you communicate in you mind speak and outwardly. Fire is your passion, transformation, your actions, and water is always emotions, your subconscious intuition. Ether – connects spirit and matter – life-force within and all around.

🎇 New Year’s Eve Rituals — The Witchy, Ancestral, playful Traditions.

I love this part because NYE is basically a magical portal disguised as a party.

🔥 Coal, Sugar & Salt Tradition

This old tradition says the first person to enter your home should be a very handsome man, not one that’ been hit with the ugly stick! Just after the strike of midnight (or shortly after) he should bring with him over the threshold a small bag containing the following.

Coal → fire, life-force If you don’t have coal substitute with something to symbolise the warmth of life (perhaps wood)
Sugar → sweetness and joy
Salt → protection and purity

So I prepare the bag and place it on the doorstep. I then request that a handsome man from my household (I have a few options), make the journey out of the back door, around to the front and knock – so that I may open the door and welcome in the handsome man with his blessings!! All of this after a few sips or ten of Mead.

The bag is then hung in the kitchen as a reminder of our blessings all year long.

Planting Seeds

Literally and metaphorically.

Each seed = something you’re manifesting.As they grow, so does your desire.

Find a spare plant pot that has some earth in it, and plant an easy to grown herb. Most herbs to be honest, grow like weeds, but you will find that you grown easily what your physical body needs. Perhaps parsley, chives, dill, oregano, thyme sage or coriander, cover with a fleece to protect and nurture them. As you plant each seed feel and visualise the life you are manifesting. One year someone sent me a Yule card that had seeds in it!! What a wonderful gift. That went straight in my manifestation pot outside. A wonderful array of wild flowers came through in the Spring – as well I may add my very specific manifestation.

🍪 Sweetening Spell (Yule Cookies)

Make cookies with sugar, cinnamon and cherries.While stirring, say:

As my spoon goes round and round, I feel joy and happiness abound. I accept with love all that is intended for me, with much gratitude – So Mote It Be

Or perhaps like my daughter’s you have the gift of Kitchen Witchery. Baking a loaf of sourdough bread as a gift for a loved one, neighbour or friend. Weave your intensions into the needing of the dough. A perfect example of a Fir Tree Sourdough loaf by Alexa - if you love creating and baking check our her Instagram Ernie and Crumb

Yes — kitchen witchcraft counts – though being a Domestic Goddess I am working on.

🧹 Sweep the Threshold

Just before midnight, sweep old energy OUT of the back door.You’ll feel the shift. Then open the front door – but only when your designated handsome fellow knocks with his gifts of coal, sugar and salt for the year ahead.

🔔 12 Bell Rings

Ring a bell for every month of the coming year.A call to success, clarity, blessings.

🗣️ First Words Spell

Choose the first words you will speak after the clock strikes midnight.

Think of it like tuning a radio to the station you want to listen to all year.

Some good ones:

“I welcome abundance in all areas of my life.”
“Everything is aligning perfectly for me.”
I am loved, and I am blessed.

Visiting Ancestors Graves

Traditionally during the Solstice and Yule we would check in on our ancestors and visit their graves to offer love in remembrance, and a wreath of evergreen to symbolise eternal life - of course thanking them for all they have done for us. There’s something very peaceful about grave yards; though of course I use the thin veil at this time of the year to make sure that there are no ancestors stuck in this realm. Talking of ancestors past and present…..

👪 Surviving The Festive Season With Family (Energetic Tips That Actually Work)

Let’s be honest… festive gatherings can be spiritually heavy from an energetic standpoint, possibly uplifting, and possibly draining.

Here’s how to stay sovereign: Ground into the Earth and say, “Anything not mine moves through me and down.” Breathe in an emerald green light and allow it to flow out of your feet into the ground.

Anchor your energy to an object – perhaps focus your energy on a tree just outside the window, or a plant that’s in the room. When the energy feels heavy, come back to your foucs point or your anchor point,
Take micro-breaks. Your nervous system will thank you. Pop to the bathroom, or into the kitchen for a few minutes and recalibrate.
Repeat internally:
“Observe, don’t absorb.” – observe like you are at a pantomime or some theatre show.
If you are on the path of awakening… and I sincerely hope you are. There’s a good chance that you are surrounded by what I loving call, sleepers. My advice is unless explicitly asked about a certain spiritual, or awakened topic – don’t go there!!! You are not going to get the response you want and you will feel energetically drained. Simply understand that you are part of a family where they have their soul journey and you have a different one.

Then when you get home – essential!!

Sea-Salt bath
Shake the energy off (yes, physically — animals do this all the time)
Hug a tree in the garde!
Journal any triggers that popped up – what can you learn??

Healing is simply information becoming conscious.

🌿 Self-Care & Stress Reduction for This Season

This is your permission slip to NOT be everything for everyone.

Say no without guilt
Schedule pockets of silence – where no one can get hold of you physically or energetically – phone on flight mode – no texts – nothing for an hour or so.
Walk in nature
Unplug from scrolling – social media detox

Your soul is not here to perform the holidays. Experience this time in a way that nourishes you.

🔮 A Sprinkle of Human Design Magic

Just a gentle reminder: