to ask, if you celebrate winter solstice what do you do?

[staryellow]

I always feel an urge to do something to celebrate winter solstice but then I always don't because it's so busy in the run up to Christmas it passes me by. This year I really want do something. But what? 🤔 I know this is weird but maybe a like minded soul can help

An external event helps, I find. I never manage to celebrate these things on my own. I'm lucky enough to live near somewhere that goes all out with processions, flaming torches, big bonfires, horse skulls on sticks, the full nine yards, but failing that a deep dive into Facebook events for solstice events might bring up a bonfire and a bit of a ritual or something.

We usually sacrifice a virgin and drink her blood

DH has a small fire in the garden and has a beer whilst mulling over the year gone/year to come. I usually join him for a little while (weather determines how long)

A feast and a bonfire

Virgins are getting harder to source, though.

Feast and fire here too. I light candles in the home and a bonfire.

🤣

Decorate the house for Christmas.
Go up to Castlerigg Stone Circle, Keswick at some point during the day.
Light candles and the fire at home as it goes dark and then aim to keep them burning all night. Drink sloe gin.

Got any standing stone circles near you? They often have something going on - have a Google.

I'm not sure what's with all the PPs virgin sacrificing. I feel that's more Beltane. If you're going to set fire to someone in midwinter it's gotta be a crone, and they're easier to find so bonus.

Nobody in their right mind would set upon a crone. We have serious power.

OP, I go to a small stone circle that’s set to the winter solstice. It’s on public land, close to the sea, and the solstice sun sets over a recumbent stone in a dip between two hills. It’s a lovely spot, and was used around 1100 to 800 BC. I tend not to go on the solstice itself, but within a few days either side.

Bonfire in the garden if weather permits

Swim naked in the river. These days, only if I have no cuts...

I love winter solstice (much more than Christmas!) & we do-

Mulled hot apple juice - leave it in the slow cooker so the whole house smells lovely
Round/yellow foods - sun bread
kids always get a sun disk (big chocolate coin 🤣)
take food to the birds & decorate trees with it
If it's cold enough make ice suncatchers
fold paper votives/decorate jars for candles & put them out in spirals
make/eat chocolate Yule log
go to the Broch if possible
collect holly & make wreaths

@Arglefraster, that all sounds wonderful. I have made notes!

We do what you do on 25th December.

I just choked on my coffee 😂😂😂

Last year we celebrated for the first time. We wrote down what we wanted to leave behind and burnt it in a jar in the garden.

Yeah, but we bite.

It's the longest, darkest night of the year, when the sun has been journeying further and further away from us. And the solstice is when it pauses, then begins its journey back.
From this night, the days get longer, the earth will begin to be warmed, and we can look forward to seeds germinating and growing, lambing and the earth becoming green and fertile again.

Celebrating the return or rebirth of the sun can be as simple as lighting fires, candles, lamps and keep them burning all night, bringing in evergreen foliage and having a fabulous feast;
or symbolically retiring the old god and celebrating the rebirth of the old god as the young god with guess what, a fabulous feast, and fires.

We often write down the things we no longer need or wish to discard and cast them into the fire. We have a Yule log that gets rekindled every year and a chocolate Yule log. We have sun stamped shortbread and hang up a huge gold sun face. We go large 🌞

Not looking in the right place, incels and femcels abound

Good food, strong drink and fire.

Thanks for all the lovely ideas! I feel less weird now wanting to celebrate it somehow. I'll look into stone circles, but I love the idea of a fire in the garden and burning stuff we want to let go of ... keeping it simple

Virgin sourcing might be trickier

Hi OP, pagan here 👋
I agree with a PP that winter solstice/Yule includes a lot of the "Christmas" traditions for many of us because a lot of those traditions were inspired/borrowed from Yule celebrations to begin with. Modern druids celebrate the solstice as Alban Arthan (the birth of King Arthur), as the legends suggest he was born on or around the solstice, so you could read some of the stories from the King Arthur legends (could be a nice thing to do together if you have children) or watch something Arthurian-inspired, like the Sword in the Stone or the BBC Merlin series!

Stonehenge live-stream the sunrise from the winter and summer solstices on their channels, so that could be something to do in the morning (easier to catch than the summer solstice as no need to wake up early!).

If it interests you, you could check out the Pagan Federation's website to see if there are any open rituals or other solstice events in your local area. They're generally welcoming of anyone, no questioning as to whether you share the same beliefs, and they tend to finish up with a feast!

You could also do crafts or baking inspired by stars, winter or the sun. While it's the longest night, it's also the rebirth of the sun, so while it might seem a bit weird in deepest winter, the sun is a major symbol of the solstice.

Feel free to also ask this question over on the Witches thread! There will be plenty of good suggestions there I'm sure.

Thanks @frostedsunrise.They're lovely ideas. I'm actually in Ireland but there's surely similar stuff going on over here. I might post on the Witches thread so ... It just feels like such a hopeful day with the turn back to the 🌞

Watch the online sunrise from Stonehenge with a candle on then later I do a ritual similar to others to leave things in the past . Love winter solstice, it gives me hope with the light returning

I make tea in a flask, walk down to the sea (lucky enough to live near the east coast) and watch the sun rise.

Bit of an anticlimax when it's cloudy.