Merry meet all,
Winter Solstice is tomorrow! Are you ready? I am. I have been preparing for the Solstice for a while now. I want to talk about how you can prepare for the Solstice too. Let’s get started.
First, get outside! This is a good time to forage outdoors. Grab your cloth bag, good walking shoes and let’s go!
Gather pinecones large and small, acorns, juniper, rosemary, cedar, sage and spruce. Bring a foraging book or your phone with you to correctly identify the plant you are foraging. I identified the spruce growing on the trail I live near as Sitka spruce. The Natives loved Sikta spruce and used the bark, needles and twigs for a variety of purposes. I steeped the spruce needles in a simple syrup to enjoy with gin but more on that later.
Once you have foraged all you can, bring it home and wash it to rid of insects and dirt. Bake the pinecones at 200 % for forty-five minutes in the oven. If you decide to gather birch bark, then boil it in hot water for twenty minutes. Then remove from the heat and let it dry. If you forage pine, cedar or spruce needles, then do it from an older tree and cut the lower branches. I also leave an offering to the spirits and give thanks for the nature items I receive. I made an offering of cornmeal, a bay leaf and an acorn.
I made a candle and added in rosemary, Yule essential oil, eucalyptus, peppermint essential oils. The scent is divine! If you look closely at the above photo, you can see the birch bark wrapped around a few candles. I love the rustic warm look. I bought a glittery white tree. It is tucked in there with the candles and the pinecones I painted white. The white pinecones look great. I will post another photo tomorrow.
Pinecones are rustic and dry nicely. It is a very good idea to bake them in the oven before using. That kills the mites and dries up the sap.
Rosemary has a beautiful scent. Use it in stovetop potpourris, or herbal wands.
Cedar is cleansing and purifying. Use cedar in stovetop potpourris, herbal wands and drinks.
Acorns can be painted and used in decorations.
Holly, ivy and mistletoe have mystical associations with the Solstice. They can be used in decorations or herbal potpourri. However, since they are toxic to cats and I have a pet cat, I’m not using it. If you want to, go ahead. For the reasons just mentioned, I am not describing it here.
If you choose to forage for goodies at the local grocery store, add these to your shopping list:
Apples, oranges, allspice, juniper berries, nutmeg, clove, ginger, cinnamon, chamomile and mugwort.
Pour a jug of cider into a large saucepan. Chop and add oranges, apples, the spices listed above and a pinch of chamomile and mugwort to the cider. This enhances the flavour and also aids in psychic development. Simmer the cider in the saucepan on low heat. Your kitchen will small great. Your tastebuds will thank you.
Gather a pinecone or two, five spruce twigs with needles, an acorn and a dried orange to a bowl. Simmer on low heat but don’t drink. This makes a great stovetop simmering potpourri.
To create a herbal wand, gather rosemary, pine and juniper together. The rosemary is the base. Set the rosemary down on a counter or tabletop. Then lay the pine down on the rosemary. Then lay the juniper down on the pine. Bind the three fragrant herbs together with string. You can let it dry or burn it while the herbs are fresh. It is up to you how you use your herbal wand, as long as the intention is to purify yourself or your space.
These activities should keep you busy. The Winter Solstice is a time of duality or polar opposites. We celebrate the return of the light but it still gets dark early. I want to revel in the dark half of the year. There is something so sheltering, so restful about it. I love the darkness and I want to enjoy it. The earth rests now and dies back. The ground needs to sleep and die back to be reborn in the spring. The earth is restoring her energy now. That changes once spring returns but for now, I am content. I hope you dear readers are too.
I also brewed a batch of elderberry jam. I added an apple which contains natural pectin, orange rind and a pinch of cinnamon. I want to gift the elderberry jam to my Mom – and save some for me. It should go nicely with my homemade bread.
I decided to donate to an animal shelter. I sewed fourteen cat toys together and filled each of them with cotton batting and catnip. I sewed each toy with love. I wrapped the toys together, added a sprig or two of spruce with a candy cane to the gift. I added tags to the gift. I secured the gift of the cat toys in a clear cellophane bag, added another candy cane to the gift bag, and tucked in red tissue paper. I love how the gift looked. I was very happy to donate the gift to the SPCA. I hope the cats love the hand sewn cat toys!
It felt good to give the toys to the SPCA.
The homemade cat toys all stitched with love and waiting to be donated to the animal shelter.
Happy Solstice!
Blessings, Spiderwitch
