#6 Season of the Crone
Solstice Rituals + Seasonal Reflections
(Enjoy the voice over, it’s straightforward today, without too much off the cuff sashaying, but I think you’ll still like it!)
HECATE’S HOLIDAY
The Greek Hekate most likely evolved from the Egyptian goddess Hekat, a midwife. In old Egyptian, the word Heka means “to raise the Ka and use it to transform” — Ka being the holy living spirit, the guiding force that permeates the universe.
Hekate is a protector, one of her epithets, Hekate Soteira means Hecate, Savior. She’s also a guide, another of her names is Hekate Trivia, meaning Hecate, Guide of the Crossroads. As midwife, she is the guardian of the threshold, stewarding souls into new life. As Crone, she also heralds the threshhold of death, appearing to souls as they leave this realm and move on to the next one.
Winter Solstice is Hekate’s holiday, the holiday of the Crone. Now, the on the darkest night, the Sun is at its nadir in the Northern Hemisphere. We are at the crossroads, where the end of the old year and the beginning of the new meet.
On Winter Solstice, witches honor death, we herald new life, and Hecate, with her magic, and her breath of the Ka guides us through all of it.
IO HEKA IO HO.
SATURN’S HOLIDAY
Solstice is the first day of Capricorn, ruled by Saturn. The Old One.
For the Ancient Greeks, this time of year was known as Saturnalia. The festival of Saturn – who before the rule of the new Gods was said to have led a Golden Era of peace and plenty. That Golden Era returned during Saturnalia, it was a festival of lights, when hierarchies were turned on their head, masters served the slaves, and the order of the universe was shaken down.
Like Hecate, Saturn too, is Guardian of the Threshold. The Old One who can see into the realms of death and time without fear — he who can look back on life and youth with the wisdom of experience. He who, for the ancients, stood at the edge of the known universe, his rings draping between the worldly realms of humanity and the Mysteries of the Gods.
WISDOM’S HOLIDAY
Winter Solstice offers us the opportunity to reflect.
If we knew at the beginning of 2022 what we know now, how we might do things differently? Truly, take a moment to contemplate how you would re-drive the year if you could.
For me, it was a lonely year. I would’ve made more of a point to get out into the world. I’d set a schedule. I’d get clearer on my commitments to the things I love.
Well, now that I know what I would do, I have the opportunity to bring those intentions with me into 2023. And so can you.
THE HOLIDAY OF REBIRTH
Many good things happen in the dark. Seeds gestate, bodies rest, bodies heal, we share our beds. At night, we can see the stars and into the mysteries of the cosmos.
Winter Solstice is a time of prophetic dreaming.
Solstice is the holiday where we celebrate our return to the collective consciousness, a process sometimes called death, but which in fact describes the birthing process of the Anima Mundi (Hecate) as she shifts between forms.
Some of us left the world this year. 2022 was the year my beloved cat Pagan, and my grandmother Patricia, returned to the womb of the Anima Mundi.
Our loved ones gave their bodies to the earth, to feed the bodies of others.
Light a candle for the ones who’ve slipped back into the darkness this year, to help them find their way.
Our body is made of other bodies, and one day other bodies will be made of us. The body of the earth is made of the bodies of the stars who exploded and died and drifted through space until they came out in the form of dogs and earthworms and clouds.
Solstice is the holiday to honor these transitions. To honor the ones who have slipped away, and to honor new bodies as they’ve appeared in our world.
Say the names of the new beings born to the world this year, ring a bell and welcome them to their new home.
You can light candles and ring bells for anything that has died or been born this year — relationships lost, projects born, jobs lost, periods of rest and silence born. Solstice is the time to honor all of it. To enter the New Year honoring the sacred, the Goddess of the Threshold, the Holy Spirits of Change.
Read on to find some simple techniques you can use to celebrate this holiday!
With love and Solstice blessings,
Amanda
PRACTICE: THINGS YOU CAN DO AT HOME TO DEEPEN YOUR SOLSTICE EXPERIENCE
Listen to the Between the Worlds Solstice episode, where we share the meaning of the season with you
Open yourself to receiving prophetic messages coming through your dreams
Gaze out into the night sky, let yourself contemplate infinity
Give to offerings to the Old Ones, Saturn and Hekate the Crone
Get a wreath and put it on your door, or burn your old one from last year, or the herbs you gathered at Summer Solstice, call in the new light
Light candles for those who have passed on this year, ring bells for those who’ve come into the light this year.
Listen to this Reclaiming chant for Hecate and Cerridwen the Crones (and maybe try chanting it yourself). Also, Danica Boyce’s Big Fat Solstice playlist is a personal Yuletime fave I listen to every year - it gets you in the spirit of the season.
Read your Solstice letter from last year, and write your new one (see below). Put a reminder in your phone for next Winter Solstice on Thursday, December 21, to pull out and read the letter you wrote today. You should also probably put a note in there about where you put the letter so you don’t lose it
SOLSTICE LETTER TO YOUR FUTURE SELF
Paid subscribers, get the guide for your Solstice letter to you future self below. This has been such a meaningful practice for me, and I’m so excited to share it with you!
P.S. If you’re experiencing financial hardship and want to subscribe but can’t afford it right now, shoot me an email and we can work something out, no problem.