Lisa Marie Rankin:

Holiday season can sometimes feel chaotic and disconnected. But what if instead of rushing through it, racing against societal expectations, you use this time to slow down, reconnect, and rediscover the magic of this time? Today, we're talking about Yule or winter solstice and how this ancient tradition of light and renewal can be celebrated today. You'll learn to infuse seasonal rituals with meaning and intention to re enchant the holiday and really your life. Let's dive in. Hello, beautiful women. I hope you are enjoying this holiday season. So when this episode releases, it will be a few days before Yule or the winter solstice, and that is what we are gonna talk about today. I am very excited about this topic because I believe that when we look at these seasonal Sabbaths, and I will explain what a seasonal Sabbath is in just a moment, winter solstice or Yule, we have the opportunity to reenchant our lives.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

And reenchantment is something that I have been working with a lot lately in my life. It's how do I infuse these things that I do every day with more meaning, with more intention, with more magic? How do I create an experience that is about beauty and synchronicities into my life and really extend that to those who are around me, so my children, my partner, my family, the women in my community. I believe as women, one of our roles is that of the enchantress, and I think that is a beautiful archetype to step into because who doesn't want a little bit more magic in their lives? Now, how are you feeling this holiday season? And you can take a moment to reflect on that. I know that for much of my life, especially when my children were younger, the holiday seasons were challenging. It felt like something I just needed to get through. I needed to buy gifts. I needed to decorate. I needed to host store.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

I needed to bake cookies. But instead of it feeling like something I wanted to celebrate or this really joyous occasion, it really seemed like a long list of to dos on top of my already seemingly overwhelming life. I remember I would almost be sighing with relief once the holiday season was over. Like, oh, I got through it. Now I can relax. And I think that's a little bit unfortunate. Right? Because this is supposed to be a joyous time of year, not a time of racing against societal expectations. And that's really what I felt, that there were a lot of expectations put on me.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

And I think these were just imagined expectations when my children were young.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

They didn't really have any, but I wanted everything to be perfect for them or I wanted

Lisa Marie Rankin:

the house to look a certain way. I wanted to make sure everybody was happy with their gifts. So, of course, it was a little bit stressful. Today, I'm really excited to offer a new approach of how to enjoy and how to celebrate the holidays, one that can both honor the season and the meaning behind a lot of what it is that we're doing, but also rekindle our spirit. It's an opportunity for us to reenchant our lives. Now before I go into what we can do this winter solstice, I wanna talk a little bit about the 8 seasonal sabbats and also the importance of rituals because they're gonna tie tie into what we're talking about today. Now the 8 seasonal sabbats are the seasonal celebrations and we can think of them as marking the beginning of a season and also marking the midpoint. Now if you're familiar with the whale of the year this was a calendar for many ancient traditions like the pagan tradition that would mark all of these different seasonal points.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

And each season has its own qualities, characteristics, energetics, and rituals. Now what I love about working with the whale of the year in these seasonal celebrations is they remind us that the seasons are our teachers. Nature is our teacher. Now I often hear from many women, and I say this as well too, oh, I really do need to spend more time in nature. I gotta get out in nature more. And in a way, I am sure that we all do. We spend more time looking at screens than we do at sunsets and we spend a lot of time indoors. But it's also important to recognize you are nature.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

So whatever is going on outside, look out your window. Are the leaves falling to the ground? Is it cold and rainy? Is it hot and sunny? It's going on within you as well too. In celebrating these seasonal Sabbaths, these seasonal milestones recognizes that we are more than just these individuals looking outside, looking out at the window, looking at nature beyond us but we're actually part of it. Life isn't happening to us. So when I shared how I used to feel about the holidays when my children were young it kinda felt like they were happening to me. There was a set of things that I needed to do and I couldn't actually control anything. I just had to get through it. But when we look at these as beautiful celebrations, it's I become an active cocreator in this divine mystery of life.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

Things aren't happening to me, but they're happening with me, and it gives me an opportunity to reenchant my life and to really sink into what is going on with me energetically. What are the energies that I want to create for my home, for myself. So it reminds us that we are part of this beautiful life death life cycle, that things are always changing. We are always in transition. In fact, I believe that transitions are a really significant quality of the divine feminine. She's more than just beauty, receptivity, and creativity, but she's change. She's transition. She's death, rebirth, life.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

And that's what the 8 seasonal Sabbats really represent. But let's talk about the winter solstice because that's what we're working with today. The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year. Now that might not mean a lot to you right now because if you were listening to this it's likely that you have a home with electricity, heating, refrigeration. There's probably some really nice grocery stores fairly nearby you. So the fact that it's the shortest day of the year might not mean that much to you. It might not affect you at all. I'm sure it still does affect you, and I'll get to that, but it doesn't have the same impact that it did not so long ago.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

So you can think of at a time when there wasn't electricity, there wasn't refrigeration. This was a time of deep uncertainty. People were very scared. Were they gonna survive the winter? Were they gonna have enough food? Were they going to be warm enough? Would their children be okay? So there was a sense of fear, a sense of scarcity. So the winter solstice marks the longest night of the year but this is also when the sun is going to start coming in again. So we're gonna start to see the sun's return. So it also represents a sense of hope. It is going to start getting lighter out again.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

Now as I mentioned, everything that's going on outside is happening within you too. So we can think of this as being the shortest day of the year as also recognizing that even when we are in our darker times, light is always going to be returning. So this is an opportunity to start reflecting on. What is it that you wanna call back? What are you excited for? What are you hopeful for? The winter solstice is a beautiful time of hope and renewal. Now I've mentioned that 100 of years ago, this was a time of uncertainty. But even in our modern times, even with all of our comforts of home, this time is still really challenging. We see that depression is worse in the winters, so many people are affected by seasonal depression, and many people feel more isolated and especially the elderly or those navigating loss. I know that there are many people close to me that the holiday season is challenging because they remember challenging times as a child, so it's not a joyous time.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

So sometimes we can feel a little bit more depressed because the days are so short, but also because of memories. So this is a time that we're that dark time of descent, but it's also a time to remember that there is light on its way as well too. We celebrate the seasonal Sabbath through rituals. Rituals are terribly important. Rituals really act as a bridge from the things that we do every day, so our everyday mundane earthly realm, and the sacred, the divine. Rituals help to expand our consciousness, so after completing a ritual, if we infuse it with intention and meaning and we go all in on it, our consciousness will have shifted. We will have expanded. Now rituals work, but here's the thing you have to believe they work.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

You can't half ass them. You really have to go in there with intention and with recognizing that you are connecting to the sacred and you are connecting to the divine. Now there's so many rituals for the winter solstice that you are likely already doing, so we don't need to necessarily add new rituals. But what we do need to do is to infuse them with meaning and infuse them with intention. One way we can start to do this is recognizing why these rituals were even created in the first place. Why did we even start doing them? So I want to share a few winter solstice rituals, and let's talk about their original intent and what they might mean in our modern times and how we can really use them to reenchant reenchant our lives this holiday season. Now the first one is lights. I remember as a kid, I would have my mom drive me around town, like, every Christmas season because I love the way the houses were decorated, and I love decorating my Christmas tree.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

I would always have colored lights, and I just thought they were so pretty. I still do. It's one of my favorite parts of this season. Now lights were so important, if we think, 100 of years ago because it was so dark. The lights really symbolized calling in the sun. It was almost like beckoning the sun, you know, recognizing the sun's return. So lights were an important part. So as we are decorating or as we are lighting candles, we can also start to think, what is it that I want to call into my life? What would I like more of? Right? As we are getting ready for this beautiful holiday season, what do we wanna invite in afterwards? Lights have also long been seen as a representation of the divine or sacred energy.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

So by lighting candles, we're actually inviting the presence of the divine into our homes and our hearts. I like to think of lights as I'm decorating my Christmas tree or as I'm lighting candles. It's almost like casting mini spells. Like, what is it that I desire? What is it that I want to call in? So really thinking of the lights as you're lighting them as a way of calling in the things that you desire, the things that you want more of, what you are looking for in the year ahead. The next ritual is bringing in greenery. So we've got Christmas trees, we've got wreaths, we've got poinsettias and kissing balls, and probably a whole lot of other greenery that we can bring in. Now traditionally this was because evergreens represent resilience. And this is a time that you needed to be resilient to get through the winter, but we also need to be resilient just to get through our challenging lives.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

So as you decorate a tree or if you don't do that, if you bring in greenery, think of that as a symbol of your strength. Maybe you reflect on some of the hardships that you've had through this year, but also the strength that you've gained, the wisdom that you gained. Because often, it can seem like, you know, we're just going through one challenge after another, but take some time to reflect. This this life is not easy. We all have our share of challenges about how strong you actually are, about what you've accomplished, about the wisdom that you've gained. So evergreens can really be a beautiful symbol of life and just resilience. Now many traditions also believed that greenery brought in protection and blessings into the home. For example, Holly was thought to ward off evil spirits while ivy symbolized fidelity and growth.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

And by bringing in greenery indoors because we're probably spending more time in indoors in the winter, we are also reminding ourselves of nature. And, again, not that we are outside of nature, but we're an integral part of it. So that's another reason that we bring greenery indoors. So as you start to bring more indoors this season, again, take some time to reflect on resilience, to reflect on strength as well, and maybe even protection. What is it that you would like protection from? The third ritual that we're gonna talk about today is the ritual of gathering together. So there are so many holiday celebrations and parties for many. I remember when I was in the corporate world, you know, it seemed like we had something every week throughout the month of December that, you know, got a little tiring, actually. But, hopefully, we can continue to make them festive, and you get to also spend time with friends, family, loved ones.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

But if we think back, again, a couple of 100 years ago when we didn't have all of the comforts at home, people gathered because communities wanted to come together to share resources, warmth, and companionship because we are stronger together, we are stronger as a community, we are stronger as a tribe, so coming together for the winter wasn't just to celebrate, but it was also to survive, to recognize each other as a source of strength. And I think that's really important to do this holiday season as well. So as you are gathering, put away the smartphones. Really be present with the people whom you are with and recognize them as a source of strength. I always like to say make eye contact, recognize your fellow human being, and really think about what you are grateful for. Maybe you raise the conversation. Ask them what they're calling in. You know? What what does the light symbolize to them? What would they like to call in in the year ahead? What are the hardships they face this year? What are they proud of? But see if you can deepen the conversation and, again, recognize that we are more than just mere individuals, but we are part of a community.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

And as a collective, we're stronger, and we don't just have to survive. We can also thrive. So there are 3 rituals that you likely are already doing as far as using lights, whether it's candles or the holiday lights, bringing greenery into your home, and gathering with friends, family, and loved ones. So sometimes when we're embarking on a spiritual path or we're learning something new, we feel like it needs to be new. So tell me something I don't already know. But I actually believe that rituals that have been around the longest are probably the most impactful as well. We don't always need to start something new, but we can look at what we are currently doing, and we can start to infuse that with more meaning, with more intention, and with more magic. And this can be true for anything that you do during the holiday season even if it's baking cookies for others.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

As you're baking them, think about who you're giving them to. Why are you grateful for them? Can you infuse them with love? And that's what this concept of reenchantment is all about. It's not about necessarily doing things differently, but doing things with more meaning, adding more beauty to your life. And the rituals that we've discussed today bring so much more beauty, magic, intention into what otherwise might feel like a bleak time. So just to recap a few of the things that we have discussed today is take a moment this winter solstice or you will take a moment to acknowledge the darkest. It's the darkest day of the year, but the light is returning. So as you start to light candles or start to decorate with lights, really think of it as mini spells. What do you want to call in for the year ahead as you're bringing in greenery? And I really encourage you, even if you don't have a Christmas tree or a wreath, get some holiday greenery to bring in and use that as a symbol of your strength, of your resilience, of your ability to persevere through hardships, and also as a symbol of abundance and protection.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

And 3rd, when you're gathering with others, really, look them in the eye. Be present. Remember that we are part of a collective. We are not mere individuals. We are not meant to be on this journey alone, so enjoy the company that you are in. And, again, be intentional. This season with all of its consumerism can feel really overwhelming, but remember the true intent behind it. Maybe you start some new rituals.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

Maybe instead of getting a lot of gifts, you know, there's an exchange of letters or, you know, why you're grateful for someone. Maybe it's food that is being exchanged. So there is also opportunity of what feels right to you, what feels meaningful, how do you want to feel this holiday season, and use that as your guide. So I hope you have a wonderful winter solstice. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. And let me know what are some of your favorite winter rituals. You can let me know over on Instagram. If you want to celebrate the seasonal Sabbath with a community of women, that is what we do in enlivened, my divine feminine mystery school.

Lisa Marie Rankin:

So there is a link to the wait list in the show notes and would love to see you there. Alright, beautiful women. I look forward to connecting with you sometime soon. Happy holidays.