The nights are getting longer and the days are getting shorter here in Australia! Yule falls at the Midwinter Solstice between the 21st and 22nd of June in the Southern Hemisphere. Midwinter represents the rebirth of light during darkness; this is traditionally a time of feasting and the colour correspondences are green and red.
This is a great time to conduct a candle spell to promote prosperity and overall wellbeing!
We have made it easy to perform each of the rituals below with our Yule Ritual Kit -while stocks last.
Skip to the ritual:
Mini Ritual (Beginner)
Tea Ritual (Beginner)
Yule Log Ceremony (Intermediate)
Candle Spell (Intermediate)
Yule Mini Ritual (Beginner)
You can perform this ritual using the contents of this month's Yule Mini Kit, available exclusively as a Tragic Beautiful Monthly Reward!
Read more: Candle colours in witchcraft
You'll Need
- Red or green chime spell candle
- Yule Herb Blend
- Anointing Oil
- Chime candle holder
- Lighter or matches
The Ritual
- Pour your handful of Yule Herb Blend into your hands and recite:
"Clove, peppermint & cinnamon, protect me, apple, & chamomile bring me love, luck & healing" - Drop the herbs into a bowl or mortar and pestle and crush or cut them into smaller pieces
- Mix your herbs together with your hands while envisioning their magickal properties aiding you this Yule. Do this until you feel you have worked your intention into the herbs
- Anoint either the red or green candle from your Mini Kit with your oil. Your candle colour choice will depend on which intentions you would like to focus on manifesting. Our Simple Guide to Candle Magic can help you decide.
- Dress your candle with the herbs you mixed together earlier
- Place the dressed candle in your candle holder
- When you are ready, light the candle and envision your spell working to bring you what you desire. Focus your vision on the flame and look for images that may appear - this is how the universe, your spirit guides and ancestors may deliver messages to you.
Yule Tea Ritual (Beginner)
This is a simple, calming ritual that can be adapted or changed to suit your purpose. This version of the ritual is designed to give thanks and an offering to an ancestor or deity of choice, where we write our messages to them, thoughts or wishes and hopes onto pieces of paper ready for burning with a Yule log ceremony.
Read more: Introducing our Range of Intention Teas | Simple Guide to Candle Magic
You can use this ritual as a mindfulness exercise, skipping the offering, using it as a daily way to centre yourself. You can use it as a way to think over a decision or ask a question
When you use the ritual regularly, especially for mindfulness, it helps to have a specific sound or event to start the ritual such as ringing an altar bell or cleansing with a cleansing wand. You will begin to associate the "starter signal" with that feeling of increased calm. Try giving that same signal at the end of the ritual and you'll soon find yourself going back into that headspace whenever you receive that signal.
Mindfulness is the key to this ritual. You need to take care and time in every step, from preparation to drinking. Make sure to focus intently on every step of the ritual, every flavour you taste in the tea, and every thought you conjure.
You'll Need
- Intention Tea - The Yule Blend in our Yule Ritual Kit is perfect for this
- Tea strainer or teapot
- 2 teacups
- Parchment paper or small squares of paper
- Pen or pencil
- An offering (such as liquor, food or even pure water)
- An offering bowl
- Coloured spell candle to match your intention eg. red for change, green for harmony. Click here to learn about different candle colours and their intentions
- Candle holder
- Lighter or matches
- Incense, altar bell, or cleansing wand
Ritual Preparation
- Boil enough water for two cups of tea
- Prepare your space by burning incense or a cleansing wand or ringing the altar bell, whichever is your preferred method of cleansing
- Set out your items in your prepared space, as though you are having tea with a friend, ensuring you have a comfortable and cosy space set up to pour and drink your tea.
- If you are honouring an ancestor or deity, have either a photograph, picture, or item that invokes them for you, and place this opposite you, in the space where your "friend" would be having tea
- Place your offering into your offering bowl
- Light a spell candle corresponding to the intention, deity, or ancestor you wish to invoke
- Get yourself into a calm and focused state of mind, ready for the ceremony
The Ritual
- Place your offering bowl in front of your photograph, picture or item
- Prepare your two servings of tea, this could be done in the individual teacups with a tea strainer or in a teapot. Take your time and enjoy the ritual of brewing the tea
- Once the tea has been prepared, place the second teacup in front of the item, next to the offering
- Concentrate as you slowly drink the tea on what you would like to say or wish for. Some people like to say these things out loud, while others may feel self-conscious, which may impact the effectiveness of the ritual. Do what feels right for you
- Take your time and focus intently on your intentions for this ritual - For example, would you like protection over the period until Imbolc?
- Write out your messages, thoughts, hopes or wishes for the new season ahead onto small pieces of paper & carefully fold each piece three times
- When you have finished, thank your deity, spirit or ancestor, blow out the candle and (if using) ring your bell
- Place your wishes onto your altar ready for the Yule log burning (if performing)
- You don't need to clear up your space straight away. If you have used the ritual to think about a decision, now you might have your answer - maybe it is better to act on that first.
Yule Log Ceremony
Skip to the ritual:
Yule Log Ceremony (for a fireplace or fire pit)
Yule Cauldron Ceremony (for those without fireplaces or fire pits)
A Yule log is a large log traditionally burned in the fireplace during the Christmas season, originating from European winter solstice celebrations. It symbolises warmth and light, bringing good fortune for the coming year. As the Winter Solstice in Australia is in June - we aren't celebrating during Christmas, and lack the snowy backdrop Northern Hemisphere witches enjoy during this Sabbat, so our ceremony will look a little different.
The Yule Log may be prepared early in the season as a centrepiece of your Yule Altar, or perhaps as a decoration on your coffee table or mantlepiece (if you are lucky enough to have one) until Winter Solstice night on the 21st of June in the Southern Hemisphere (or 21st of December for Northern Hemisphere witches).
This ritual is best performed with fire - either with a fireplace or a fire pit. If you don't have a fireplace or live in a small space where you can't be lighting a fire pit we have a special ritual for you below using a cauldron and charcoal disc.
Yule Log Ceremony With a Fireplace or Fire Pit
Ceremony Preparation
Find yourself a Yule Log - this can be a hardwood branch or small log you can use. You could go for a walk through a local park or forest to find one. Choose a log that says stable when placed on its side on your table, or flatten it a bit if you can.
While exploring, source foilage to decorate your Yule Log or Cauldron. Traditionally in the Northern Hemisphere greenery such as holly & juniper is used, but you can use foliage from herbs associated with Saturn or any evergreen plants near you such as eucalyptus, acacia, hakeas or banksias. Eucalyptus is particularly useful for this ceremony as it is associated with Saturn and is an abundant native plant here in Australia.
Drill three holes down the log to place your spell candles, or you can carefully melt the wax on the candles to attach them.
You'll Need
- Yule Log
- Spell candles - we recommend a white one in the centre for Spirit, Green for the eternal Earth Mother, and Red for the Solar God, born anew
- Lighter or matches
- Pieces of paper you wrote on during your tea ritual
- Decorations including foliage and ribbons (making sure that the ribbons are made of natural materials)
- Somewhere to light your Yule Log - such as a fireplace, or on top of a fireproof plate or surface
- Yule Herb Intention Blend
- Incense, altar bell, or cleansing wand
The Ceremony
- Prepare your Yule Log by placing your candles in the drilled holes, or melting wax to fasten the candles onto the log
- Decorate your Yule Log with your foilage, you might like to tie these to the log with ribbon. You may like to use a marker to write words on the log itself. Ensure you are decorating with intention.
- Add the pieces of paper you wrote your wishes & hopes for the new season and work them into spots on the log so they stay attached
- Keep the decorated Yule Log as a centrepiece until the evening of Yule
- As the sun sets into the full darkness of the evening, it is time to light your log
- Open your sacred space by burning incense, ringing your bell or using a cleansing wand and invite the Great Mother Goddess and Solar God, reborn into the new year by either visualising an invitation or speaking out loud, and light their corresponding candles
- As the Yule Log burns, sit in its light, you may do this in the company of family & friends while feasting and sharing stories. The candles are a vehicle for imbuing all these intentions into the log itself. While they burn it is a great time for a "holiday party" vibe, sharing gifts, and being merry together
- At midnight, once the candles have burned all the way down to the log, conclude your ritual by placing the entire log directly into your fire (or fire pit).
- Sprinkle some of the Yule herb blend into the fire
- Watch the log burn while silently meditating, scrying into the flames, and praying and visualising your wishes coming true over the coming season
- To conclude the ritual, close your sacred space in your usual manner, and allow the fire to burn all night, as it entices the sun back to Earth at dawn.
- Make sure to save the ashes from the Yule fire for your Imbolc Sabbat workings, and enrich the earth in preparation for the next Great Work.
Yule Log Cauldron Ceremony
Although you don't need a fireplace or fire pit for this - it is a high-smoke activity! Be sure to perform this ritual either outside or near an open window so your smoke alarm is happy. We aren't paying the fire brigade call-out fee :P
Ceremony Preparation
In place of a log, find a pinecone or small branches that will fit in your cauldron to burn. You could go for a walk through a local park or forest to find the perfect components for your Yule Cauldron. Make sure to source an array of smaller twigs as kindling to help the fire burn
While exploring, source foliage to decorate the area around your Yule Cauldron. Traditionally in the Northern Hemisphere greenery such as holly & juniper is used, but you can use foliage from herbs associated with Saturn or any evergreen plants near you such as eucalyptus, acacia, hakeas or banksias. Eucalyptus is particularly useful for this ceremony as it is associated with Saturn and is an abundant native plant here in Australia.
You'll Need
- Cauldron or fireproof bowl
- Branches and/or pinecone
- Gold spell candle
- Candle holder
- Charcoal disc & tongs
- Yule Herb Intention Blend
- Lighter or matches
- Pieces of paper you wrote on during your tea ritual
- Decorations including foliage and ribbons
- Incense, altar bell, or cleansing wand
The Ceremony
- Open your sacred space by burning incense, ringing your bell or using a cleansing wand and invite the Great Mother Goddess and Solar God, reborn into the new year by either visualising an invitation or speaking out loud, and light the gold candle
- Place your cauldron on an altar cloth or fireproof surface
- Decorate the area around your cauldron with your foliage. You may like to write on the branches you will burn with intentions for the following season
- Light your gold candle and insert it into the candle holder, placing it in front of your cauldron, amongst your decorations
- Grab your charcoal disc with your tongs and light it using the flame of your candle or your lighter/matches, and place it into the cauldron
- Mindfully sprinkle your Yule herb blend on top of your charcoal disc, take note of your feelings, and the smells of the herbs burning
- Take some of the smaller twigs and use your candle's flame to light them, adding them to the cauldron, you can add some dry foliage from your decorations if you really want to get the fire going!
- Once the fire is well and truly lit, add more branches to keep feeding it
- Place the pieces of paper from your tea ritual into the cauldron, and place the pine cone on top.
- As the Yule Cauldron burns, sit in its light. Watch the contents of your cauldron burn while silently meditating, scrying into the flames, and praying and visualising your wishes coming true over the coming season. You may do this in the company of family & friends while feasting and sharing stories.
- To conclude the ritual, close your sacred space in your usual manner, such as by ringing your altar bell.
- Make sure to save the ashes from the Yule fire for your Imbolc Sabbat workings, and enrich the earth in preparation for the next Great Work.
Yule Candle Spell (Intermediate)
THE ALTAR
- Altar bell
- Clear quartz
- Herbs: Atlantic Kelp, Black Witches Salt, Cats Claw, Cinnamon Bark, Jasmine Buds, Peppermint, Vervain & Willow Bark
- Cauldron
- Frankincense essential oil (you can use any you wish but Frankincense is particularly useful in winter to those struggling with seasonal depressions as well as for improving your overall mood and wellbeing.)
- Green candle
- Candle holder
- Candle snuffer (optional)
THE RITUAL
- Cleanse your altar by ringing your altar bell over the area to remove any malicious energies and entities.
- Cast an enclosed protective circle on your altar using the Black Witches Salt.
- Hold the clear quartz in your hands and ask for its assistance in amplifying the spell you are about to craft, either in your mind or out loud. Place the quartz in your cauldron.
- Hold each herb one at a time in your hands and ask for its assistance (either in your mind or out loud) in promoting prosperity and overall wellbeing in your life. When you’re ready, drop it into the cauldron.
- Once you have completed step 4 with each herb, mix the herbs all together in the cauldron with your hands and focus on your intention. Continue mixing until you feel like you have worked your energy and magick through the herbs – take as much time as you feel you need.
- Anoint your green candle with frankincense oil.
- Dress the candle with the herbs you mixed earlier.
- Place the candle in your candle holder.
- When you’re ready, light the candle and envision the spell working to help bring you abundance and improve your wellbeing until it has burnt all the way down*
*Never leave a burning candle unattended & always be prepared to put out a fire if needed.
Head to our Yule Altar setup blog to learn how to set up the perfect winter solstace altar, and here for our tips & tricks on Celebrating Yule in the Southern Hemisphere
