9 Simple Rituals For The End Of The Year

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

Happy Sunday, Soothers. Guess what: I bought a house! My little nature witch cottage has been brought to life and with any luck I am drinking a warm mug of tea on the porch overlooking the creek right now as you read this. I have so much to say on this entire process and trust I will record many a podcast on the home buying process, to make it as transparent as possible. But for now I am trying to relish and be present in the culmination of a dream about 3 years in the making. And surely I am having some shift shock, in moving from 17 years living in Washington, D.C. in modern (ish) apartment buildings, to owning a home that’s nearly 300 years old in a town of 100 people in rural Virginia.

While I get my feet more firmly planted on the ground, I may take some time off the Soother here and there this month. Not totally sure yet. But I thought either way, to mark this winding down of the year, I would share some rituals.

I love me a ritual! Life is a ritual. Rituals are intention. They bring focused attention/intention to a desire or to a cultivation, and I’ve just never been able to get enough of them. And December is a great time of the year to do rituals for many reasons, including that the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the longest night, takes place this month. So here are some of my favorite rituals, some I’ve created, and some I’ve sourced from other places, to carry you through December.

1. Make a simmer pot. I love to do this to help freshen up the energy in my home for the holidays. Get a big pot/dutch oven, fill it 2/3rds with water, and put in all the holiday-ish things you can think of: orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cranberries, nutmegs, pine needles, whatever feels good and right to you. Bring it to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer and let it simmer all day in your house, the steam and fragrance wafting throughout your spaces to nourish the energy.

2. Take a self-retreat. I wrote a guide a year or two ago (along with a worksheet) for you to plan out some intentional time for self-reflection at the end of the year. Read it here.

3. Go on a “threshold walk.” Wednesday, December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere will be one of the best times to do any sort of ritual that calls to you, because it’s the Winter…