Solstice is around the corner, and every year, without fail, I celebrate on the 21st of December (or June). Is that the exact moment the Solstice hits? Not always. Do I care? Absolutely not.
It’s funny because I’m incredibly precise about the exact moment the full or new moon peaks. But with Solstice, I’ve never bothered with the astronomical exactness. I choose the 21st out of pure habit, and honestly…it just makes me happy. So that’s the day my magic happens.
This year, my ritual will include spellcasting and a little time working with Inti, the Sun God. Later in the day, I’m connecting with a witch friend, and maybe some of us will gather again in the evening. I don’t know yet. I like the looseness of it. The whole day is an opening rather than an obligation.
I’m sharing this with you because Solstice, for me, is one of the last remaining holy days that hasn’t been swallowed by expectation, commercialization, or performance. And that, truly, is part of its beauty:
No one has co-opted it.
No one has commodified it.
No one has decided what it should look like.
There’s no cultural script telling me I need to cook a feast, host an entire family, exchange a mountain of gifts that turn into clutter and then landfill, or deal with tough conversations about politics or boundaries or whatever the holiday stew happens to be that year.
Solstice is pure, unpressured magic, a sacred day that still belongs to itself.
And while many of us celebrate Hanukkah or Christmas or other holidays during this season, I want to offer you the energy I bring to Solstice, as a possibility rather than a chore.
This is the question I begin the day with:
What would make today feel like a moment of true connection with my spirit, with existence, with the creative intelligence of the world, with my purpose?
What desire wants to be named?
What prayer wants to be spoken?
What part of you wants to feel seen by you first?
Many people write “Christmas lists”, a simple practice of naming what they hope to receive. But beyond the toys and sweaters and gadgets, that ritual points to something much older and much more sacred: the human impulse to articulate our desires and speak them into the world.
So when I talk about a “Christmas list,” I’m not talking about gifts under a tree. I’m talking about the deeper, quieter invitation to name what you want, to acknowledge what your spirit is reaching toward, and to give those desires the dignity of being spoken out loud.
In my tradition, this is intention-setting.
It’s spellwork.
It’s desire as a form of truth-telling.
And when you take even a few minutes to connect inward in that way, everything else the holidays demand becomes easier, not because the chaos disappears, but because you are more resourced, spiritually anchored, and in deeper conversation with your truth.
And of course, Solstice carries one of the most profound metaphors life offers us. We arrive at the darkest point of the year, and then, in a way that feels almost invisible at first, the sun begins its slow return. The days lengthen by seconds, and then minutes, and eventually we feel it again in our skin, in our mood, in our hope.
I carry that teaching into every new year. Even when things look bleak or stagnant or uncertain, the light has already started shifting back toward us. The renewal begins long before we’re aware of it. We don’t have to feel it for it to be real.
So if you celebrate Solstice, or simply acknowledge it in your own quiet way, I’d genuinely love to hear how you honor this day. These moments of connection between us, between our practices, between our stories, remind me how many of us are walking with intention even in times of what seems like the zombie apocalypse.
May this Solstice bring you the hope you need, the clarity you want, and the reassurance that when it’s darkest, it’s just before dawn.
Happy Solstice, and Happy Holidays.
Courage, truth, and infinite love,
PS. If this season has you thinking about what you want, what you’re being called toward, what kind of magic you want to practice in the coming year, you might want to join the waitlist for Liberation Magic. It’s where I share updates about the next cohort, but more importantly, it’s where I hold space for people who are ready to do this work with intention and integrity. No pressure. Just an open door for when you feel the pull. Join the waitlist here.
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I don’t believe in magic, but I know that it works!
Magic is not a belief system, it’s a practice that works. Don’t believe me? Come try it out. If it doesn’t work, you lose nothing. But if it does… your dream life is about to begin!
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“El poder está en la acción.”
— Maritza Schafer