~The Practice
Thirteen Magical Nights is set in December during the Winter Solstice. This is a personal practice and is shared only with your own heart. Pick an evening just before the Winter Solstice. It can be the New Moon just before the Winter Solstice, or it can be Winter Solstice Eve. Dim the lights, light a candle, play your favorite soft music, and sit with your journal and heart. Bring awareness to your body, close your eyes, and notice your breath. Take three complete breaths. Gently open your eyes and consider your intentions, dreams, and wishes for the New Year. Feel each dream. Feel each intention. Feel each wish. Hold them true in your heart. Sit with them in silence and stillness, for each has something to say. Listen.
Write down each intention on separate scraps of paper. Each intention, each wish, each dream is written as a statement of fact. You are setting each intention in the life that you are calling in, as if it has already happened.
Store these dreams in a special box, envelope, or bowl. Pick one intention at random each night. Do not peek, open, or read. Each wish will be burned unread nightly after sunset, starting on Winter Solstice Eve. Each burning is offered unseen, with trust, leaving one intention to be read on New Year’s Day, January 1.
The last wish, dream, or intention… this one becomes your touchstone for the year ahead. Something to return to throughout the year when you feel lost or unsure. You can place this dream on your altar, or in a special box, or journal. Return to it often.
Write yourself a letter, a letter that will be opened and read at next year’s Winter Solstice in reflection of the past year. This letter is yours to write as you wish, setting your dreams and intentions in writing. Store this letter in a journal, special box or on your altar.
This is a practice of dreams, of self-love and care, a practice of manifestation, trust, and release.
This practice requires an outer quiet space and an inner quiet space. and works well with gentle a asana practice, meditation, and journaling.
~ A Winter Solstice Practice ~
New Moon – Winter Solstice Eve – New Year’s Day
December 19, 2025 – January 1, 2026
December 19, 2025 – New Moon
A Quiet Beginning
Sometime on this day or evening
Write 13 intentions, statements of fact for the year ahead
You may begin with
I am…
I am becoming…
Tear each intention into a single strip of paper
Fold each strip closed
Set them aside for the following evening
December 20 – Winter Solstice Eve
The First Night
Place all 13 folded intentions into a bowl
Gently mix them
Without looking, draw one folded intention
Do not open it
Burn in a fire safe bowl
As it burns, you may quietly say
May what is meant for me find me
Place the remaining folded intentions into an enveloped
The Twelve Nights
December 20 – December 31
Each evening
Place the folded intentions from your envelope into a bowl
Mix them gently
Without looking, draw one intention
Burn it in a fire safe bowl
Sit quietly for a moment
Notice what arises, in dreams, conversations, or quiet moments
January 1, 2026
What Remains
One folded intention will be left.
Do not burn it.
Unfold the paper
Read it slowly
🌙
Sit with this question
What would it mean to walk alongside this intention, rather than chase it?
Carry it gently into the year ahead
Thru soulful eyes 