The other night, for our Magical Experiments meeting, we decided to do a Yule Feast and Ritual. The Feast was Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, carrots, beans, garlic bread and spiced wine and cider. It was an excellent way to celebrate the solstice, with good friends. But it was also a magical act, in and of itself, celebrating each other's fortune and also promoting that prosperity for the next year. The ritual was a simple, but focused working. We were first given papyrus reed and a pen. On the paper we wrote down or drew a symbol of something we wanted to get rid or banish from our lives. We had the option of telling others what we were getting rid of and then we lit it on fire and focused our intention on banishing it from our lives.
Afterwards we were each given a candle and on the candle we wrote or carved a symbol that represented what we wanted to bring into the new year. We burned the candles for a bit, but then snuffed them. I have mine on my desk and I will light it again on the first of the year.
Tonight we're buying the ashes, so that what was banished is recycled to the Earth.