five sixteenths blog: Expertly Blend Essential Oils for the Winter Solstice

We are entering winter time now!! December 21st marks the first day of winter or the Winter Solstice. This is the shortest day & longest night of the year. While we're entering the coldest time of the year, the days will actually start getting lighter. I know that the winter months can become a bit depressing with the lack of light, the cold, and the over all less-spending-time-outside...but the good thing is the darkest days are behind us!

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In this post about blending essential oils for fall, I talked a bit about Mabon. Today I want to talk to you about Yule. Yule falls at the Winter Solstice. We get two solstices a year - one in the summer (Litha) and one in winter. At this time, rather than the light & dark being in balance, one falls longer than the other. In the case of the Winter Solstice the length of day light hours is far fewer than the length of the night. This sabbat of the Wheel of the year is a solar festival - celebrating the return of the sun. It's kind of hard to think about the fact that we're getting more sunlight in the middle of winter and that at the Summer Solstice we're dropping into fewer sunlit hours. Kinda messes me up personally with the cold of winter. Now, December 22nd is not going to immediately see an enormous uptick in daylight hours....but we will begin to slowly creep up as the days go by.

Reason for the Season

Winter Solstice and the celebration of Yule are pagan traditions that have since evolved into more well known festivals of light during this season....Christmas being the most dominant. We are celebrating the return of the light and the hope for warmer, longer days. Bringing in an evergreen tree, decorating with lights, etc have roots in solar celebrations. Saturnalia, celebrated by early Romans around the 17th-23 of December, is said to also be a solar festival.

I like to associate each solstice or equinox with a phase of the moon. While my correspondences don't coincide with more common associations....I still like to mention it. I associate the Winter Solstice with the last quarter moon. A time to move into reflection, releasing, and preparation. As we move into sort of a hibernation mode it is time to sit with what is the rest of the year and plan for the new, to release what is no longer needed, to reflect on how far we've come and decide where we need to go. I sort of follow the astrological year with the new year starting at the end of March when the new moon is in Aries (the first sign of the zodiac) so I see the Spring Equinox as the New Moon season of the year....but we'll get to that in another blog post!

Essential oils for the Season

So even though the days are creeping lighter, we're still faced with a lot of darkness. There are a few types of oils that we want to work with - I think of them in three categories:

Holly - grounding, Jolly - uplifting, and Christmas - doTERRA holiday blends

These three categories will help you create multiple blends inspired by the season. Taking one oil from each category will mean an amazing blend, perfect for the season. Here's a breakdown of each category:

Holly - grounding

Choose tree, root, and fir oils. Since these oils are derived from trees or roots they are close to the earth, stable, & unmoving. Arbovitae, Birch, Cassia, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Douglas Fir, Myrrh, Sandalwood, & Cedarwood are great examples of these oils.

Jolly - uplifting

This category is comprised of mints & citrus oils. Minty oils do a great job of invigorating. They can give us open airways and a burst of motivation. I often use peppermint as a quick energy boost and pick me up. Mint oils include Eucalyptus, Melaleuca (Tea Tree), Peppermint, Spearmint, & Wintergreen. Citrus oils are also uplifting and since they come from sunny fruits, they give us the hope & joy that is needed for the season. Citrus oils give brightness to the oil blends of this season. Oils to use are Bergamot, Grapfruit, Citrus Bliss, and Wild Orange. Another uplifting and citrus-y oil is Frankincense. While not derived from a citrus fruit but rather from tree resin, Frankincense has an uplifting and inspiring effect.

Christmas - doTERRA Holiday Blends

There are two Holiday Blends thrown in from doTERRA this year - Holiday Peace and Holiday Joy. Both are fine blends on their own and if you don't have either you can sub in something like On Guard for Holiday Joy and Balance for Holiday Peace. Each scent is a great blend of oils for this season - spicy oils like cinnamon & cassia, with grounding oils like douglas fir and birch, as well as a bit of citrus like grapefruit and wild orange.

Here are four blends perfect for the holiday season:

Comfort & Joy

Blending traditional scents of the season, this pairing gives you a supportive aroma. Holiday Joy is composed of many of the protective oils in the On Guard blend, but also also adds Douglas & Siberian Fir. The emotional properties of On Guard - strengthening boundaries & encouraging independence - blend well with the properties of Douglas and Siberian firs - generational wisdom & connection to the present. Frankincense uplifts the spirits while Myrrh grounds the soul. Diffuse equal parts of each oil or combine in a roller bottle with fractionated coconut oil to carry this protective yet connecting blend with you.

Peace on Earth

Bergamot is my personal favorite essential oil. It is the oil of self-assurance and it is just sunshine in a bottle. It is similar to Lemon, but it is deeper yet brighter. If you don't have Bergamot you need to get two bottles!! Holiday Joy is a blend of tree & root oils with a bit of Frankincense. This oil reminds us to seek our truth and stand strong & peaceful. Adding in Bergamot, the oil of Self-Acceptance, allows us to rest self assured in our truth. It is an oil of hope & brightness in this dark season! Equal parts of each oil will create the perfect blend. Too much citrus and it will be overpowering. Equal parts create the perfect balance.

O, Christmas Tree

Composed of all wood and tree oils, this blend is a true Christmas blend. Just as if you're standing in a calm forest Vetiver brings us into the now, it centers us back to our bodies. Douglas Fir enlightens us to generational wisdom & learning from the past - reminiscent of traditions during this holiday time. Cedarwood is the oil that connects the here & now to the past...it is the oil of community and brings us together this holiday season. Cedarwood supports us in knowing we are not alone. Sometimes in these cold winter months we may find it hard to connect - especially if we are away from family - but this blend helps us remember that there are traditions to carry on and new traditions to create as we move through this season of light. Equal parts of this blend work together as well. Each oil balances nicely with the next.

Winter Wonderland

Douglas Fir & Peppermint blend together to create a fresh scent. Peppermint is an extremely joyful oil. It is uplifting and invigorating! Pairing it with Douglas Fir creates an openness and willingness to learn from the past. Equal parts of each oil works perfect for this blend. Each is a strong scent but they balance each other nicely.

This season is a season of connecting with each other but also connecting to ourselves, connecting to our spiritual paths and connecting to the movement of the seasons. I think the best part about celebrating the Wheel of the Year and the changing of the seasons is that we can learn how the seasons affect us emotionally and spiritually. And then from that we can grow!

So, bright blessing for Yule everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Solstice....however you're celebrating this season of light. If you want to learn more about essential oils click here. I'd love to chat with you about essential oils and your spiritual journey, so hit me up if you have any questions!

xoxo, Moe

All info in this blog post is from my own personal experiences with essential oils. Emotional associations are from my favorite resource book Emotions & Essential Oils. The doTERRA website also has more information on essential oils.