Winter Solstice - the Sacred DEATH portal

Erin Frances
Jun 18
5 min read

An Invitation to Descent, Integration & Soul Renewal

I’ve had a really interesting relationship with winter over the years. My first real work with winter came in the form of my menstrual cycle and the deep acceptance required to create stillness and ceremony during one of the most uncomfortable phases of the menstrual cycle. I truly believe the inner work of the menstrual cycle is deeply accepting all that we move through.

In recent years work with winter has been in the acceptance that the outer world changes and as it becomes more challenging to deal with we must meet it and change our habits to create more ease. I’ve been able to overcome these inner and outer limits by doing the inner work and the outer work in the form of cold therapy which I’ll share a little more about that next blog.

The official beginning of Winter is almost here with the winter solstice on 21 June in the southern hemisphere. We can reside to the fact that this change is occurring and that there are deeper and more discerning ways to work with and embrace this winter season.

There are practical and powerful ways to connect with this season to amplify the planetary and cosmic energy and invitations that are here for us.

In the Southern Hemisphere, Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year—a holy still point in the turning of the Great Wheel. Known in old pagan traditions as Yule, this portal invites us into the deepest descent—into ourselves, the soil, the soul of things.

It is the season of sacred death. Not the tragic kind, but the initiatory kind—the type that empties us to make space for what wants to be reborn through us.

This is a time to rest, reflect, recalibrate. It is the womb before the rebirth.The dark moon of the solar cycle.The sacred cocoon before emergence.

🌏 What Winter Solstice Means in the Natural World

In the physical, observable world around us, the Earth is in hibernation. The trees have dropped their leaves. Many animals have slowed down or gone into retreat. The soil is quiet, nourishing what we cannot yet see.

Here in the South, the June Solstice occurs when the South Pole is tilted furthest from the Sun. This means:

Daylight is at its shortest; the Sun barely climbs in the sky.
Temperatures drop, calling the body inward.
Life force is drawn down and in, toward the roots, toward the core.

Nature is not blooming.She is gestating.And so are we.

To ignore this natural rhythm is to work against the Earth’s breath. To honour it is to remember we are cyclical beings, too.

🌌 The Celestial Mirror: Sidereal Astrology & Planetary Influences

Unlike tropical astrology (which fixes the zodiac to seasons), sidereal astrology aligns with the actual constellations as seen in the night sky. At the June Solstice, the Sun is sidereally in Gemini—a constellation of duality, integration, and bridging the mind with heart.

Under this sky:

We're asked to reconcile polarities within ourselves: masculine/feminine, action/rest, inner/outer.
Gemini’s air element invites reflection, not from overthinking—but from listening to both sides of our nature.
With Mercury often nearby, conscious communication, clarity, and truth come into focus—not for expression yet, but for deep listening.

We are also journeying through Pluto’s long transit in Capricorn, sidereally—a planetary force that disassembles structures. Under this influence, the Solstice may unearth:

Old systems (personal or societal) ready to collapse.
Power patterns that are ready to be transformed.
Fears around control, time, ageing, or authority.

This is the alchemical fire of the void. Not chaos—but rebirth in process.

🖤 The Gifts and Challenges of the Winter Solstice Portal

✨ The Gifts:

Stillness as a teacher: Deep rest is not passive—it’s preparatory.
Shadow visibility: With less distraction, we can see ourselves more clearly.
Intuition heightening: As external light dims, inner knowing brightens.
Energetic reset: The Solstice offers a moment to reclaim rhythm and soul-truth.

⚔️ The Challenges:

Emotional residue arises: The unprocessed often surfaces in the stillness.
Existential questions emerge: “Who am I becoming?” “What no longer fits?” “What must I release?”
Cultural dissonance: Society tells us to go-go-go; but your soul is whispering slow...

This portal brings a death initiation—not of the body, but of the stories, masks, beliefs, and identities that are no longer resonant with your essence.

🜃 Alchemising the Shadow: The Descent as Devotion

The shadow is not here to shame you. It is here to show you what still aches for love. It is the doorway to wholeness.

This Solstice, alchemising the shadow begins by:

Acknowledging what hurts or haunts you—not to wallow, but to witness.
Honouring what’s complete—relationships, roles, routines that have served their season.
Inviting the deeper ‘why’—What soul essence wants to be reclaimed?

This is not a time to fix it, it's is a time to feel, forgive, and fertilise the soil of your becoming.

🔥 Rituals for Intention, Descent & Rebirth

These two rituals are designed to ground the mystical into the body and the Earth—integrating the cosmic with the cellular.

1. 🕯 The Womb Flame Ritual

For internal clarity and solar intention.

You’ll need:

A beeswax or natural candle
A quiet space
Journal and pen

Steps:

Light your candle with reverence. Imagine it as the first spark of the returning Sun.
In the dim light, journal on:
- What part of me is ready to die?
- What truth am I ready to face?
- What new light is flickering within me?
Speak aloud what you’re releasing.
When ready, write one potent intention that you will carry into the returning light.
Blow out the candle with your breath as a sacred seal.

2. 🌿 Compost Offering Ritual

For shadow alchemy and Earth integration.

You’ll need:

A leaf, bark, or stone
A biodegradable paper
Access to soil (garden, forest, pot plant)

Steps:

Write down on the paper something you're releasing—a fear, identity, habit, belief.
Wrap it in the natural material.
Hold it at your womb or heart and speak:“What is no longer mine, I offer to the Earth to transmute.”
Bury it in the soil. Let Nature compost your shadow into wisdom.

🜂 Final Words: This is the Womb. Trust Her.

This is not the time to strive or bloom. It is the time to become rich in your root, anchored in your knowing, bathed in your own depth.

Winter Solstice in the South is the holy hush where new timelines are conceived. Not in action, but in intention. Not in visibility, but in soul-space.

The darkness does not mean absence. It means gestation.And the rebirth will not come because you forced it—it will come because you trusted the descent.

Blessed Winter Solstice, beloved one.May the dark hold you.May the light find you.May your becoming be sacred.