A Solstice Ritual for Any Hemisphere: Reflect, Renew, and Meet Future You

Why this is a universal Solstice Ritual

When we talk about Solstices, it’s so common to add a qualifier to it: the Winter Solstice. The Summer Solstice.

This is the perfect framing for pre-modern societies. Back when travel was much more challenging, humanity’s experiences of Solstices were always local. It was always either the Summer or Winter Solstice.

From a more modern perspective, it made sense to start calling it the June or December Solstice. (More accurate, less poetic…)

In our meta-modern world, we have commercial flights and easy ways to connect digitally over time zones. This allows us to see that Solstices are even more special than our ancestors believed.

Here's the thing:

Solstices are a global dance with polarities

In reality, every Solstice is a Summer/Winter or Winter/Summer Solstice, depending on where you are in the world. For instance, as someone who lives in the Northern Hemisphere, the June Solstice is a Summer/Winter Solstice: While I experience the longest day, my friends in Australia are wrapped in the longest night.

From this perspective, Solstices are the ultimate Yin-Yang, a curious interplay of light and shadow.

As Albert Camus so beautifully put it in one of my favorite quotes ever:

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”

It’s never just winter. It’s always winter and summer.
It’s never just light or just dark.
It’s always the interplay, the cosmic dance, between expansion and contraction, outward energy and inner reflection.

Every Solstice invites us to truly feel into both poles, to honor the abundance of light or the quiet wisdom of darkness, knowing that the other is always held within.

That’s why I’ve created a Solstice Ritual that works for every hemisphere and every season.

But first, let's explore:

Why rituals are so important

In a world that glorifies busyness and relentless productivity, taking the time to sit with yourself and the turning of the sun can feel indulgent.

It isn’t.

At their core, rituals are intentional acts that create sacred space and time. They get us into the present moment, allowing us to say to ourselves and to life:

“I’m pausing long enough to actually be here.”

Rituals act as:

• Anchors: Modern life tends to be fast, loud, and relentlessly “on.” Rituals slow things down and bring presence back to the present moment.
• Rhythm-resetters: When you sync up with the Solstice, it's easy to remember that you belong to something larger than your day-to-day reality: the seasons, the earth, the natural cycles... and the entire universe.
• Mirrors: A ritual is a gentle invitation to honestly reflect about the past and present, as well as your desired future.
• Nourishment: Rituals feed your soul and the parts of you that often get neglected in daily life.

When you do a ritual, you engage with reality more fully and intentionally. This is even more true when you do recurring rituals. Which brings me to the next point:

Why this Solstice Ritual is based on the Spiral of Growth

Most of us have the conscious or subconscious belief that growth is supposed to be linear. The story goes something like this: You heal a pattern, learn a lesson, “fix” yourself… and then move forward in a straight upward line, never to revisit that theme again.

You and I both know that’s not how life works.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s the ancient idea that everything is just cyclical—like the seasons repeating over and over. While there's depth and wisdom in that, it can sometimes feel a bit discouraging: “Wait, am I just going in circles forever?”

Neither of these mindsets feels quite right to me. That's why I like the concept of a spiral: it brings linear and cyclical growth together, and yet manages to go beyond it.

Here's what it looks like when you imagine life as a spiral of growth:

• Throughout life, you might revisit similar themes (money, love, purpose, boundaries, belonging, creative expression…).
• But you never revisit them as the same person. With each turn of the spiral, you bring more wisdom and awareness to the experience.

In other words: You’re not stuck in an endless loop, you’re circling back to themes from a new perspective, wiser than before.

The Solstice is a perfect moment to step back and notice your own spiral of growth:

• Where did life bring you back to something old, but invite you to respond in a new way?
• What did you think you had “finished” that turned out to have a deeper layer?
• Where did you surprise yourself with how much more skillful you were this time around?

The ritual you’re about to do is designed to:

1. Help you review the last turn of your spiral with kindness and curiosity.
2. Invite Future You—a wiser, future version of you—to walk a few steps ahead and hold out their hand.

Preparing for your Solstice Ritual

You can do this ritual:

• On the exact Solstice,
• Within a few days before or after,
• Or whenever you feel a strong “time is shifting” energy in your life.

1. Choose your time

You’ll get the most out of this if you set aside dedicated time:

• If you’re doing it all in one sitting:
  • Block about 60 minutes of uninterrupted space.
• If you prefer two shorter sessions:
  • Block 2 × 30 minutes for Part 1 (Review) and Part 2 (Renew with Future You) on the same day or two nearby days.

If you already know you’ll want to revisit this at the next Solstice (June or December), your birthday, or another turning point, add a reminder to your calendar now. Make Future You’s life easier.

2. Optional: Prepare your space

You don’t need anything fancy to prepare your space. What matters is that you mark this as special.

A few ideas:

• Light a candle or switch on a small lamp that you don’t usually use.
• Bring in something from nature: a stone, flower, leaf, shell, or a bowl of water.
• If you like, take a short shower or wash your face and hands as a mini “threshold crossing.”

The message here is: I’m stepping out of ordinary time into sacred time.

3. Choose how you’ll capture insights

This ritual will spark reflections, ideas, and maybe unexpected clarity.

Decide where they’ll go:

• A notebook or journal
• A note-taking app (Apple Notes, Notion, Obsidian, etc.)
• A document on your computer
• A stack of loose paper if you like to spread things out

Whatever you choose, stick with one place for the whole ritual if possible. That way, when you return at the next Solstice or turning point, you can see your spiral more clearly.

Want another ritual to support your next cycle?

If you enjoy working with turning points, you might also like my New Moon Ritual, which guides you through setting intentions at the start of each lunar cycle. It pairs beautifully with this Solstice ritual: one anchors your year at the big seasonal turning points, the other supports your month-to-month unfolding.

Explore the New Moon ritual for setting intentions.

Part 1: Review your spiral

Before you can consciously choose who you’re becoming, it’s helpful to honor who you’ve been.

Think of this as a gentle, seasonal review—not a performance review with yourself as the undervalued employee.

You can focus on the period since the last Solstice, the past year, or any stretch of time that makes sense to you right now.

Take a breath, drop into your body for a moment, and then explore the questions below. You don’t have to answer all of them; let a few that “spark” you lead the way.

Reflection questions for your review

1. What successes did you celebrate this period? It doesn’t matter how small they are, they deserve to be acknowledged and celebrated.
2. What challenges did you deal with during this time?
3. What did you learn during this period that your past self didn’t know?
4. Who were you during this time that you have never been before?
5. What aspects of the past did you revisit this period? This could be something like practicing an old hobby again, reconnecting with friends, looking at pictures, etc.
6. If applicable: what is an area where you lost hope during this time? And what might be needed to regain that hope?

If you’re short on time or attention, here’s the one Solstice reflection question to prioritize:

What is the very best thing that happened in this period of your life?
(This could be huge and visible, or quiet and mostly inside you.)

Let yourself linger here.
Savor it.
Write about why it mattered, how it changed you, and what it reveals about your values and desires.

If you like, you can close this part by jotting down a few simple sentences, such as:

• “The main themes of this season were…”
• “I’m proud of myself for…”
• “If I could meet the version of me who started this cycle, I’d tell them…”

This completes the review of the last turn of your spiral and prepares the ground for what comes next.

Part 2: Renew with the help of Future You

Now we shift from Who have I been? to Who am I becoming? This is where Future You comes in.

Who is Future You?

Future You is your ideal future self:

• A version of you who has moved further along your spiral of growth.
• Someone who has lived through challenges you haven’t yet met—and made it through.
• Familiar and yet wiser and more experienced than you.

Future You also knows everything you know now—and carries the insights you haven’t discovered yet. Your ideal future self understands your fears and patterns with compassion, and wants to support you, not scold you.

You don’t have to “believe” in anything specific to work with Future You. You can treat this as:

• A deep imagination exercise,
• A way of accessing your own inner wisdom,
• Or a spiritual connection with a timeline of you that already exists.

A simple Future You visualization

You can do this visualization on your own, or listen to my 15-minute guided meditation for meeting your Future Self, if you prefer to be guided.

1. Settle in
Sit or lie down comfortably. Take a few slow breaths. Feel the weight of your body being held by whatever you’re resting on.

2. Imagine the path of your life as a spiral
See or sense the spiral you’ve been walking. Notice that you’re standing at a Solstice point—a turning point—on that spiral.

3. Call in Future You
Imagine yourself some distance ahead on that spiral—maybe a year from now, maybe more. (Let the timing be whatever feels right for you.) See Future You standing or sitting somewhere that feels aligned for them.

4. Notice the details
How is Future You standing or sitting? What’s the expression on their face? What does their energy feel like: calm, clear, playful, wise, quietly powerful?

5. Ask a few questions
When you’re ready, ask Future You (silently or out loud):

“What do you most want me to know about where I am right now?”
“What have you let go of between my time and yours?”
“What support or practices helped you get from here to there?”
“Is there anything you wish I would stop doing—or start doing sooner?"

When you’re ready to conclude, take a moment to thank Future You.

6. Gently come back
You can then gently come back to your physical space. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Open your eyes if they were closed.

Capture what you received

Write down what came through:

• Any messages, images, or phrases
• How Future You looked, felt, or carried themselves
• How it felt to be in the presence of Future You

Then, translate your experience into a few concrete threads:

• “Future Me is inviting me to…”
• “Over this next cycle, I am ready to let go of…”
• “One small step I can take in the next week is…”

This is how the ritual moves from insight into integration.

Want to be guided through a live Solstice Ritual?

The written ritual above grew out of a December Solstice practice I created. I also led a June Solstice ritual that explores similar themew but in a more buzzing, communal, and playful tone.

To show how flexible Solstice rituals can be across seasons and hemispheres, I’ve included the recording here. Think of it as a companion journey: same core intentions, different flavor.

You can use:

• The written ritual when you want quiet, self-paced reflection.
• The recording when you want to be guided through the experience.

Note: The recording is approximately 33 minutes. You may want a comfortable place to sit or lie down and your journal nearby for writing down any insights you receive.