The 13 Holy Nights

December 21, 2024 juniper stokes

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Let us prepare for the solstice.

On this darkest night of the year, we enter into a sacred portal.

A window between the old year and the new, this portal is known as the 13 Holy Nights.

The 13 Holy Nights* occur just after winter solstice, taking place from December 24 - January 6th. These dark days and long nights invite you to go inward and devote yourself to spiritual practice and inner reflection. This is a time to release what you do not wish to carry forward, while you plant the seeds of what you want to create in the new year. (In many ways, our tradition of making new year’s resolutions is a watered down version of this ancient, sacred practice.)

Though the essence of the 13 Holy Nights is quite simple, understanding the energetics of this time and incorporating a few specific intentions into these coming weeks will transform your overall experience. Let’s dive in ;)

Seasonal Reflections & Taoist Energetics

During the 13 Holy Nights, we are tending the ground and receiving the seeds of what will come to life in the new year. These seeds are divine inspirations and blessings from spirit, and the more consciously we can receive them, the more ability we’ll have to keep them well-tended in the coming year.

To help prepare the ground for these cosmic seeds, it helps to understand the elemental nature of a seed cycle:

When we step into the holy nights, we’re leaving the season of harvest. Autumn is the fruit-bearing season — we’ve seen what our efforts have produced. We’ve celebrated our successes and grieved our losses.

Autumn is associated with the metal element. In TCM, metal is associated with grief but also clarity. It’s a withdrawing time, and while we grieve all that must be released, we find greater clarity around what truly matters as we prepare for the winter ahead.

As we enter winter, we look to the fruits of our harvest for the seeds within, drawing forth the beginnings of new life as we consume or compost the old. We don’t yet know what the next harvest will bring, but we do know that it’s time to let go of that which would rot. It’s time to prepare our seeds for the earth.

Winter is associated with the water element. This is a time for conserving and nurturing our energy, a time to restore and rest between sunnier seasons. The inner stillness of water invites us to enter into meditation and introspection.

In the spring, some of our seeds will sprout. In the frozen dark of winter, we don’t yet know which seeds will root. And in the spring, we often still can’t tell what a seed will become. Yet we begin to see the sparks of life renewed.

There is strong, wood element energy in the spring. The strength these little sprouts need to push through the earth and into the light is similar to the upward energy of expansion we often feel as winter recedes.

With summer comes the blossoming season. We joyfully take pleasure in the beautiful blooms and aromas around us. We now know that which we are tending. We make choices around where our energy goes — which plants have the greatest potential? Which are to be pruned or weeded away?

Summer is associated with the fire element. Passion, joy, connection, and vitality encourage us to be present in each moment. We have the energy to do the work needed as we care for our plants and plans.

And with this, we come back to autumn, the harvest that once again brings us the seeds for winter.

But what of earth, you may ask? Where does this element fit in?

In some schools of thought, the earth element is associated with late summer, a season of grounding through transition. Yet earth can also be seen as the sacred pause between any two seasons, like the moment of equilibrium between an inhale and exhale.

Tending the Elements Within

While these elements have seasonal associations, they are all always present.

During the depths of winter, we can find greater wellness and prepare ourselves for the holy nights by tending the balance of the elements in our lives.

Water

At home in winter, the element of water invites us into stillness. This time of year is often jam-packed with travel, social gatherings, and last minute to-dos as the days of the year run out. This energy is the complete opposite to what winter energetics would encourage us to do.

While most of us can’t totally tune out the busyness — and honestly, I won’t want to! — we can bring balance to our water by making time for stillness. Daily meditation, quiet nights, sleeping in, and moving at a slower pace will help your water find peace.

Wood

It’s not the time for the action-oriented wood energy of spring, but we can prepare by creating space for the seeds that will become our future dreams. Nourish rather than push right now. Look ahead and make plans, but let go of taking action just yet.

Fire

This is the time to tend your inner flame. Find warmth in your heart as you practice gratitude for all you love — your loved ones and pets, your favorite foods and books, joyful memories…whatever fills your heart with warmth.

Earth

The sacred pause is your ally. Though more of an equinox energy, the earth element during winter invites us to find moments of balance with the extremes of the season. Does your body need movement or rest? A warm soup or cooling winter salad? Deep listening to your inner wisdom is key here.

Metal

The inner clarity of metal is available to us through letting go and deep introspection. If anything has been hanging on, now is the time to clear it away before the new year begins. Note the insights that arise within the stillness of your meditations, paying attention to new stories and interpretations of events that emerge around the year behind you.

Entering the Holy Nights

Energetically, the solstice is the peak of winter season, the stillness and yin energy of water. We receive our seeds in the dark.

Cosmically, the Earth inhales.

The pause begins.

This great inhalation draws the energy of the stars to us, so the seeds planted within are imbued with celestial gifts from spirit.

Of course, the most impactful star for all of us on Earth is the Sun. The solar return of divine light and life begins.

Between the winter solstice and the night of the 24th, we prepare.

We have these three days to tend the energetic womb where our seeds will be planted. Our practices during this time will help us receive the energetic imprints of the seeds planted in us by spirit.

During these days, lay the foundation for the holy nights. Clean yourself and your home. Let go of internal and external clutter so there is space for the messages of spirit to enter your vessel. Spend time in meditation, allowing your own energetic body to come into alignment with your true nature.

At sunset on December 24th the 13 Holy Nights commence, extending through sunset on January 6th.

During this time, we receive the imprints of our future experiences from spirit. By bringing conscious awareness and prayer to this sacred time, we can commune with the divine as we receive our own blessed seeds.

Deepen into spiritual and reflective practices, whatever this looks like for you. Light a candle, get out your journal, and draw oracle cards. Record your meditations, journeys, and dreams.

These 13 nights correlate with the 13 moons of the year. What do you wish for each coming cycle to bring you? What oracle card will bless each coming month and the year as a whole?

All of these practices help us consciously receive the imprinted seeds of spirit. With our spiritual awareness online, we have more agency and power to co-create the experiences we wish to call forth in the coming year.

I’ve worked with the energy of this season for decades and have distilled my process into a beautiful workbook that anyone can use to become more intentional with reviewing the year before and entering into the year anew.

This workbook is available for immediate download, and you can get your own copy here:

Reflect, Integrate, Envision: A Workbook for the Soul

The 13 Holy Nights and 12 Days of Christmas

I’m sure at this point, many of you are reflecting on the obvious correlations between Christian holidays and these holy nights.

The number 13 has long been associated with the feminine, relating to the thirteen lunar cycles of the year. And, this very yin time of year can be thought of holding a receptive, feminine energy.

With the oppression of the feminine came the demonization of the number 13 and undermining feminine energetics. By turning 13 to 12 and nights to days, Christianity shifted this sacred window away from the feminine and towards the masculine.

We all know that Christmas Eve correlates with the 24th, which begins the 13 nights, and Christmas day is the 25th of December, which kicks off the 12 days.

This works well within Christianity, as the 25th is Christ’s birthday — a date probably merged with Sol Invictus, a pagan sun god celebration. Then, the 12 days could correspond with the 12 calendar months, rather than 13 moon cycles.

Though the suppression of the feminine leaves a toxic legacy that we are still healing, there is actually beauty in the synergy of the 13 Holy Nights and 12 Days of Christmas.

Christ Consciousness is that of divine love. Through his incarnation on Earth, Christ brought forth the solar energy of radiant, unconditional love — a gift literally of the stars imprinted upon the Earth as a seed to benefit all of humanity.

Rather than rejecting the historical influences that have brought us to these festivities and long winter nights, we can invite the blessings of our ancestors into our hearts and homes this winter solstice by tuning into the rituals of the 13 nights and opening to Christ Consciousness within our hearts.

A Resource to Consciously Connect with the 13 Moons

For those of you who wish to really tune into the energetics of lunar cycles this year, these moon pages are literally life-changing.

I’ve used these lunar guides to help me overcome extreme burnout, heal my own monthly cycles, and deepen my connection with the rhythms of the natural world.

Each year, I release a new and updated version of the Moon Pages. For 2025, you’ll not only receive a lunar attunement guidebook, monthly planning pages, and cycle tracking pages — you’ll also get a ritual guide with the astrological energetics of each new and full moon.

*The concept of the 13 Holy Nights came to me via one of my favorite Toaist energy healers, Sherry Bauer, and it came to her through medical qi gong instructor Damarus Jarboux. Beyond that, the origins are a mystery.

Alchemessence™