The Thirteen Gifts

By Christa Gumede Buthelezi

Here we are at the end of 2025. Amazing, isn’t it?

I love to mark the solstice, that time of year when the veil is thin and we are all looking forward to new beginnings with a ritual or two. One of my favourite practices for this time of year is The Thirteen Gifts.

It is a very old custom in the Celtic tradition and has been practiced over generations with various flavors, yet remains quite simple in its execution. When you choose to do the ceremony is entirely up to you. Traditionally many begin on the 24th of December so that they finish on the 6th of January. This was called Rauhnächte which spanned the nights between Christmas Eve and Epiphany. Others begin or end on the 22nd to mark the Solstice – it’s entirely up to you but needs to be done over thirteen days.

Here are the basics:

– Take some time to sit in quiet with what you’d like to welcome in, in the new year to come.

– Create a list of thirteen wishes.

– Then write each wish out on a separate slip of paper, numbering them so that there is one wish per slip.

– Fold each wish up so that it can’t be easily read and place them all in a bowl or jar.

– Each night, for twelve nights, go outside and burn one piece of paper in a safe manner.

– Tick that wish off your list, as they are burned.

– On the thirteenth day, open the last wish and read it aloud. This is your wish to make manifest over the year. The others, those will be brought to you over the year. Be sure to review the original list once or twice throughout the year and observe how things come to be.

You can be as elaborate as you’d like, writing the wishes by candlelight, burning herbs or whatever appeals to you. The wishes might be centered on how you would like to feel or very specific in tone. You can speak each wish aloud as you fold it up, once or thrice. You might create a small fire bowl to burn the papers in, perhaps a mandala of stones underneath it. Whatever makes it feel sacred and special to you will make it a lovely way to call in all you desire over the new year.

In any case, enjoy the process. There is no wrong way to do this. Just taking time to vision the year to come is a wonderful practice, isn’t it? Sometimes the very simplest rituals are the most powerful, and this one is no exception.