How the Winter Solstice Affects Your Feng Shui: Holiday Décor, and Ancient Solstice Sites

Hey guys, welcome to Learn Feng Shui podcast where ancient tradition meets modern living. Andy Tui, I cover a different aspect of Feng Shui or Chinese metaphysics. I'm Candice Berlanga, certified Feng Shui practitioner and your host. And today's episode, we're going to be breaking down the winter solstice, the energetic shift from this deep yin or calm low energy time of year to the returning gang energy. How the flying stars begin their early transition and some easy Feng Shui adjustments for this time of year.

I'm also going to look at some Feng Shui Christmas decor and decorating with the five elements from a Feng Shui perspective that for Folklore Friday, we're going to look at how ancient sides aligned to the winter solstice and how people have honored this moment for thousands of years. Let's get into it. All right time to shift into this holiday season. I mean if you're like me, you probably have all your holiday tree up already, probably decorated for Christmas, but doesn't mean you can't add some meaning to your decor or even just take a look at what you have already up and find the Feng Shui symbolism in it coming from the December newsletter from LearnFunctiony.com. Now on Substack holiday decorating through the five elements.

Of course, this will be linked in the show notes. A seasonal way to create a home that feels as good as it looks. Winter has always been a time of symbolism. It's a time where we can bring effort greens and doors, light fireplaces and candles and decorate with color and light as an invitation for warmth connection and meaning. This feels very cozy this time of year with the cold weather set against the warm lighting your holiday decor can become part of that quiet tradition.

Not just by style and taste, but intention and selecting pieces that symbolize the energy of the season, the mood of your home and the emotions that you want to welcome it. In Feng Shui color, texture, material and shape can belong to one of the five elements and each element carries a distinct feeling or even symbolism. Together, they work to create a palette that's bowls visually and shapes the energy in your home too. Here a little gentle note on symbolism also. If you'll notice one item can be many different elements.

So for example, here winter decor rarely speaks in a single language or wreath may be circular like metal evergreen with the wood element. Dot it with berries like fire, you know, red berries. And this layered meaning isn't just something to that you need to fix or correct. It's actually part of what makes seasonal decor rich in symbolism and makes it feel alive. So there's also a little note on how to use the guy.

There's many beautiful ways to create harmony. You can choose one element to set the tone for the season. A lot of people like to decorate in one dominant color and I think that could be very beautiful. You can pair two for a signature holiday mood. Maybe you just want to do red and green, do some fire and wood or you can let balance just unfold and do what feels good already.

And then just kind of note that and look at the symbolism of it. You also don't need every single ornament or color to mean something. So some items are just there for energy and attention, but some are there because they're just pretty and that's still good fun. Shway, if you'll notice it just kind of unfold and you kind of decorate intuitively a lot of times it does actually go with the energy tone you want to set or your own energy or what you need. The next page will offer quiet inspiration and visual cues, but not rules for your functway style.

So it feels intentional, timeless, but still your own. So decorating through the five elements here, the wood element. Of course, this is very dominant this time of year. We have trees, real pine scents. You can add cedar or pine spray.

I've seen those little sticks you can put on your tree too. Greenery in Garland is the wood element. Holly, mistletoe, wooden ornaments that all represents that wood energy. And of course, the evergreen also symbolizes life force and resilience through winter. There's a concept within Chinese metaphysics called the three friends of winter in which pine, plum and bamboo are all used together to create what are called the three friends of winter that represent resilience and perseverance through this time, the coldest time.

They are at their strongest and at their peak, the plum blossoms evergreen is still green and bamboo still shoots up. You can definitely add those three elements also. I know it's like sure plums are pretty popular. That can all represent the three friends of winter. A color in spoke can be green, purple and natural wood tone fire element representing joy and warmth.

Of course, lighting and candles, point set is which has a red pointy tips that can, you know, are all fire element. And again, this is a case where you know the point set, it can be both fire and wood energy because it's green and red and also it's a growing plant, you know, especially alive ones. You can light your fireplace but add since like cinnamon, clove and anise. Those are all very fiery spices. I'm touches of fresh or fake cranberries.

Jitle glow supports harmony, so blinking, flashing lights can activate the energy. Images of cardinals, cardinals are red. Remember an activity scene is seen also as a spiritual symbol and a fire energy. So even things like angel and religious iconography is a fire energy. Maybe you put up a little altar and you, you know, and put that into the season to honor, you know, the birth of Jesus and stuff like that.

Of course, this is a lot of what the holiday celebrates if you're Christian. And you could also have the color in spoke red hot pinks. And a pinks are kind of popular also. I mentioned this with the Halloween episode that pinks are more popular for alternate color palettes. Of course, cranberry maroons, oranges, those are all very fire energy inspired.

You can also intersperses this throughout. Put them on pillows, you know, all of these colors can be different textures pillows. I actually changed out my curtains in my living room where I'm going to put my Christmas tree. And I'm using a kind of a foresty teal type green to add to the green color palette. So you can change how we're curtains, curtains, textiles, even couch covers and stuff like that.

If you're really into decorating that much, which I actually am. So there's the earth elements, stability and calm to your holiday season. You can add natural textures like burlap, clay, pine cones, twine, dry aris slices, and even woven ribbon to ground the holiday energy. If you feel like the other energies are too bright, too calming, too chaotic, you can definitely add those natural touches. And it creates a beautiful palette.

I actually put burlap on my Christmas tree because it's dominated with a bunch of different colors. And I feel like color just to me, I would make it too crazy looking. And so for the past few years, I've done burlap. And I think it's beautiful. It also pairs beautifully with plads.

You can also build a display of gingerbread houses and images of animals like reindeer. So your color inspiration can be tan, cream, clay, wheat, tear caught it, and softer pinks like creamy pinks. But remember, of course those gingerbread houses, everything is that brown color which represents that earth energy. So anything that's like clay, you could even have a lot of people have seen her doing felt ornaments, you know, you do some felt gingerbread, little gingerbread houses. You can be creative, whatever it means to you, you know, that is going to add that energy to your home.

Remember, it's all about intention and inspiration when you come to Feng Shui design. So the rules can be very flexible here. The metal element celebration and clarity. So for clarity and joy, decorate with bells. Bells are traditionally used as protection to work off on one of energies.

And of course, there's even that movie. It's a wonderful life, right? Where that symbolism of every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. So you can definitely put in some of that type of energy to it. Display white Christmas trees, use silver, gold, and metallic accents.

Your color in spoke can be white, silver, metallic, gold, and pearl. And this is a, this is definitely a time where more than the colors can represent more than one element. Looking at the water element, if you think of snow, of course, you're going to think of the winter white, the snow, and that is water element. The snow is frozen water. So it represents introspection and winter stillness.

So you can add this again for reflection and introspection. Remember the water element stays most active in the winter time. Even though it's frozen, that is the time it's that strongest. You can add things like icicles, snowflakes, and you didn't clear glass, crystal stuff like that. White fur from the animals.

You could do, I saw a beautiful display that TikTok, a gentleman was showing from dillards, and beautiful white deer and just some other animals you wouldn't really think. But if you kind of think of like those winter animals that kind of go dormant, or maybe you'll see them in the winter snow frallicking around some of those type of animals, you can think outside the box a lot too. Because I honestly wouldn't have thought about it until I saw that display. And you can look at different displays for inspiration. And just kind of look at the color and think of that animals kind of go dormant, taking it slower this season.

And really resting and use that as a reflection for what you know, would like to be doing. And of course, snowman. So your color inspiration could be navy, midnight blue charcoal, and icy blues, and whites to make the color of snow. So remember to just keep things as symbolic, Feng Shui decor can be very flexible. It's not as rigid as when you do classical Feng Shui.

And you have to map with the sectors of your home. So if you just want a little Feng Shui inspired design, go check out my guide, which again will be linked in the show notes. And now turning our attention to the winter solstice, which is quickly approaching, the winter solstice marks more than just the longest night. It's a point where the earth still reaches its furthest position away from the sun. After this moment, the tilt slowly begins to move back, and the sunlight starts to increase again.

And in Chinese metaphysics, that return of the light is the return of the Yang energy. He isn't as strong as here, but it can't increase anymore. So the cycle reverses and the earth will start its tilt back towards the sun, giving us increasing light and warmer temperatures. And it's very tiny at first. We can't see it.

It's just like a seed of movement where the Qi turns and the light begins to come back. This is actually the point and Feng Shui where energy starts to shift. We know that after Lee Chun or around February 4th or so, when that first solar term comes in, that is when the flying stars will shift. That's when the new grand duke comes in. So it will no longer be the year to snake, but it'll be the year of the horse.

So yes, it was true that all that stuff and all those markers make the beginning of the new year. That's when the full shift will set in. And sometimes it even occurs until two weeks later. Okay, so there's not just this, it's not just like a flip of light switch on in the new energies there. This winter solstice marks the beginning of kind of their pre-movement.

So start observing your home sectors of, you know, these energies will start to shift. And that's not the only energy that shifts. It's also when the Yang noble men comes in for the year and the five target Shaw will shift over in a different divination systems like Taiyi and Chimen Dune job. It's when the Yen Dune shifts to what it's called the Yang Dune. So it marks the shift in the energy, but it also is when the energy will start kind of being seen.

So I talked about last week on the energy update. I talked about how the flying stars are going to be the same for December as they will be for next year. So it kind of gives us a preview of the year. So this is especially true now because we are shifting into the winter solstice and these stars effects will start to be seen. That means that yeah, just kind of start looking at the sectors for the year.

Five stars going to shift to the south. So maybe it's a time of year where you start cutting down some of the energy in the south. So kind of start tapering some of that energy down. Another notable sector will be the north. Five Tiger Shaw will kind of shift from that northeast to the north.

And remember, you don't want to take your cures down yet, but you can actually start placing cures any time from now until Lee Chun or February 3rd. So it just kind of marks the energy. You can also start activating your nubbleman. I honestly haven't made this calculations yet. And that's part of the homework I'll have to do for my fungishwai master and group that I study with.

It's also a time of year we can start kind of refreshing our home too. A lot of people will wait till January to start doing that. Light tidying up at the home, adding the cozy lighting to support that returning Yang energy. Gently use of the fire element is good. But remember, pre-New York tasks, no heavy renovations in the areas that are still going to be out for the year or some just kind of think of it that way.

Start looking at each sector and what that means for the year, especially if that is your front door, the face of your home, the sitting of your home, if you're familiar with that, or a bedroom that you sleep in, your kitchen. The impactful area like that, you're going to want to see where the stars are moving and kind of look at that tone for the year. And to do that, you can look at the newsletter again, a link to the show notes as the flying stars for the month. And that'll show you where they are for next year too, prepare for the year of the horse. And quickly from worldoffunctionade.com, winter solstice, five rituals and customs for an auspicious year.

So Dongzi, the winter solstice falls on December 22nd or Soish in 21st this year. It's one of the shortest days of the year and turning point where we start to remember done the depths of winter celebrating the return of longer daylight hours. It's traditionally a time where Chinese families gather just like Westerners do on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day to celebrate the harvest of the year. There's a famous couple which begins with Dongzi Dao Guanyan, which means the winter solstice day is a day to be celebrated and should be considered grander than the lunar new year. The latter part of the couple depicts a common theme where Chinese households get together and enjoy feast and offer prayers to the gods.

Several important rituals are observed to ensure safe and smooth sailing year ahead with good harvest abundance and auspiciousness. Number one, eating color full. The most important of the rituals is to eating of Tang Yuan, which is a delicious rice ball, warm ginger and fused soup. And traditional family start making the Tang Yuan from scratch, incidenting together and a really different color glutinous rice dough into balls and pastes filling them with peanuts, black sesame seeds or red bean paste. Behind the act of eating the sweet dessert is a wealth of cultural significance and meaning the roundness of the balls represent prosperity, togetherness and unity of the family.

With the different colors are believed to bring different kinds of good fortune. White symbolizes harmony, red symbolizes joy, pink symbolizes love, yellow symbolizes wealth, green symbolizes good health, blue symbolizes your career, a flourishing career, and purple symbolizes wisdom. There's even a recipe for glutinous rice balls and ginger syrup. Sounds very yummy, honestly. I think I'm going to eat some dumplings.

You're supposed to eat dumplings the time of year or two, but my daughter saw some kind of viral dumpling soup or soup dumpling, something like that from Walmart. I think I'll just buy the frozen ones. So that's okay to write a rice wine and dried meats in preparation for the Chinese New Year. So this time people will make dried meat sausages and rice wine so that they're ready for Chinese New Year. During the Chinese New Year which falls around the end of January, the winter solstice is also in a special day.

Offering purses to the gods is also done. So winter solstice is an auspicious day for the household to worship deities and the god of heaven. The siky rice is offered at prayer altars and two gift thanks for divine protection and to ask for blessings for the upcoming New Year. It's a day when the Thai soy also takes the mantle for the upcoming year. I've heard some different stuff on that.

So I've heard that we're talking about the energy shifting. I've also heard that the earth energies don't exactly shift in until that lunar New Year or the leachune. So this can be different depending on your school of thought, but it's extremely important. But it's thought as thought of as being important for homes to have the Thai soy and the three killings updated in place before the day to ensure smooth transition to the New Year. Some people also will go to the temple to have an amulet or a blessing made especially if they have the Thai soy.

It was important that if you have one of the zodiac signs or the Thai soy for the year like the horse, the coming year of the horse, you'll want to carry some kind of amulet. It's up to you. I'm not really too superstitious in this ancestral worship. Many households conduct rituals for ancestral worship on this day, incense burners dumplings, steamed chicken pork, as a symbolic ancestral offering and incense is burnt and prayer is led by the head of the household asking for spiritual deliverance. And for ancestors to keep a watchful eye, the young descendants of the family and the last thing you should do is avoid arguing on this day just like during Chinese New Year, a family unity is viewed with the utmost importance on winter solstice and family members should always greet each other with a courteous, auspicious greeting in order to avoid quarreling with each other on this day.

To ensure good emotion through the day, where they suggest wearing a sky dog charm, avoid discussing overly contentants or sensitive issues at the dinner table so no politics during winter solstice which honestly I can get behind for some reason my parents will love to talk about it. And let's just say we have differing views. Alright guys, well that wraps up our fun way segment. Let's go to focal or Friday and look at ancient sites that align with the winter solstice. From businessincider.com 11 ancient sites that mysteriously align with the sun on the winter solstice.

Alright guys, so again if you want the link I'll put that in the show notes. It does have pictures with it. It's time when the planet's tilt is for this way from the sun, but it also marks the time when the days are getting longer. For millennia people have looked out for that somewhat mystical day, which symbolizes the beginning of the winter and time of rebirth. Archaeologists have found many ancient sites that line up with the winter solstice sun, but the purpose of these sites often remain shrouded in mystery.

Here's 11 sites that line up with the winter solstice and what experts think about them. Number one, Nazca lines in Southeast Lima, Peru. Scientists who've studied the Nazca lines in the 1940s noticed one of them lined up perfectly with the Southern hemisphere sunset on July 21st, and of course that's their winter solstice. Apal, Kosok, and Maria Rici who studied the phenomena thought this could mean the mysterious lines could serve as some sort of astronomical calendar. That theory has since been discredited though, and we still don't know what practical or spiritual purpose these lines may have served, but the idea remains a draw for tourists around the world.

New Grainge, County Meath, Ireland. Found 26 miles north of Dublin. New Grainge, a massive circus of stone, is about 5,000 years old that makes it older than Stonehenge and the pyramids. There are a number of neolithic monuments that have solstice or equinox orientations at the heart of their architecture, indicating that these linements were core to their belief systems, said Jennifer Wexler, curator of the world of Stonehenge exhibit at the British Museum and an email to insider. New Grainge is one of the earliest of these monuments that aligns with the winter solstice, and may have inspired Stonehenge, she said they were generally built by early farmers.

Key to the survival was understanding important moments in the seasonal cycle and the cycle of the sun, as this would dictate their farming year as well as become central to their religious beliefs. Above the interest at New Grainge, a slab of rock placed horizontally creates a so-called roof box which can be seen below in the photos. I would suggest you go take a look at this. On the winter solstice, light filters through this tiny opening and creates a light beam that travels through a 62-foot passageway to an inner chamber. The beam spreads to finally illuminate the whole chamber.

There's a little doubt the building was made to mark solstice. It's impressive architecture seems entirely directed towards capturing the singular beam of light. But because this was built in prehistoric times, there's no written record of what it could have been used for. It is possible it was only used to mark time, but scientists suspect it may have been spiritual or ritual and significance. The Sun temple on Machu Picchu Peru, one of the most famous examples of ancient architecture aligning with the winter solstice is the Machu Picchu Peru.

On June 21, the winter solstice and the southern hemisphere beams a light that shines through a window on the temple celebrating the sun god, forming a rectangular shape on the slab of granite. Machu Picchu also hosts another perhaps slightly less well-known monument to the disembror solstice called the cave of the Sun. The Sun shines into the back wall of the structure for 10 days before and after the solstice. The next is Temple of Karnag and looks for Egypt's two-risk flock to the Temple of Karnag to watch a winter solstice arise in alignment with the main axis of the temple. The temple was built in Luxor more than 4,000 years ago.

It was the main place to worship the Sun god Almanra. When it was originally designed, the Sun would have been perfectly aligned with the temple's axis, but one study said that the alignment has since been knocked off half a degree, due to the Earth's axis wobbling. I thought this was pretty interesting and I was saying about this earlier. I actually met a lady today who hosts two or groups and she takes people through the Temple of Karnag and does like chakra awakenings and openings and meditations and she is taking a group on the 21st for the winter solstice. I thought that was such a cool coincidence, so that that was really neat.

I got her Instagram so I'm going to link that also in the show notes. She said she's not super active on there. I would suggest you go follow her if you're interested in that in ancient tomb in Kavit El Hauwa Egypt revealed earlier that's year of being the oldest oriented to the winter solstice scientist said light filters through the tomb on the winter solstice when it was built in about 1830 BC. Estatio the local government would have been placed into the alcove. The alignment of tomb 33 in Kavit El Hauwa was intentional and full of religious significance.

For the winter solstice the days are longer which was a metaphor of rebirth of the deceased says Alejandro Jimenez Serrano. Poelopanito in Chococanian New Mexico here in the US is pretty close to me actually and I feel like my son is probably gone camping here for Boy Scouts. A settlement called Poelopanitos seems to have been constructed in line with astronomical landmarks in order to maximize solar heating during the year built between 850 and 1150 by ancestor of public blowing of people. It's a massive house. Two second stories in the southeast end of the building have attracted scrutiny over the years.

Lightingly shy through the windows during the eight weeks of the year in the lead up to the winter solstice though it's possible to coincidence scientists think this could have given people in the hustle lead up to prepare for the winter months. Ovensweep Castle in southeastern US. The Ovensweep Castle is ancestor of public blowing also seems like they're in tune here. It was inhabited in the early 14th century. It is thought that the openings of the face of the castle would line up with the equinox of the winter and summer solstice to allow the public blowing to trace the calendar as the light shown on the wall.

Another one here from Chococanian called the sun daggers. Sun daggers are seen on the summer and winter solstices as well as the equinoxes marked at those points in the year. Ancestral pulling people who lived in the US and the southwest until the coming of Spanish explorers in 1540 kept a close eye on the sun because they were light heavily on agriculture for their food to spot the change in seasons. It's possible that they marked these sun daggers that appeared on rocks by drawing petroglyphs in the rocks. The now famous sun daggers are found in a Fajada butte in Chococanian, New Mexico.

During the summer solstice to see in above the sun splits into a spiral glyph through the middle. During the winter solstice two daggers appear which bracket the spiral perfectly. And can we see in the picture below? As I said you have to go visit this website to see the pictures. There's been some debate about whether these carvings were intentional or whether they were drawn at random and just happened to be aligned which I don't think is probably possible.

Here we traveled to Malta, 7 Megaliffs, a temple found on the islands of Malta and Gazo in Gazo in the Mediterranean. Our world heritage site, the pre-storework monumental buildings were built between 4000 and 3000 BC. One of the temples is suspiciously aligned with the winter and summer solstice however, scientists are still debating whether this was by design as they seem to do. And of course Stonehenge is always on the list here. Perhaps the most iconic solstice site people swarmed to witness the sun lining up with stones in Stonehenge on England's Salisbury plain.

Stonehenge was built to align with the sun and the solstices. The wind solstice site particular isn't it? As a crucial time when the sun's returned hung in the balance. Ideas of rebirth were intertwined with celebrations just as with our own midwinter celebrations. Again because there's no grit and a record of that time we don't know exactly what Stonehenge was for.

Evidence suggests at least that it was a site that brought together people from all over the country who met over the winter months to have lavish feast and build massive stone structures. The insider previously reported wood hinge during chin walls in England. So the Stonehenge feast would have taken place in the nearby human settlement of during chin walls. The settlement was made up of hundreds of wood and chalk houses surrounded by three huge ceremonial structures out of the wood pillars. To anybody at the time during chin walls would have been more impressive than Stonehenge.

It looks like Stonehenge, wood hinge, and during chin were aligned with the solstices. People gathered here from long distances in midwinter for feasting and celebrations. Pogomers embarked and choreographed processions to Stonehenge, starting at during chin walls and starting during chin and wood hinge at the midwinter's dawn and then by boat along the river Avon arriving at the Stonehenge for sunset. That sounds really amazing. Take a pilgrimage through the English countryside for the solstice.

Happy winter solstice to you. It's the time of the year where the Yinn takes over. We have spent juncts to position with the Yinn and the Ying. I have some listeners sometimes are like, what about the Southern hemisphere? You guys do get a little bit of forgotten about just because I'm here in the Northern hemisphere.

But I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode, you know talking about the solstice, ancient sites that aligned Christmas tips through the five elements and a little bit of everything this episode. Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll be off until January and that will put us with January Energy Update the last month of the year of the snake. I'm ready for it to be on its way out maybe back to its layer. And I'm ready for the horse to take over. Again, we just start seeing this energy kind of shifting this month already.

But you guys have an amazing holiday season and I'll catch you guys the first week of January for January Energy Update and we'll talk about all things that you're of the horse next month. I'll catch you guys then.