This is a simple but powerful ritual that can be shared by any number of revellers. Since the Winter Solstice marks the turning point of the yearly wheel, when the days begin once more to lengthen, Yule is really the feast of the New Year. This ritual prepares us for the new season, by allowing us symbolically to cast off what no longer works in our lives. If you live in the country, make a bonfire outside. You can begin your Yule gathering with the Casting Away ritual, and then later on, after the feast, you can return outdoors and enjoy the dying blaze. If you live in the city, a wood-burning fireplace will do just as well. And if you do not have a fireplace, you can use a small fire-resistant pot, or cauldron. A cast-iron "dutch oven" works beautifully out of doors. (Alternatively, if you simply are not able or permitted to light a fire, you can bury your strips of paper in the earth. Turn over a patch of sod on your lawn, bury the paper beneath, and replace the grass.)

First, pass out strips of paper and pens/pencils to all guests. Have everyone take a few moments to reflect on what they would like to leave behind in "the old year." Examples might be: "unhealthy diet," "self-doubt," "depression," "bickering with my partner," etc. Anything that they would like to let go of. Have each person write down their personal "cast aways" on their own piece of paper.

Stand in a circle and say together an invocation such as the following:

The wheel turns, the year is born anew.
Let the waking light shine into our hearts.
Let us cast into the flame the dust of the old year.
Let us cast away what no longer brings us joy
So that we are ready to receive the gifts the New Year brings.

One by one, have all present step up to the fire and cast their paper into the flames. If you are using a cauldron, place the pot in the centre of the circle and have each person light their paper on fire (using a candle or lighter) and drop it into the cauldron. As they cast away the dust of their past, they say aloud "Out with the old, In with the New!"

If you like, you can repeat the ritual, this time writing down wishes for the New Year and casting these wishes into the flames. As the papers burn, the smoke rises and carries the wishes out into the sky.

At some point in your ritual you may wish to have someone read aloud our Winter Solstice Invocation – an invocation to the returning light. Or you may wish to slow everything down and have the members of your circle participate in a moving and powerful Winter Solstice Meditation/Visualization.