Rough nights: 5 rituals with which you say goodbye to the year and start afresh

The end of the year is a very special time, with a very special atmosphere. It’s a time when we reflect on ourselves, when most people finally calm down after the turbulent Christmas season, when we review the year and think about what we want to do with the new one.

Whether it is due to the so-called rough nights, which spread their mystical atmosphere over us and tempt us to contemplate, look back and to visions of the future, may be a little too much hocus-pocus and spirituality for one or the other, can harm but it is not at all about closing the past year, freeing oneself from inherited burdens and preparing for the new one. Rituals and short breaks can help. We reveal here which ones you can use for yourself.

What’s up with the rough nights?

The rough nights are the 12 nights between the years. More precisely: between the lunar year, which has a length of 354 days with twelve lunar cycles, and the solar year with its 365 days. The rough nights close the gap between the lunar and solar calendars. A mystical time between the years. A no-time. Every Rauhnacht begins in the evening and continues until the evening of the next day.

The rough nights traditionally start with the winter solstice on December 21st. – the darkest day of the year. In the meantime, however, it has become more popular to celebrate the rough nights with the night from December 24th to December 25th. start and end on January 5th. This is because Christianity superimposed the winter solstice with Christmas to a certain extent – this also shifted the beginning of the rough nights from December 21st to December 24th. Which beginning you choose is entirely up to you.

The door to the other world – that’s why the rough nights are so special

The ancient Germans were convinced that the boundaries between our world and the world of spirits, the dead and our ancestors become blurred during the rough nights and the veil becomes more permeable and that cruel gods roam the land at this time. Incidentally, this is also the reason for the custom of not doing any laundry between New Year’s and New Year’s Eve. It was believed that demons get caught in the drying laundry.

During the rough nights, Germanic seers used the nearness of the supernatural to their advantage. Thanks to the thin veil, more accurate predictions of the future could be made with oracles. Communication with ancestors and the dead was also encouraged when the world of spirits moved closer to the world of people, it is believed.

At the same time, the winter solstice is a time of upheaval. On the one hand, the astronomical winter begins, characterized by cold and darkness, on the other hand, the days are getting longer again.

Today, no one goes without washing their clothes, but some other rituals of the Germanic peoples are experiencing a renaissance – mainly because they are good and are traditionally used for inner contemplation. They offer a chance to break old patterns in the new year and embark on a direction that will make you happier and more content.

Rituals for your rough nights

First of all: Going through the rough nights should be good, not stressful. You don’t have to complete all the rituals. Do what you feel like doing and what you have time for. But the important thing is: be honest with yourself. That can sometimes be frightening, but the rough nights are also about looking at the ugly sides that we would otherwise rather close our eyes to. Because that’s the only way the change you want will happen. Those who ignore the dark side miss the opportunity to integrate them.

During the rough nights, the main thing is to think less and feel more. To create space to go within and to deal with inner longings and hidden possibilities that we lose sight of in everyday life. These rituals will help you:

1. Get rid of legacy issues

A ritual that does you good all year round, but lays the foundation a little before the rough nights. So you can do it step by step beforehand. This is about getting rid of unnecessary ballast. Everything that weighs you down can go. Clear out your apartment or just the closet, pay open bills, clear up misunderstandings and close open to-dos that have been haunting you for a long time. The old has to go to make room for the new.

2. Keep a dream journal

The best way to do this is to put a piece of paper or a small diary next to your bed so that you have it ready to hand in the morning to record your first thoughts and dreams as soon as you wake up. Because during the rough nights, our subconscious should be particularly accessible. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to dreams and thoughts and to write them down. Classic journaling is also great for this.

3. Burn desires

Expressing wishes for the new year is part of the turn of the year for many people. It is therefore hardly surprising that it is also celebrated during the rough nights. You can already think about your wishes beforehand. Ask yourself what you really want from the bottom of your heart and write your wishes on different pieces of paper. At the end, choose the 13 most important ones. Then you fold them in such a way that you can no longer read the contents and burn one of the notes every rough night without reading it.

A note will be left over in the last Raunacht. You can open it. You can now do something to make this wish come true.

Tip: formulate your wishes as if they were already true. So “I’m successful”, “I’m traveling around the world”, “I’m healthy”. This is how your wish becomes an affirmation and is fulfilled almost by itself.

4. Smoking

Smoking has long been one of the typical Rauhnachts rituals. It is an energetic cleansing of body, mind and your home. It is said to keep evil spirits away and invite positive energies. You can easily order an incense set for the rough nights online. Suitable incense are, for example, frankincense, sage, juniper or fir.

5. Meditate

Have you always wanted to start meditating and somehow never found the beginning? Then now is the perfect moment to integrate it into your everyday life and see if it suits you. Don’t worry if it doesn’t work right away at first and your mind keeps wandering. Meditating wants to be practiced. Just start with small sessions and increase the time bit by bit, just as it fits into your everyday life.

If you would like to connect with nature, you can also move your meditation outside, for example to the forest, or try a walking meditation. Many find it easier if they are guided through the meditation – you can find many guided meditations on various streaming platforms.

What do the individual rough nights mean?

Each night stands for a month in the circle of the year and a task. If you want, you can deal with a specific topic every day.

25 December – January: looking back, letting go of the old

December 26th – February: become still, come to rest

December 27th – March: opening up to others and your inner self

December 28th – April: trust your heart

December 29th – May: do yourself good, enjoy

30th of December – June: forgive, forgive, heal relationships

December 31 – July: Discover heart goals

January 01 – August: Making decisions for the new year

January 02 – September: Forgiven

January 03 – October: becoming aware of what is

January 04 – November: be thankful for what is

January 05 – December: make sense of the impulses of the last few nights

Sources: Wikipedia.de, matchamornings.de, krautundrueben.de, fuckluckygohappy.de

jba
Bridget