It can be challenging to stay energized and motivated when the days are getting colder and the nights are getting longer. Nature slows down during these colder months, and so do we. We need sunshine more than ever in these darker days, and although the sun is ever-present, the brightness and warmth it can bring tends to fade from our awareness into the stream of summer day memories when the temperature dramatically drops.

Connecting with the energies of the sun through solar magick can help stave off the doldrums of the colder months and bring many benefits year-round. The sun lights, warms, and fuels our world. All life on earth depends on the sun, from the tiniest plant to the biggest beasts. It's also a powerhouse of magickal energy that can be utilized to help you achieve greater success, reduce stress, increase courage, build confidence, and more. I recently wrote Llewellyn's Little Book of Sun Spells to show readers how to gain more benefits from solar magick even on the cloudiest and coldest days. Here are some simple ways to warm your days with a little solar magick. For more ideas, Llewellyn's Little Book of Sun Spells (the follow up to my Llewellyn's Little Book of Moon Spells) has more than fifty spells, along with rituals, potions, and more to help you harness the tremendous power of the sun to create positive changes in your life all year round.

Cooking with the Sun
Eating is a daily requirement, and infusing your meals with solar magick is a fun and creative way to enjoy the power of the sun and its benefits. One way to add solar power to your food is to choose ingredients with solar correspondences. Grains like rice, wheat, and oats are packed with solar power. Citrus fruits, strawberries, beans, and leafy greens are also chock full of solar energy. Many red-, yellow-, or orange-colored foods are solar corresponding, as well as anything hot and spicy that invokes the sun's fiery rays. Spices attuned with the sun include red pepper, paprika, black pepper, garlic, ginger, salt, sesame, and cinnamon. Utilizing cooking techniques that align with the sun's fiery energy is another way to charge your meals with solar magick. Try grilling, sauteing, frying, or roasting to infuse your foods with even more solar power. As you cook, think of the sun's power that fueled the food to grow. Envision sunny days and imagine warm rays of sunlight on your skin as you prepare your meal. Thank the sun and ask for its further blessings as you eat the food. (If you'd like to learn more, my book Cookbook of Shadows is a great resource for solar-aligned recipes and choosing ingredients with solar correspondences.)

A Solar Altar
Making a special place in your home in honor of the sun is a great way to keep solar magick flowing to you. Even when it's cold and cloudy outside, a solar altar can serve as a powerful house for the sun's energies and act as a focal point for any solar-fueled magickal workings. If possible, create your solar altar near a window. A clear glass or wooden tabletop works nicely, or you can cover a surface with a yellow, gold, orange, red, or white cloth. If your altar is near a window, consider placing prisms or glasses of colored water on the altar to catch the sun's rays. Include solar corresponding crystals and stones like citrine, tiger's eye, or clear quartz. Add a potted plant or two. Other solar corresponding plant materials such as acorns or oak leaves can also be added. Spend some moments at the altar each day and think of warm sunlight surrounding you. Envision the fiery, explosive activity of our closest star and think of its light and warmth traveling through space to the earth, into your home, and to your altar.

A Gift for the Sun
Another simple way to invite more of the sun's magick into your life is through giving offerings. Showing gratitude for our current blessings is essential in magick, as it helps build the relationship and connection between the spellcaster and the powers of nature. Giving a daily, weekly, or monthly offering is a straightforward way to build your connection to the sun and ask for its continued blessings. A candle is an especially suitable offering, as the fire aligns with the sun's vibration. Choose a yellow, gold, orange, white, or red tea light candle, chime candle, or birthday candle if you want to let it burn down on its own. The sparking birthday candles called sparklers are especially fun for a solar offering. If you plan to reuse the same candle, you can choose a larger taper candle, tower, or pillar candle. If you like, use a toothpick or needle to scratch into the wax an image of the sun. Anoint the candle with olive, sunflower, or orange oil. Place the candle securely in a holder on a fireproof surface and light the wick as you say, "Greatest sun in all your might, I honor you with this, my light!" Gaze at the flame as you take some moments to reflect on the sun's influence in your own life and its existential importance for all life on earth. Express your gratitude in your own words, and think of the vibrations of those emotions flowing into the flame and traveling up to the sun. Don't blow out the candle, as it contradicts the energy of the offering. Either allow it to burn out on its own, or snuff the flame.

Solar Scents
Incorporating solar-corresponding scents into your daily life is another great way to feel closer to the sun and invite its magick to benefit you even more. Citrus scents like lemon, grapefruit, and orange blossom are closely aligned with the sun, as are certain floral scents like heliotrope and carnation. Cinnamon, frankincense, dragon's blood, and sandalwood are also solar-aligned. You can find these scents in the form of candles, aromatherapy oils, perfumes, room sprays, diffusers, potpourris, incense, lotions and soaps, and more. Avoid synthetic products and choose naturally derived ingredients to assure your scents radiate with solar power. When you use the scent, envision the sun and its power flowing into the space or into your body, and think of the specific solar qualities you would like to invoke, such as energy, positivity, courage, confidence, victory, joy, success, or strength.

More Everyday Sun Magick
For more ways to incorporate solar magick in your practice, get Llewellyn's Little Book of Sun Spells. You'll find solar potions, powders, rituals, spells, seasonal activities, witchy insights and more to help you celebrate the sun and benefit from its magick every day of the year.