Come December, when the Christmas lights go up and Jack Frost starts nipping at your nose, our thoughts generally turn to giving, gratitude, family, and joy. But for ages, winter has also been a time for introspection, re-evaluating your place on Earth, and redefining your focus for 2015. While Summer and Spring are seasons for outward exploration and expansion, Winter is the perfect time to come back to yourself and spend some time thinking about what you want out of life.
So for this holiday season, we wanted to share with you a special treat, that’s both delicious and powerful for setting your intentions.
Magic Mulled Wine
Mulled wine and all of it’s various iterations is and has been popular all over the world from the U.K. to Germany to the Scandinavian countries. Basically, wherever it’s cold.
The recipe we have below is fairly straight forward and easy to make, but what makes it special is HOW you make your mulled wine. Instead of throwing ingredient after ingredient without much thought, we thought it’d be a great exercise to help you focus on your intentions for the coming new year.
Here’s how it works: As you drop each key ingredient into your pot, there’ll be an accompanying thought exercise to help you breathe life, focus, energy, gratitude, and love into your intention.
Ingredients:
❤ 4 cups of fresh apple cider
❤ 1 bottle of red wine (replace with cherry juice or grape juice for non-alcoholic version)
❤ 1/4 cup of Brandy (exclude if making a non-alcoholic version)
❤ 3 sticks of cinnamon
❤ 1 whole orange (zested & juiced)
❤ 6 whole cloves
❤ 3 star anise
❤ 1 whole nutmeg
❤ 1 tbsp crystalized ginger (if you can’t find crystalized ginger, ginger slices for flavor will work too)
❤ Simple syrup to taste
❤ Orange zest for garnish (optional)
Pre-Cooking Instructions:
1. Pick a single intention or goal to focus on. Perhaps it’s a new career, job, or travel opportunity. Or maybe you would like to focus on finding love, emotional healing, or physical health. Whatever it is, be clear with what you want. Envision it down to the last detail. Let it play out in your mental movie theatre. What does it feel like when you’ve achieved your goal? Who are you with? What have you accomplished to get to this point?
2. Lay out the cinnamon, orange, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, and ginger.
3. Cinnamon has been known as a healing and magical spice for thousands of years and has been used in traditional medicine from China to Egypt. It has also been used to attract what you want in your life, such as love, money, and happiness. So for cinnamon, we want you to think about what you want to attract into your life. You can pull snippets from your mental exercise in step 1. Feel free to hold the cinnamon in your hands while you do this or simply lay it in front of you.
4. Orange is symbolic of warmth, the Sun, breathes new life, and finding direction. The golden hue of the fruit itself reminds us of the coming summer, when we can expand and explore beneath the Sun. For this ingredient, focus on how your goal will expand your life, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. How will accomplishing your goal fulfill you? This could simply be a feeling. If so, let your mind enjoy this sensation.
5. Cloves, like cinnamon, have had a rich history and have been sought after and used for ages. They are known for their healing properties (antibacterial and anesthetic) and are symbolic of banishing negativity, clearing your head, protection, and purification. For this ingredient, let your mind acknowledge any fears or insecurities that may hold you back from accomplishing your goal. Then allow yourself to let go of that which does not serve you any longer. Don’t be judgmental or critical. Just acknowledge and let go. The cloves will represent your release of any negativity and self-judgement.
6. The star anise is also an ancient spice used for thousands of years in Egypt and China. It has been used for various forms of healing, and has been known to increase psychic awareness and intuition. So it only makes sense for this ingredient to focus your energy on your own intuition. Hold the star anise in your hand and say to yourself, “My intuition will always serve me, and I will listen to it. It will help me when I need it most and ensure I do what is best for me.”
7. Nutmeg has been traditionally linked with luck, and as such has been used to boost one’s chances of winning a court case or while gambling. For our purposes, nutmeg will represent opportunity, chance, good fortune, and being at the right place at the right time. Whatever it is, know that the right opportunity will appear for you.
8. Ginger is used for it’s healing properties and symbolic of speeding things up, bringing your goals to fruition faster. For your mulled wine recipe, ginger will represent passion, fire, speed, and action! Hold the ginger in your hands and think of a timeline. When do you want to accomplish your goal? Is there a deadline? Envision it happening on a specific date, if you wish.
It’s also good to note that these ingredients (nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves) are all linked with the element of fire, which is symbolic of action, passion, and purifying oneself of negativity. Perfect for setting yourself up for 2015!
Cooking Instructions:
Now that you’ve done all that prep work, it’s time to make the mulled wine!
1. Grab a large pot, big enough for all the ingredients.
2. In the pot, pour in the apple cider, red wine, and brandy. Keep it at a medium heat.
3. With all your intention-infused ingredients laid out before you, it’s time to drop them into the warm pot! It’ll be hard to recall everything you’ve done in the previous exercise, so here are the ingredients again and what they represent.
3 sticks of cinnamon – Attraction. What do you want to attract into your life?
1 whole orange (zested & juiced) – Warmth and fulfillment. How will your goal fulfill you spiritually, emotionally, mentally?
6 whole cloves – Purification. Letting go of any negativity or that which no longer serves you.
3 star anise – Intuition. Trust and embrace your intuition. It will lead you to your goal.
1 whole nutmeg – Opportunity. The right chances, connections, and opportunities will arise to help you achieve your goal.
Ginger – Speed and Fruition. Your intention will become real in an appropriate time.
As you drop each of the ingredients into the pot, quickly feel or recall what you worked through in the exercise.
4. Once all the ingredients are in, let the pot come to a boil before turning off the heat. Then let steep for 10 minutes.
5. When you’re ready, pour yourself a cup. Add simple syrup if you wish, and garnish with a little orange zest! As you sip it, enjoy the warmth as it goes into your body. Once again, imagine the joy, love, and satisfaction you will feel when you achieve or attract what it is you intend to.
And that is your magic mulled wine! You can enjoy this exercise yourself or do it with your family. Working towards a common goal or intention is a wonderful way to bring friends, loved ones, and family together.
Let us know in the comments below if you made the recipe. And as always, do what works best for you and alter it however you wish! There’s no hard an fast rule. The point is to define your focus, your goals, and allow yourself to make a declaration to the Universe and yourself that you WILL accomplish what you set out to do!
Enjoy, have a wonderful Christmas, and a happy New Year!!
With warmth and love,
The Numerologist Team
