Ghee Making Ritual
Hearth Medicine for Winter
When the sun is low, we need to stoke the digestive fire. Winter can challenge digestion, weaken immunity, and leave the lymphatic and nervous systems more vulnerable. Yet many wisdom traditions point to winter as a potent time of rejuvenation for the body when approached wisely and paired with nourishing foods and herbal medicine.
Ghee is one of Ayurveda’s most treasured winter medicines because it is, quite literally, liquid sunlight transformed through plants and animals. Grass absorbs the summer rays and is eaten by the cow, who turns it into milk. Humans separate the milk into butter, and finally clarify it into a refined, golden nourishment. In the dark season, eating ghee is a way of feeding our inner radiance and weaving a thread through the seasons of Mother Nature.
The smooth, oily qualities of ghee are quintessential medicine for the dry, cold months of winter. This lustrous oil brings vibrancy to the whole body, beginning with the digestive tract. It lubricates the digestive lining, repairs gut tissue, and soothes inflammation. High in butyric acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid in our gut, ghee supports digestive enzymes and improves nutrient absorption all the way through the colon.
In winter, the body hungers for nutrient-dense foods that bring steadiness to both body and mind. Ghee is rich in sun-made nutrients—vitamins A, D, E, and K, omega-3s, and antioxidants. These satiate the body and bring radiant skin, hydrated tissues, lubricated joints, healthy immunity, and strong bones. Ghee is an anupana—a powerful carrier for herbs and foods—delivering nutrients deeper into the tissues, and making herbal medicine more effective.
Health is rooted in strong digestion. When the digestive fire burns steadily, the body can fully break down what we take in and naturally release what it no longer needs. As with all living creatures, with deep satiation, comes deep sleep. Sleep is when the body’s most profound detoxification and repair occurs. Ghee supports the digestive track, where toxins are carried out of the tissues and into the gut for elimination. It also nourishes and moves the lymphatic system, helping waste products circulate toward detox pathways rather than stagnate and clog channels. We truly are what we can digest—and just as importantly, what we can release. With strong digestion and deep detoxification, we are in essence, clarified.
Ghee sets in motion a cascade of healing throughout the body. When digestion is steady and nourishment is deep, the body naturally cleanses and renews itself at night. Energy naturally rises with the sun each morning, immunity and hormones find their rhythm, and the nervous system is grounded in a resilient state. This is the deep medicine of winter—one that carries us not only through this season of cold and darkness, but through many winters to come, tending the fire of longevity and inner light across a lifetime.
Making Ghee at the Winter Hearth
Before you begin, ground your space and yourself.
Your kitchen is your temple, where nourishment becomes medicine. Light a candle, deepen your breath, and allow this process to become a prayer for your wellness and for all those you welcome to your table.
Ingredients
Unsalted butter
(Organic and grass-fed if possible, for the most nourishing ghee)
Supplies
Heavy-bottomed saucepan or small pot
Fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth
Heat-safe glass jar with lid (clean and dry)
Stove or steady flame
Candle and comfortable seat (optional, to set the hearth)
Light your candle and begin with an intention or mantra. In ayurveda, the Gayatri Mantra is traditionally used for healing. Here is an English interpretation you can whisper 3 times:
Everything on earth, above and in-between is arising from one effulgent source.
When my thoughts, words, and actions reflect this reality,
I am the peace I seek in the world.
Place the unsalted butter into your pot and melt it over a low, steady flame. As the butter softens, it will begin to murmur and separate into layers. A light foam will rise to the surface while the heavier milk solids separate and sink below. Do not stir. Trust the fire to transform the butter in its own time.
Find a comfortable place to sit. I often sit on the floor, leaning against the stove with my eyes closed. Let your senses take in this transformation; smell the buttery sweetness, listen to the popping bubbles. When the bubbling quiets and the aroma turns nutty, check the ghee. It is ready when the liquid is clear and golden—the summer sun held in your kitchen pot.
Remove the pot from the heat and strain the ghee into a clean, dry glass jar, leaving the milk solids behind. Let it cool and solidify.
This is ghee: medicine from the sun in your hearth.
In winter, use ghee generously—stirred into warm grains, soups, and stews; melted over roasted roots; or blended into spiced milk or morning porridge. Each use feeds the inner fire and anchors the spirit through the cold months. At Mother Mountain, this simple ritual is one way we tend the hearth—honoring winter not as something to endure, but as a season to clarify the light within.
