I wanted to get the picture and my wish for you to have a Happy New Year in early, because I won’t be online later tonight! I have things to do…

I’m in love with calendars-planners, with noting, if not chronicling, the passage of time. I’m a planner by nature. I create plans for my life and work which include things like deadlines to turn in books and all the incremental steps to get there. I write down holidays and birthdays. I also place little stickers on my monthly calendar to note full moons, new moons, etc. I have certain rituals to celebrate the change of seasons.

I also have certain rituals to celebrate and prepare for the new year.

Beginning in mid-December, I update all my plans for the next year’s work. I start with a mind map to create a loose visual of my goals. Then I go into my year’s goals and come up with the next quarter’s goals, and further refine the plan down to what I want to complete next week. Not that I follow it religiously. I adjust constantly as life and inspiration change.

I have some superstitious rituals I perform on New Year’s Eve. I’ll share them.

• I place a penny on the ledge above my outside door on New Year’s Eve. Then on New Year’s Day, I’ll take it down and tuck it into my wallet. The penny is for money luck in the new year.
• Nearing midnight, I open the door to the outside then waft burning sage through the rooms to chase any malignant spirit or feelings out of the house.
• Lastly, and this can be the most fun, I prepare a hand spell. It’s a way of “speaking” my dreams into reality.

A hand spell works like this…

Trace your hand on a plain piece of paper then cut it out. Inside that hand, write down your wishes for the new year. At midnight, go outside with a lighter and set the paper on fire while you recite this:

“Inside this hand,
Inside this spell,
Dwell my hopes for the new year…”

Then say your hopes out loud. I think of the spell as a way of putting my wishes out into the world. By saying them aloud, my mind hears them and “sets” the expectations because there is power in the words you hear, even if you are the one doing the speaking. (And there’s an actual, physiological reason this works involving your RAS—but that’s something to talk about another day. 🙂 )

So, that’s how I prepare for entering a new year. Just thought I’d share some of my weirdness with you.

Do you have any rituals? Any foods, any activities that are part of your “rituals”?