I think we are all agreed in that 2020 was a year that we don't want repeated. We all had to learn and relearn many skills. We had to learn to be okay with uncertainty, had to let go of our plans and in many cases we had to forgo seeing our loved ones. Many people lost their jobs, or were locked out of doing them for many months. We were locked out of other countries and states and many of us into our our five kilometre radius. Many people were locked into unsafe spaces with unsafe people.
2020 was indeed a very challenging year. However, I think it is also true to say that we probably all grew in some way. Maybe our resilience increased. Maybe we became better at being unattached to outcomes. Maybe we became better at living in the present. Maybe for those of us with more time on our hands, we learnt a new hobby. Maybe we spent the time to cook and prepare food at home more. Maybe we made our home a more welcoming and beautiful space. Maybe we cultivated a garden or worked on it more or worked on our relationships. Whatever it is that we did and learnt, however we grew, we will certainly not forget this year.
What I love to do around the new year is a little ritual. Everything has a cycle, a beginning and an end and I find that having a ritual to mark this helps me to get into a space to achieve clarity so as to manifest what I desire and let go of what I don't for the new part of the cycle. So I would like to share my ritual with you.
The ritual
You can do this ritual together with others or by yourself. You can do it on new year's eve and anytime after the new year, sometime in January. I love to do it with a candle, a palo santo stick, something natural, a fireproof bowl, pen & paper as well as essential oils. You can use these too or anything you want which feels right for you. For 2021, I am using frangipani flowers which have fallen off nearby trees (I am not in Melbourne as I write this). I am using frangipanis because I love them but also I want to bring more warmth (they grow in warmer climes), joy and beauty into my life. But this flower is also believed to bring more strength to those who have undergone challenges or been stressed (most of us this year) and also symbolizes a new chapter (the new year).
Letting go & releasing
The first thing we need to do in this ritual is just think about the past year and what you would like to let go of. If you would like to create a protective space to do this, burn some white sage, a palo santo stick or diffuse rosemary, sage or juniper berry essential oil. Light your candle. Meditate if you like, or just sit in a quiet space. Think about the past year and what things you would like to let go of that happened in 2020 or that didn't go as you wanted. Write all of these down, freestyle. Don't worry about your writing, no one will see this.
After writing this, take the paper and burn it to let go and release everything it contains. Do this on the earth or in a fireproof bowl. Watch the ashes blow away. Thank all these things for being in your life, no matter how negative, as they served a purpose, and then let them go. Take a shower or bath to cleanse yourself and imagine all these things you are letting go of flowing down the drain.
Positive intentions to bring in the new & manifest our desires
The next thing we need is positive intentions. Most people make new year's resolutions with negative statements. For example, I will stop eating junk food. But the problem with this is the reinforcement of the negative habit into our consciousness. We want a positive statement to influence our consciousness. So in this case a positive intention could be "I will eat healthily. I respect my body."
Essential oils and crystals for the ritual
In this part of the ritual essential oils and crystals are useful. Diffuse essential oils & use crystals suitable for what you would like to manifest. Here is a short guide.
More grounded: cedarwood & smoky quartz. More love: rose or ylang ylang & rose quartz. More confidence: bergamot & citrine. Not sure what you want: rosemary or lemon & quartz or fluorite for clarity. More courage: ginger or fennel & aquamarine. More creativity: geranium & carnelian. More abundance: orange & citrine. Or you can choose your oils & crystals intuitively, i.e. any that make you feel good).
So think about what you would like to bring in to your life this year and again write these down. It is helpful if you divide your page into columns like the areas of your life, such as business/career, relationships, finance, family, etc. When you have finished writing these, formulate them into intentions; positive sentences in the present tense. These can be written down so that they can be repeated, listened to, stuck up in the wall and reread. For example, "I open up my heart to love", "I welcome joy into my relationships", "I deserve all the good things that come into my life". You can meditate with these affirmations, stick them on the wall, anything that feels right, so long as you are repeating them.
Most of all, enjoy the process. And that is the ritual.
All the best for 2021. May it bring us all peace and joy.