Yours & Mine New Year Transition Ritual
Yesterday, I was inspired to spend time reflecting on 2018 and planning for the year ahead.
Even though rituals aren’t always my thing, I stumbled into one that I’d love to share with you. Maybe it’ll inspire your own.
Working with natural cycles, like the seasons, menstrual cycles, moon cycles, etc., is a powerful way to work with energy. For me, it helps me to feel more in tune with the Earth, the collective, and with my own intuition. It creates space for me to access guidance from a source that feels larger than myself.
Collaborating with cycles in your life & work can soothe and bring
This is the vibe I’m living in while navigating the end of a year and the beginning of a new one.
Let’s dive into what I did to mark this New Year transition. I hope you’ll celebrate this transition in your own way.
My first step was to reflect on the year that’s ending.
I start by pulling into my awareness… What were the high points of the past year? What were the lows? What is more clearly visible now with hindsight?
I love using Tarot cards for guidance at times like these, and it’s been a while since I played with large spreads, so I decided to use Tarot for this New Year exploration. I used the Morgan-Greer Tarot deck and The Dreams of Gaia Tarot deck.
*When reading Tarot or seeking any sort of higher guidance, it’s important to step into the energy of the highest version of yourself & what you’re creating (as opposed to seeking guidance from an anxious, scattered, or lack based place). So, when you’re doing this at home, make sure you’re taking time to get in the right head space first. For me, that always involves some sort of movement or something nice to get deeper into my body, and re-connecting with what I ultimately want/what’s most important to me.*
To further reflect on the past year, I pulled a card from each deck for each quarter of the year. (A total of eight cards). I surrounded the spread with some crystals and gifts that I’ve received this year.
As I read about the cards I’d pulled for each quarter, I looked through my calendar to remember what’d been happening during the three months in question. I jotted down some notes in a special notebook I keep for times like these.
I remembered that this year has been amazing, and amazingly challenging, full of super high highs and the lowest of lows. In hindsight, I see so clearly how it all unfolded and where I might’ve focused my energies differently.
What are you learning from the past year? Take some time to remember and reflect, whatever that looks like for you.
If you don’t have Tarot cards and you want to try something similar, it might be fun to pick a book and flip to a different page for each quarter of the year, looking for clues about helpful guidance and takeaways. You could also check out the Galaxy Tarot app for your phone or browse through the Tarot online. Or, of course, skip this part all together, and simply reflect!
The second step of my ritual was to release what I don’t want to take with me into 2019.
What patterns of thought, beliefs, behaviors, or material items can you release now – to walk into the coming year a little bit lighter and more focused?
I’ve been wanting to burn some of my morning pages for some time now, so I figured this would be the perfect time to do it.
I gathered up as many of these pages as I could find, got a metal bowl and a lighter, bundled up, went outside, and started burning.
Quickly growing cold and impatient with the burn, nervous with the wind, I went inside.
My morning pages burn-fest became a tear fest. I tore up a year’s worth of morning pages into little pieces, put them all into my big metal bowl. Before I disposed of this, I smudged with some sage.
While I tore things up, I found myself reading through some of my thoughts from the year and reflecting some more.
While I had the sage out, I took the liberty of walking around the house to bless each room. I focused my thoughts on clearing everything that’s taken place up until this point, asking for safety, love, and abundance to fill our space in the coming year.
I’ve also been spending lots of time cleaning and organizing, donating as much as possible, getting rid of what’s no longer needed. This is another great way to release and work with the energy of clearing an old year and welcoming a new one.
What can you release right now to better prepare yourself for next year? Is there anything you’d like to do to symbolize this letting go?
For instance, you could write some things down on one sheet of paper, then burn that or tear it up. It doesn’t need to be a time-consuming act like tearing a huge stack of paper.
The third and final step was to look forward to the year ahead.
I chose to do another Tarot spread with the same decks. I pulled a card from each deck for each month of the upcoming year. Again, making sure to select my cards from a calm, confident, connected energy, focused on my life purpose and what I’m creating.
As I went through month by month, I jotted down some more notes in my notebook reserved for Tarot readings. I took three sittings to get through the whole reading, plus a couple of snack breaks!
I received some inspiration for how I can organize my year. For instance, I’ll set aside plenty of time for learning in March. I’ll plan some time to focus on love and
I noticed a theme for the year ahead. It’ll be a year of professional focus, a year of being unapologetically myself even in the face of adversity.
Sounds like it might get a little uncomfortable at times, but hey, isn’t that always true?
What are you anticipating for the year ahead? What would you love to see happen? How will you organize your year? What priorities will you orient around?
How will you make this ritual your own? Please share with us in the comments.
I hope that we’ll stay connected in the New Year.
I would love to support you in carving out space to reflect like this and infuse the power of ritual into your life.
Conscious Wholeness is my online course designed to get you deeply connected with yourself (and something greater, if you believe in that sort of thing) so you can magnetize the perfect people and opportunities to you. It’ll help you find success in the New Year regardless of what resolutions you’re setting.
I also work with clients privately – providing coaching & consulting on your creative projects to bring all your visions to life.
Make sure to follow me here or on social media (@briannamcinerny) if you want to stay in the loop.
Thanks for reading. See you in 2019!
