For those of you that have asked questions about how to set your intentions for a new year, I would like to share a beautiful ritual that one of my friends sent to me several years ago.
I do not use this at New Years, however, this ritual is certainly right for that purpose. I do use it to set intentions for any time. It is powerful to use this ritual with the New Moon.
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This is the initial technique – Setting Your Intentions for 2018 or any other time:
You start by asking yourself 4 questions…
- What do I want this year in my personal life
- What do I want this year for my financial life
- What do I want this year for my business life
- What do I want this year for my spiritual life
Then you write your answers. I feel into my body to identify in my heart what I am being drawn to create from the year. The MOST IMPORTANT part is to write it as if it has already happened.
As an example / template, here is an excerpt in part of what Maureen Collins (an artist) wrote for the category of business:
I am so grateful that this year became such an amazing journey of openness and discovery in my business, as it moved into the corporate world and lecture stage larger than ever before. I was able to deliver my shared vision via “What If? The Movie” through divine energy to hundreds of thousands of souls that were not only open to the information but contributed to the content collectively… AND they further delivered it to many more through word of mouth. This wisdom known to us all was a huge success with so many experiencing heart felt shifts and changes through the material offered by many like-minded souls. It became a place of safety and conversation for all who viewed it, and grew to include new audiences of those opening to the materials being offered by me and other contributors. The opportunity for the community to converse with one another about their own positive belief and pattern changes was a blessing and a joy to my heart, showing me the possibilities for all communities of the world. I loved watching and hearing the shifts and changes clients and friends and family were experiencing as they also awakened to how amazing and powerful they truly are, and reveled in the moments they shared with others in the community …which triggered more openings and shifts and more sharing and so on. What fun… and so effortless and flowing… I felt like a kid again with all the discoveries…
You get the idea… write it as if it has already happened AND makes sure you include how you “felt” when it happened. Do this for each of the categories (there may be some overlap but the categories are designed to allow for specifics in those four areas of your life). This is a POWERFUL exercise that almost acts as plan for the year but flows through and creates a vibrational resonance with what you are desiring. You can do this over the next couple of days… I promise you it will really make a lovely impact. Then print it out post a couple of copies in places you will regularly see them to remind you what you are creating.
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Ritual: Burn and Release from Maureen Collins…
On a sheet of paper, I write out all of the things from the current year that I’ve outgrown, no longer want in my life, no longer work for me, and anything else I feel I want to shed and leave behind. On a separate piece of paper, I write all of the things I can think of and feel that I want to grow and expand in the new year. I then burn each paper in separate dishes or shells, making sure all pieces are turned to ashes. Then, when cooled, I put them into separate envelopes or containers (film canister, Ziploc baggie, etc.) and mark “to shed” and “to grow” on the container. Around 5 minutes before midnight, I start visualizing all the things on the “to shed” list, and see them slip away, see them blown away and washed away, out of my energy field, out of my life and out of my reality. I go out side and pour the “to shed” ashes into my hand and let the wind scatter the ashes away and release them and all they re present, as the old year fades away.
After midnight, after blessing the new year, with the second container “to grow”, I visualize all of these goals, desires, etc. coming to fruition, to this level of reality. I bring that envelope down to the garden, and with a stick dig a small hole, then plant these ashes in the earth, near a tree or in a special place, (for those in apartments, I encourage them to use their favorite houseplant). The ashes are a reminder of the life cycle, the power of nature and the honoring of Mother Earth, that these seeds of hopes and dreams are nurtured into reality, in the coming year. This is a ritual that I’ve shared with many people, and even had a group in Ireland do it one New Years! You may want to try this and tweak it and do it a way that suits you.
Leave us a message to let us know how this process worked out for you.
Go in peace.
This article was originally written on the Angels and Ancestors Blog for January 5, 2011, and has been adapted to use for 2018 by permission of the author, Judith Hirst.
Judith Hirst is a member of the Canadian Society of Questers Questers, and part of the Public Relations Committee.