New Year, New Magick

The end of the year is a beautiful, potent time for both reflection and intention setting. And because this year the turn of the calendar is happening during a waning moon time, deep release and introspection are especially supported. Take some time over the next few days to get quiet and be very mindful about where you have been, where you are, and where you are going. When you do so, true magic can happen.

Whether you typically approach the coming year with excitement or apprehension, these rituals will help you lovingly release 2018 and create space for magic and abundance to flow in the new year.

Releasing 2018

Cleanse your space. Our external world really does affect our internal world, and a wonderful way to cultivate an energy of fresh starts and clarity is to cleanse your space. Cleanse your physical space: out your closets and give away anything you no longer need or use, wash your bed sheets, sweep your floors, organize your bookshelf, clean out your refrigerator and make space for fresh and healthy foods. Cleanse your digital spaces: unfollow Instagram accounts that no longer feed you, unfriend anyone that drains you, get rid of any apps that you don’t use, delete the numbers of the people who bring you down. Cleanse your energetic space: go through your home with sage or palo santo, place tourmaline by your windows and selenite by your bed, light candles and diffuse cleansing oils. As you do this, hold the intention that you are creating space for the new and better to come in.

Reflect back on your year, on all of your experiences and ways you have grown. Who were you at the beginning of 2018? Who are you now? Get a piece of paper and free write everything that comes to mind, focusing on personal traits. Then take stock of what you have written. What do you want to bring with you into 2019? What do you want to continue to evolve? And what do you want to thank and release, leaving it behind in 2018?

Write a love letter to 2018. Whether you accomplished everything you set out to, or encountered a few obstacles along the way, know that 2018 brought you the opportunities and lessons that were exactly right for you. No matter what, you have grown beautifully over the past 12 months, and that is worth celebrating. Pull out your journal, and write a love letter to 2018. Thank it for the lessons, the experiences, the growth. Honor the struggle, celebrate the triumph (even and especially if that triumph was simply surviving). What lessons did you learn? What experiences did you have? How did 2018 help you evolve?

Welcoming 2019

Write a love letter to 2019! Be hopeful and honest. Hold nothing back. Tell it everything you wish you’ll be able to do together, from the mundane (weekly moonlit walks) to the fantastic (write a book?!).

Decide what energies you want to embody. It can be helpful to choose a word or set of words to guide your intention. What do you want to feel in 2019? Freedom, ease, pleasure, expansion, connection? Words help us to orient ourselves and ground our intentions. A helpful visual anchor for your intentions is a vision board. Simply gather images that feel aligned with your energetic vision and arrange them into a collage. Or if you prefer to keep it digital, you could make a 2019 pinterest board. You could also create a new year altar that evokes the energies you wish to call in, with flowers and crystals and images and objects that make you feel a certain type of way.

Do a year end tarot spread. You could do this in several ways. One way is to pull twelve tarot or oracle cards, one for every month, to get insight into how your 2019 may unfold. Another is to pull five cards: 1) the overall theme of 2019, 2) what you are leaving behind in 2018, 3) the lesson you being asked to learning in 2019, 4) what you are building and working towards in 2019, and 5) what will help you with all of this. Feel free to come up with your own questions, pull clarifying cards, or pull multiple cards for a single question. Have a journal nearby to reflect on the messages that come through for you

I hope these practices help you ring in 2019 with intention and magic. Have a beautiful new year!