Witches, shamans, spritual healers: UPDATE post 51: We conjured up a demon!

[LarkspurCO]

2008 has been one of those years -- a litany of health problems and hefty vet bills and all-around bad luck. It started last Dec. 23, with my quest to help FatPalomino rescue dying horses from the hoarder Alesha Matchett. My tabby barn cat Tessa disappeared that night. Christmas day we wrecked Mr. Larkspur’s truck in a snowstorm on the interstate.

What follows in blue is a synopsis. Feel free to skip over it to the question.

January: Tanager (my main man) is lame. I have just moved him to an expensive boarding barn for the winter, so that I can keep up with his training. Ha!

February: I finally find the right vet and he figures out Tanager’s hock and stifle problems. Treatment is planned.

March: Tanager thinks better of our plans and develops a raging sinus infection and has a tooth pulled. I bring him home, and make plans to move Desi into Tanager’s stall. Jazz is feeling left out and develops a sinus abscess of her own. This clears up with a course of SMZs. Desi suffers severe nervous breakdown after I move him to the new barn. Staff can’t handle him, trainers have no luck with him. It’s me he wants. It works out fine and I get him going under saddle in spite of it all.

April: Tanager is finally over his sinus infection and we treat his hocks and stifles.

May/June: Desi (home now) reacts badly to the WNV vaccine – develops cellulitis (again) in his left hind. Shelby is lame. Vet think it’s a popped splint. Two of the house cats have contracted giardia. It’s a festival of barf, diarrhea, pills and claws.

July: Shelby is better but still NQR. We think it’s the very hard ground. I bring a tabby kitten home from the feed store (I “needed” another cat).

August: Kitten is having trouble memorizing litter box coordinates. She pees in various places, including our houseguests’ suitcases. I finally settle on a name her: Mea culpa. Desi has a mild colic, and two days later is flooding out his stall with bloody pee. Lab values are bad – vet says take him to a hospital, but by then he’s clearing the infection on his own, so I wait. We schedule an visit to equine internist. Shelby pops another splint.

September: Take Desi to hospital to see internist. Kidney ultrasound is clean -- no stones or kidney damage, just crystals and high calcium. Shelby comes along to have her feet looked at and radiographed. Laminitis is brewing but the vet misses it. Shoes are prescribed and applied, and she improves. Desi runs too hard and sprains a front leg and cannot walk. After sweating and wrapping he is sound again in two weeks. Shelby founders. A 16-year-old girl wrecks my parked car.

October: Dealing with Shelby’s laminitis. Meanwhile Jazz’s chronic lameness issues are getting worse -- her hind from severe ddft injury and now her opposite front has bruised and abscessed.

November: Desi is colicy and has a fever. Vet doesn’t want to come see him because he’s “so hard to handle.” He improves on his own. Tanager comes up lame. There have been farrier turnover issues and shoeing problems. His heels are ruined in six months. He abscesses in a front hoof. I pull his shoes and treat the abscess, and make an appointment with some hoof experts.

December: Tanager has expensive work-up, corrective shoeing, another abscess, then comes sound again. Shelby gets new rads and new shoes and does well, but the ground is frozen and hard and she isn't happy. Clifford the goat gets sick. One thing leads to another. I try and try to save him but enterotoxemia finally takes hold. We shoot him at 2:30 a.m Dec. 23 and end his suffering.

Mea is doing better with the litter box, but last night she peed in my laundry basket.

So here's my question:

I need instructions for a ritual to ward off evil spirits, smudge out the juju, release the bad karma, exorcise the demons or whatever it takes to bring good fortune upon the animals and get 2009 off to a good start.

I once took part in a Wiccan ritual with a friend that involved incantations and burning her ex-husband’s boxer shorts. I forget all the details, but whatever we did, it worked. I don’t care where this ritual comes from, so long as it complies with these requirements:

No animals or children shall be exploited.
No hay shall be wasted.
No country & western music shall be played.


Who can instruct me in this ritual? Who will join me?? I want to do this New Year’s Eve. I'll be seeing FatPalomino, and she's had a rough year herself, so I will make her do the ritual with me.

Things are looking up. Weather is warming. Horses are sound. My old farrier is coming back. I just need to "seal the deal."

[mjrtango93]

I have no idea how to do it, but count me in!

[slpeders]

This intrigued me immensely, so I am doing some snooping...I'm neither witch, nor shaman nor spiritual healer, but may have been in a past life (ha!) :)
I found this link to traditions in different countries and the reasons behind them:
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Luck%20around%20the%20world%20global%20good% 20luck%20traditions

I also found this advice:
New Years Ritual
Spend the day on December 31st by taking some time to be quiet and reflect on the year that is drawing to a close. Think about the people that mattered most to you, your greatest accomplishment, challenging difficulties and the lessons you learned.

Take a purification bath. Scrub yourself with sea salt and wash yourself thoroughly in the water. Feel free to anoint yourself with your favorite oil or perfume.

Contemplate the patterns in your life that keep you stuck. Write down the limiting beliefs or habits that you wish to leave behind with the old year. In a fireproof bowl or fireplace, safely burn the paper. As the paper burns, be aware that you have just made space for new ideas people, and opportunities to enter your life. Carefully, throw out the ashes when they cool.

Light a candle for those who have passed on to spirit.
Light a candle for your new potential in the coming year.
Light a candle to acknowledge the earth.
Contribute to your community by planting a tree, helping a homeless family or baking cookies for your local nursing home.

Share your holiday with others: invite friends to a New Year's ceremony that honors your individual path. Have each person light a candle and share his or her vision for the year. It is powerful to have witnesses to your dreams.

Take five minutes to focus on peace- have each person light a candle for peace and healing. Play inspirational music

Dance, sing and celebrate life

Forgive, forgive, forgive - end the old year by opening your heart to yourself and others.

good places to start!

another link with fun stuff:
http://holiday-entertaining.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_years_day_traditions_and_superstitions

[Personal Champ]

No suggestions, but I can't wait to see what others post.

I've had a rough year, but yours makes mine seem minor!

Here's to better luck in 09, whether it's fate or ritual-induced. :yes:

[Ghazzu]

At the very least, smudge the house with sage.

[twofatponies]

Some traditions "clean the house" (or the whole property) by first literally tidying up (do the dishes, wash the floors, straighten up piles of messy equipment by the barn, etc.), then starting at the door or main entrance walk around the perimeter of the place "sweeping" the bad luck away with a bunch of sweet herbs (basil is always good, mint, rosemary, lavendar, that sort of thing). When you get back to the beginning, step outside and tear the bundle of herbs up and throw it in running water or in a storm drain or in front of your icky neighbor's property. Throwing salt around is good too.

If you do this outside, walking the perimeter of your farm, your neighbors will think you are nuts.

The biggest part is I think you have to walk either clockwise or counterclockwise, and I can never remember which! Probably clockwise. :D

[slpeders]

and the barn! :)

[lesson junkie]

Okay, Larkspur-In the South to ensure luck and prosperity in the coming year we eat blackeye peas and collard greens on New Year's Night. (on the 1st) The collards represent greenbacks and the peas represent coins-the amount you eat is the amount of money you will get this year. Does it work? We are afraid to skip a year to find out!

Champagne is good for luck. A new broom is a good way to sweep away bad luck in the past. Any cleansing, especially with pine will help.

Maybe a long soak in the bath with pine shavings sprinkled over the water and a nice glass of champagne New Year's morning would be a good way to start. When you drain the tub the water will carry all last year's misfortune away.

New Year's Eve you and FatPalamino can make lists of the bad things that happened this past year and burn the lists and dump the ashes in the manure spreader-thus last year's bad luck can be used for this spring's growth!

Happy New Year to everyone.

[Curiously]

Here's a link to a board where you can ask for info: http://www.branwenscauldron.org/index.php/board,5.0.html

Here's anther good source of info on recommended reading, rituals, etc. http://www.tangledmoon.org/homepage.htm

[LarkspurCO]

Ooh, thanks for the suggestions so far. I like the cheap and easy solutions. I just went out behind the house and picked a bunch of sage and burned a little. I needs to dry out some more, but I think it's already working. The wind stopped blowing and it's nice and warm out, and I'm off work. I'm going out to ride!

[Rienzi]

Larkspur, oh my, what a wretched year! Surely things will get better now. (So sorry about the goat.)

You want cheap, easy, kind of fun, and mysterious? Do you have a pumpkin? At our New Year's Eve parties, we have a ritual called "the Turning of the Pumpkin". You carve "2008" on one side and "2009" on the other. Put in a candle or glowstick (Or Christmas lights) At midnight, you turn the pumpkin so the new year shows.

OK, it's more fun and mysterious when you've had a couple drinks. But if you can keep a straight face and give some whacky expanation while turning it, it's worth the trouble for the looks your friends will have on their faces. And hey, it's got to be good. After all, who doesn't love a pumpkin?

I'm carving my pumpkin tonight.

PS. If you're ambitious, you can also make a pumpkin pie. That has to be lucky!

[artienallie]

Sounds like you need a real cleansing: Clean the place top to bottom, use a new broom to sweep out the nasty juju, and smudge the whole property with sage. If you use a broom, you don't have to touch the ground with it - you're sweeping out the bad vibes, not the dust. Go in a clockwise direction with everything. If you burn something like lessonjunkie suggests (which isn't a bad idea at all) you want to toss the ashes AWAY - best way is in a running stream or storm drain. If you don't the bad stuff is just going to linger.

[equusrocks]

Count me in too...

Hope 2009 turns into a fantastic year for you. :yes:

[Rienzi]

Continuing with the pumpkin theme, here is what you could say to friends, "The pumpkin represents the harvest and the bounty of the earth. The light represents the blessings we have received and the hopes of the new year. The turning is the change of the year and the changes you look to make in yourself in the coming year.

[FatPalomino]

Party like it's 1999?

Voodoo dolls?

Sex, drugs, and rock n roll?

Those are my only suggestions, so help me god.

Oh, and Larkspur, I do have a good story for you. It does involve Sheriff deputies and threats of me and my animals getting shot, but, like last Christmas, again I do not wind up in jail. (For those of you that don't know, Alesha Matchett, convicted animal killer, attempted to have me arrested on Christmas Day 2007 for horse theft, even though she signed a bill of sale giving me the horses. It took the deputy 3 hours to sort out the mess... and against Matchett's wishes, I was not arrested. Shortly afterwards, she was arrested for animal abuse...)

[FatPalomino]

If you burn something like lessonjunkie suggests (which isn't a bad idea at all) you want to toss the ashes AWAY -

Chuck them out the window today. The 70 mph winds will blow them right to Kansas before you know it.

[JSwan]

Hmmmm..... I know exactly what you need.

A kitchen witch!!!!!

No, not your mother in law, a kitchen witch!

[arktos19]

Salt is an excellent suggestion, used in purification rituals in many cultures. :yes:

Don't forget the tequila and lime wedges to go with! :cool:

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

What we do, at my barn.

We gather around the New Year. Everyone writes, on a piece of paper, what we want to burn out of our lives. Then we throw in in the fireplace (fire going) with huge fanfare.

OP, I know you have been through a lot, but I laughed through your post. I think one of the very hardest things to do is go through trying times with your humor intact, and you did a fabulous, fabulous job.

Much hugs and blessings to you in the New Year. For that matter, I send that out to everyone!

[TheOrangeOne]

Black eyed peas. :yes:

[Murphy's Mom]

.... smudge the whole property with sage.
My entire property is covered in sagebrush. Does that count? :lol:

[J-Lu]

Can I come along? I could really some new juju for 2009...

OK, try some variation on this:

Get something you can burn that relates to each situation. Tanager...a copy of his board bill that paid for his non-training time at the new barn. Desi, a copy of her vet bill. Etc. Mea Culpa, perhaps a pair of underwear. :D On the right day, take each item and stand before each horse/animal. FOCUS on the problems that have occured with each animal...the problems that happened and the potential problems yet to come... VISUALIZE this negativity surrounding...but not penetrating your animal. FOCUS on drawing this negative juju away from the animal with your breath as you breathe...and breathe the bad juju into the item you are holding in your hand. IMAGINE that it sticks like glue...or like bad water through a Britta filter...on the thing that you're holding. Do this for each animal...and for you and your farm and anything else. Place each item into a paper bag when you're done.

THEN, make a fire somewhere. VISUALIZE that the fire represents the turning of the year...the light of 2009...the light of longer days about to come. Pick up each item and re-imagine the bad juju...the bad experiences that each thing represents...and burn it in the fire...keeping in mind that you are transforming your experiences and your luck...not banishing it. Do this for each item and think about what you want to transform it INTO. Burn the bag, too. As the light of the new year dwindles (i.e. the fire goes out), save the ashes. They are your transformed luck! Repot some favorite plants or new flowers or some bulbs for the springtime with them. As your plants/flowers grow, keep in mind how your bad luck (the carbon from the ashes) has transformed into something new, growing and beautiful for 2009. Remind yourself every time you look at your plants. If you end up killing your plants....you're on your own. :cool: :D :lol:

[dressagetraks]

I've had a spectacularly craptastic 2008, the worst year of my life by far. It began coming off of a very bad physical injury halfway through 2007 that eliminated all horsing for months while bandaged up and still isn't 100% right, and then it imploded by having Mom, my lifelong best friend, who would have lived with me on the farm 3 years at Christmas, switch abruptly on Feb 22nd from her gradual mental decline of the last few years to a mental free-fall off the Kangshung face of Everest. Highlights of the year have included the episode of Frankenfridge, where she thought the refrigerator was possessed and about to attack her or burst into flames (occasionally with flames provided), the "stalkers" constantly outside whom she needed me to give her a gun so she could go take care of, and the episode where she called the power company supervisor, was trying to get the front desk clerk fired for being a dishonest thief who had stolen all of Mom's money when she drove there to pay the bill (Mom has never been to the power company and hasn't driven in a few years), and was trying to file police charges. Me contradicting her publicly on that to both the power company supervisor and the police made me the official Enemy, which status I held most of the year. From February until her placement this fall, I never once got in full hours at my (thankfully from home) job or was truly able to let down guard and sleep.

So what am I going to do this New Year's Eve and New Year? I have it all planned.

New Year's Eve, I will be thankful that she is in a safe place for now, that I did not lose my job this year (easily could have), that I did not lose my farm this year (easily could have), and that I did not keel over from a heart attack or go stark raving crazy myself (which I often thought I was about to). I will list the good things from the year, and I will be grateful that the year is ending.

And then, New Year's Day, I will take my first dressage lesson since I hurt my hands 18 months ago. :yes::D:yes:

On to 2009!

[witherbee]

Sorry to hear about your rough year Larkspur - what a litany of terrible horse and other sundry animal issues (I too have a cat with missing litterbox radar - he will pee ON ME if I am sleeping and he gets on me).

My year was okay until I got laid off from my wonderful job that I had for 22 years. The odds of me getting something even remotely comparable are like finding a speck on a needle in a haystack the size of Mount Everest (to steal your mountain reference). I work from home and need to for health reasons (radiation colitis and lymphedema from when I had cancer as a teenager). Just lost a very dear family friend yesterday - very unexpected and shocking. Have had many financila issues which makes this unemployment thing come at the worst possible time - and of course the economy couldn't be wmuch worse, so it's really like my old company threw 7,000 of us to the wolves right after Thanksgiving (Merry Christmas!). Health issues with our 3 dogs, 4 cats and 11 horses keep us on our toes as well as our own health issues. Just not a fun year. Am PRAYING that I find a job that I can do where I make even half of what I was making. We are afraid that we may lose our farm and are trying to sell some of our beloved horses. Very sad for us (and for them).

So, I know there are many worse stories out there (my friend's family are one such story - they are dealing with a tremendous loss), and folks dealing with loss, mental illness, losing their houses and various tragedies. It's just hard to stay upbeat and we need a "good kharma" ritual.

Happy New Year to all!!!!!!

[Thomas_1]

You could try the traditional Scottish Hogmanay ceremonies:

First footing: involves people going from door to door to visit friends and relatives in their town to exchange small gifts, usually of food or drink. The first person to visit a house after midnight on New Year’s Eve is called the “first-footer.” The rest of the night is given over to Hogmanay festivities normally in the form of a traditional Ceilidh or social gathering.

Traditionally, the ceremony of Hogmanay was a formal affair in which a dark stranger would visit a household bearing a piece of coal (a traditional Scottish symbol of wealth) which he would place in the fire, and a sprig of mistletoe, bread and salt which he would place on the table as a token of friendship. In return the household would provide the kind stranger with food and whisky. This Hogmanay ceremony was performed in order to bestow prosperity on the household for the coming year. Once the Hogmanay ceremony was complete best wishes for a Happy New Year were exchanged.

Nowadays, the Hogmanay ceremony is less formal. The “stranger” is a friend or relative and he or she often brings food or drink for the family, who return the gesture by providing them with food to eat and wine or whisky to drink. This is usually combined with a pre-arranged meeting at one person’s house, where the Hogmanay festivities continue into the night.

Or the annual swinging of fireballs on Hogmanay night. This unusual activity involves the bundling with lengths of wire of stacks of combustible material, such as paper, straw and mattresses, and suspending the “fireballs” from derricks. The fireballs, which are a similar size to wrecking balls, are then swung and lit with flaming torches.

Or you could chant one of the ancient Scottish rhymes:

Great good luck to the house,
Good luck to the family,
Good luck to every rafter in it,
And to every worldly thing in it.

Good luck to horses and cattle,
Good luck to the sheep,
Good luck to everything,
And good luck to all your means.

Luck to the good-wife,
Good luck to the children,
Good luck to every friend,
Great fortune and health to all.

If truth be told none will do a thing to improve your destiny or good luck but there's lots of whiskey involved and if you try hard you can get so you really don't care! ;)

[LarkspurCO]

Thomas, that really takes the cake, especially the flaming fireballs hanging from the derricks. I have lots of junk around here, and will have even more after I do all of this tidying up that's been recommended. We can burn it in FatPalomino's hotel room.

Whiskey, wine, salt, tequila, pumpkins. Definitely libations are in order. Is it okay if I start by baking banana bread instead of cleaning the house? I have to work tomorrow and I really want banana bread. I don't think I can do blackeyed pees - bleh.

J-Lu, your plan is my most favorite but I don't know if I'll have time to do all of this juju absorbing into these objects and have them all in a bag by tomorrow night. Maybe if I just write their names on piece of paper and use the paper to soak up the juju I can get it done in the morning before work.

What the heck is a "kitchen witch"?

[LarkspurCO]

Much hugs and blessings to you in the New Year. For that matter, I send that out to everyone!

Thanks, and same to you. And please let Ted know I bought lots of discounted peppermints tonight.

[Woodland]

Salt is an excellent suggestion, used in purification rituals in many cultures. :yes:

Don't forget the tequila and lime wedges to go with! :cool:


BINGO! My ritual to a T :lol:

And Thomas, all my Anglican friends practice first footing - it's become quite a riotous joke in the neighborhood :lol:

And then there is this other bizarre day when they light bins of oil or tar and chuck them about - whooo whoooo - named after some guy...and these are people I met in my church - UK immigrants

Waaaay too much fun!

[Coreene]

Run around the house three times at the stroke of New Year's, butt naked, counterclockwise. And if you have a swimming pool, jump in and get out right away. Scares off all the bad!

[LarkspurCO]

Run around the house three times at the stroke of New Year's, butt naked, counterclockwise. And if you have a swimming pool, jump in and get out right away. Scares off all the bad!

All I have to jump in is the septic tank.

[Coreene]

3 times around the house then, counterclockwise, butt naked at the stroke of the new year.

[Woodland]

Run around the house three times at the stroke of New Year's, butt naked, counterclockwise. And if you have a swimming pool, jump in and get out right away. Scares off all the bad!


I also find that dancing nekkid in the light of the full moon will ward off evil and rotten neighbors :lol:

[WW_Queen]

Where do I sign up for a cleansing ritual? I need a new start to the New Year for my horse's sake. I think he's dying of boredom at being lame (judging from the "THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE I LOVE YOU!" attitude when I visit). :(

I hope everyone has a happy New Year tomorrow! :)

[LarkspurCO]

I will print a copy of this thread and make sure to include in the ritual all of those desiring the New Year's JuJu Cleanse.

Even if you're doing your own ritual, know that you'll be part of the collective invocation, whatever form it takes, even if it's flaming pumpkin heads.

[TikiSoo]

I'm Hungarian, and these rituals are a part of my every day life;
You must have pickled herring on New Years Eve. People freak when I offer it, but once they taste the sweet saltiness on a cracker, they usually end up loving it. It should bring good luck for the upcoming year.

Also, hang mirrors facing OUT of your house, never on an outside wall facing in. Mirrors reflect evil intent back out of your dwelling. I have a particularly troublesome neighbor and I hung a 4x5 inch mirror right in the window facing their house-not ONE lick of trouble since!
:winkgrin:

[arabhorse2]

3 times around the house then, counterclockwise, butt naked at the stroke of the new year.

Coreene, I'd really hate to give my horses a coronary by doing that. Even I don't wanna see me naked, at midnight or any other time! :lol:

Besides, for those folks in the more northern climes, I imagine appendages might freeze and fall off. Not necessarily a bad thing, considering that some people shouldn't be breeding on their stupid.... :D

[tkhawk]

Funny reminds me of growing up in India. In the part where I grew up we had an annual three day harvest festival in January. The first day you had a bonfire and lit up all your old clothes, stuff etc. Kinda like out with the old and in with the new.
The second day is prayers and they make a special dish.
The third day was thanking the animals and the most exciting for us kids. Cows are like horses over there. So you wash up your cows, paint their horns, put colorful designs on their bodies. Then finish it up by adding flowers and bells. In the evening, the men folk would hitch them up to the cart which was decorated too, take them for a spin around the village-decorations and all and at speed. Everybody trying to show off their oxen. It was quite a sight and sound-with all the decorations and bells on the cattle.
It has been going on for centuries and most people participate in it. Just reading this thread brought back some memories!

[JSwan]

What the heck is a "kitchen witch"?

Just a witch doll that you hang in your kitchen. It wards off evil spirits that ruin your cooking.

Mine doesn't work. :lol:

Don't forget your Hoppin' John tonight, and for January and February make sure to have at least one Kohl und Pinkel fahrt before Faschingzeit. :D

Happy New Year!!!!

[pAin't_Misbehavin']

Here in the South you should not clean the house on New Year's. No sweeping, no washing clothes - otherwise you might sweep or wash somebody out of the family in the coming year.
[Because southern women have sense enough not to think up any rituals involving housecleaning, for Pete's sake.:winkgrin:]

I think first-footing sounds like a much better ritual, as long as we can dispense with the suspended fireballs. [note to self: be grateful for new year's fireworks. would be much worse if ancestors hadn't immigrated.:yes:]

[oldenburger with fries and a cold beer]

Here is an old one:

What you will need: Chalk, salt water,broom,incense

Draw a circle around yourself

next sweep out the negative energies from the circle with Besom(Broom)

anoint with saltwater your forehead saying"I cleanse my thoughts"

anoint your throat saying "I cleanse my voice"

anoint your hands saying " I cleanse all that I touch"

anoint your feet saying " I cleanse the earth I walk on"

next light your incense inviting blessed spirit guides to help you in your journey through the next year.

Finish by drinking a bottle of tequila and running around the house naked!!!

Please post all pictures!!!

[Rienzi]

Oldenburger, you left out the pumpkin!

[oldenburger with fries and a cold beer]

Oops my bad!! I meant run around naked with a pumpkin on head and a lit candle in your ass having someone take pictures!!! Thanks Rienzi, very important step in the ritual!!!

[TB or not TB?]

I also find that dancing nekkid in the light of the full moon will ward off evil and rotten neighbors :lol:

I think it might bring the crazy ones out of the woodwork thought! :lol::lol:

[FatPalomino]

Finish by drinking a bottle of tequila and running around the house naked!!!

Please post all pictures!!!

Camera (check)

Laptop (check)

Tequila (____)

(runs out to liquor store)

[Stacie]

November: Desi is colicy and has a fever. Vet doesn’t want to come see him because he’s “so hard to handle.”
Put a pumpkin on your *vets* head and shove a candle up his butt.
Then annoint your behind with salt water and say "I cleanse myself of people who can just kiss my a**"

[allpurpose]

Put a pumpkin on your *vets* head and shove a candle up his butt.
Then annoint your behind with salt water and say "I cleanse myself of people who can just kiss my a**"

:lol::lol::lol:

[oldenburger with fries and a cold beer]

:D LOL

[Rallycairn]

This intrigued me immensely, so I am doing some snooping...I'm neither witch, nor shaman nor spiritual healer, but may have been in a past life (ha!) :)
I found this link to traditions in different countries and the reasons behind them:
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Luck%20around%20the%20world%20global%20good% 20luck%20traditions

I also found this advice:
New Years Ritual
Spend the day on December 31st by taking some time to be quiet and reflect on the year that is drawing to a close. Think about the people that mattered most to you, your greatest accomplishment, challenging difficulties and the lessons you learned.

Take a purification bath. Scrub yourself with sea salt and wash yourself thoroughly in the water. Feel free to anoint yourself with your favorite oil or perfume.

Contemplate the patterns in your life that keep you stuck. .....

good places to start!

another link with fun stuff:
http://holiday-entertaining.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_years_day_traditions_and_superstitions

No pumpkins, but I followed the set of rituals slpeders recommended. It felt more meaningful than my usual list of resolutions!



A Year full of new patterns and good health and prosperity to us all!

[slpeders]

I followed some of the items I found...I have a hard time staying awake past 10pm though, so wasn't awake to open/close the doors. I REALLY had wanted to try to do the coins on the threshold thing too, but totally forgot.
I did do a little reflecting on the year, and while it had it's heartbreak, it has it's joy too.
I'll second Rallycairn's wishes for all of us for 2009. May your joys outweigh your sorrows.

[SweatySaddlepad]

You need:

A candle to represent you (any color)

A gray candle

A black candle

An orange candle

It's best to perform this one while the moon is waxing. Light the candle that represents yourself and say: “This is me, me in all things” Light the black candle and say: 'This is all the bad luck that has dragged my footsteps. Trouble, disappointments and tears are here. This bad luck now leaves me forever'. Light the gray candle and say: 'All that was bad is neutralized. All my bad luck is dissolved'. Light the orange candle and say: 'This is the energy coming my way, to get my life moving and speed up the change'.

Sit quietly for a while and visualize the negative energies being whisked into the gray candle and dissolved into empty nothingness. Visualize the orange candle drawing good energy and good luck towards you, see the air stirring about with possibilities and opportunities.

Let the candles burn down completely (take the usual safety precautions)


or a nice quick one to use each morning

Repeat the chant below and feel a securing warmth around your body and imagine white light glowing around your skin, it is sure to rid you of any bad thoughts or unwanted presence.

I see only pure reflected light
I am ridding all bad luck and negative energy
O Blessed Be

[LarkspurCO]

Well, we didn't get very far with the rituals New Year's Eve. I guess we were too busy chatting and drinking.

But we did have fun lighting dog farts (Margaret's dog was flatulent with death gas) and we accidentally conjured up a demon: Alesha Matchett (http://llnw.image.cbslocal.com/19/2008/01/11/320x240/matchett.jpg). Margaret ran smack into her today at the Wal-Mart.:eek::eek::eek:

How'd we do that? All I can say is it was a group art project.:cool:

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'm going to do some quiet reflection this weekend. Finish smudging the house. Burn some 2008 stuff away. Should be good.

Oh, and Happy New Year!