News From the Lair ~ Gearing up for the new year

I saw on Facebook this morning that there will be a New Moon on January 1, 2014.  Apparently this hasn't happened in a long time and most likely won't happen again for a while.

Of course, the Pagan community will be all a flutter over this (it's already starting), and for once, I think I may end up joining in on the excitement and planning.

I really think a clean slate is what I have needed for years.  The last few years have been particularly unpleasant, but I have managed to somehow work my way through them.  I have tried to see every situation as a learning experience, I have learned (a little better anyway) how to enjoy life's moments a little more than I once did, and not to stand around taking crap from anyone, no matter what they (or I) think I owe them.

English: New Year's Resolutions postcard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2013 did offer a few good things, but they are things I think I was preparing for 2014 with.  2013 saw Witchlet become pregnant, a thing none of us ever thought would happen due to a bad infection she had at 18 and our first grandchild is due the day after my birthday in 2014.

I became ordained this year, but I am still going to school to receive the title of Priestess before I really do much with it.  I won't receive that title in 2014, but I know this coming year will be filled with school.

I renamed, re-branded, and am in the process of reopening the business I inherited from The Puppet Master when she passed away 2 years ago and for once, I feel hopeful and optimistic about it.  The official reopening is scheduled for January 1st and now that I know about the New Moon on that day, I feel even more excited about the opening.

I have been asked over the years that I have been blogging, about New Year's Resolutions.  In truth, a lot of Pagans, including us, celebrate the New Year more on Samhain than on January 1st, but either way, I have mostly stopped making "Resolutions".

Sure, I have "wishes" for what the new year will bring, but I don't sit down and make a bunch of promises to myself about what I will and won't do in the new year.  The reason for that is multiple, but it basically boils down to the simple fact that I found that making Resolutions was rather depressing for me.  Most people make Resolutions along the lines of "I will work out 3 times a week this year" or "I will finally drop that last 10 pounds" or "I resolve to quit smoking this year".  I have found that those types of "Resolutions" often fall flat before February 1st rolls around and I end up feeling like I failed myself.

Instead, I use Samhain as a kind of banishing.  I try to resolve problems and let go of the past at my Samhain ritual, generally by burning scraps of paper with what I am banishing or releasing on them in my Samhain fire and then I feel better with ideas like "I will try to communicate with the people I care about more clearly" or "I will try to find balance in (insert area of life needing balance the most here) aspect of my life".

I know already that if I eat properly, dropping 10 pounds won't be that hard and if I get off my butt and move around, exercise will come naturally.  Chances are, if I haven't already been doing something, then the "New Year's Resolutions" isn't going to make me.

So, as I prepare to face 2014, I have a clear idea of the kinds of energies I'd like to focus on in my life and I have set in motion a few things that I hope to cultivate in my personal life.

Regardless of if you make Resolutions or not, I hope that 2014 brings you all of the best things in life and I look forward to getting to know my community a little better and seeing where the year takes us!

Blessings,