Here is a personal ritual I recommend
for the New Year, whether it is Samhain (October 31, All Hallow’s Eve) or
Saturnalia (December 17-24). It can also be performed any time you feel the
need for renewal or personal reinvention.
Like a caterpillar, we can burst out of
our old form and shed old skin. Old habits that no longer serve should be
released. If drinking alcohol, for example, has become a problem for you, let
go, find a Twelve-Step program, and let miracles happen in your life as you
release the old and welcome the new. We must let go of the past in order to
look to the future.
A well-timed ritual can be the process
by which you let go of that past. It formalizes the act and marks the time of
entry into a new present and new future.
Start with a ritual bath, or this
Inspirational Immersion, to cleanse yourself.
Immersion
At the day’s last light, pour a bath. As
your run the water, pour drops of bergamot, rosemary, vetiver, and eucalyptus
oils into the steaming waters. Bathe in the gathering dark. As darkness begins
to fill the room, meditate and pray for positive change in your life. Know that
this is the day your life will surely change forever.
Metamorphosis Ritual
Choose a place in your home or wherever
you feel secure to do this deeply personal ritual. Allow it to be dark. You are
in the dark cocoon and about to burst out into the light. Cast your circle of change
by moving clockwise around the room three times. Notice as you walk that you
can feel the darkness increasing. You are creating a magical space in which you
will work for your desired change.
Stand in the middle of the circle and
speak aloud what you want to get rid of in your life. Speak the truth from the
safe center of your sanctuary. Close your eyes and turn to the east. Now, using
creative visualization, call up the element of air. Picture a piece of the day
sky filled with clouds and the night filled with stars. This is the element of
air. Wait until you feel its presence fully entered in the circle and speak
aloud:
I face the east; I am air. I call
upon the powers of the sky and the stars to aid me now.
Now turn to the south and visualize a flaming
red ball of sun, which is fire, heat, and life. You will know the element of
fire is present by the heat you feel in your circle. Speak aloud:
I face south; I am fire. I call upon
the powers of flame and heat, the passion of fire to help me through. Burn away
the old, my former self.
Now turn to the west and visualize the
waters of the world, oceans, rivers, creeks, and lakes, all merging into a
single drop of the holiest water. Speak aloud:
I face the west. I am made of water.
I call upon the powers of water, more powerful than any stone. I ask the waters
of life to cleanse me and purify me, ready me for total change.
Now face the north and visualize the
green of the earth, the soil and seeds of change. Speak aloud:
I face the north. I am grounded in
this earth. I call upon the powers of earth, our planet, to give me the
strength to change.
Stand still in the center of your circle
and feel the energies of the elements, the powers of the four directions, and
the strength of nature’s helpers. Relax into this energy and allow visions,
ideas, and inspiration to arise. Welcome new feelings and sensations. You
should be open to experiencing new patterns of thought. Thinking in a new way
is one way to shed your old skin. Now begin to move and stretch in your circle
of magic. Reach up as high as you can, and bend and bow as you emerge from the
cocoon of your old self. Breathe deeply, inhaling and exhaling slowly and
fully. After ten breaths, you should being to feel a buzzing sensation at the
top of your head. This is the signal that you have arrived at a new level of
consciousness. You have shed your old limits; your transmutation is complete.
Walking counterclockwise, retrace the
steps of your circle. As you walk, speak your gratitude to the elements and the
directions, taking care to give thanks for all the help you have received
during this circle of change. Your circle is now open.
As you go through the next few days,
reflect on your new feelings and impressions. New people will come into your
life. New opportunities will arise. You have given yourself the gift of new
life. Enjoy this new post-metamorphic phase of change and treasure it.
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