There is another New Year's ritual that has become an important part of my life. At the beginning of each year, my husband and I have a burning bowl ceremony. For those unfamiliar with a burning bowl ceremony, it is a release of sorts. You think about what you wish to release from your life. It could be a way of thinking, a bad habit, an addiction, a fear. Then you write that down on a piece of paper and burn it. I find it very powerful. Burning is the ultimate way of releasing something. The fire completely destroys it, allowing something new to come up from the ashes to replace it. The second part of the ritual is to identify what you want to bring into your life and then write that down.
This makes me think of a line from a Jewel song, "No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from." (from Life Uncommon on the Spirit CD) We often spend so much energy thinking about or worrying about what we don't want in our lives. We give it strength with our thoughts. The burning bowl ceremony is a great way to focus our energy on a more positive plane.
We are a little late in doing our ritual this year, because I've been sick since Christmas and wasn't really in the right frame of mind. We participated in a burning bowl ceremony on New Year's Eve, but we haven't yet done the second part of the ritual. Usually, on New Year's Day, we write our intentions and put them into our elephant jar (pictured above.) A year later, after we've written our intentions for the new year, we burn the papers from the previous year. So, tonight is the night. A whole new year, a wealth of possibilities. I seem to be better at manifesting material things than changes to my personal characteristics. Old habits die hard, I guess. But, I'm putting one of last year's intentions on my list again this year. Little by little, I'll get there.
What do you wish to release from your life? What do you wish to bring into your life?
No comments:
Post a Comment