Everyone loves to set their goals on New Year’s eve and kick off January 1st with all their goals. A long list of things that we don’t normally do in winter. A long list with no plan, no time to relax and contemplate and let them ease into our lives and bodies. People just get caught up in the ‘got to do it all now’ energy. I get that way too a lot of the time. But for years now it hasn’t felt right. Even before diving into witchcraft new Year’s resolutions didn’t feel right. I just didn’t know why. Now that I have been a practicing witch (though let’s face it, with the job, the school, the kids, the dogs, and life, I haven’t done much keeping up with it all), I can see better why this never fit well. I can see why resolutions fail. Statistics show that 80% of resolutions have failed by February.
January is winter for the northern hemisphere. It may feel warm and sunny where you live, but it’s still the time for rest, hibernation, recovery, and contemplation. The holidays associated these days with being with family and feasting are this time of year too (that’s a whole other can of worms for another day). So in a time when we’ve feasted, either spent time away from home or time with extra people in our houses, when we are meant to be resting, a tradition of starting everything new, makes no sense. It’s setting us up to fail. The cynic in me wonders if it was designed this way to keep people in line.
If we simply reworked the schedule and reworked when we started planning, thinking, and acting, it would change everything. If we followed the earth’s calendar, how different would the outcomes be? Would we fail by February, or be just getting started by February?
I dream of what I want in the following year, the desires, the goals, the feelings, etc at Samhain, October 31st. I pull cards for the year, for each month, to see what themes and messages my guides have for me. I see what cards come up, what lines up with those messages, and where things should be done throughout the year. Then I set them aside. Amazingly the cards for November, December, and January are usually all about resting, quiet, and magick. So through those months, I don’t worry about meeting goals so much or starting new things, I try to be present. When ideas strike, I write them down, I don’t go off and do them just yet. Thats the intention anyway, people who know me, know I am likely to start some things the instant I think them as a side quest.
Then once Imbolc comes around at the start of February, things start waking up, and I start reviewing the goals and plan that came up. I see what’s ready to begin, what needs a little more time. I pick and choose which of the ideas that I’d written down over the winter I actually like and want to keep. Technically it’s a sign that spring will be here soon, but for us up here, its just when the snow is hopefully beginning to ease up. We know that we still have months left, but maybe there’s a day or two in between storms to wear one less coat.
Once Ostara hits in March, it’s officially spring, if not in weather, in energy. That’s when its time to really get going on the goals, the projects, and the learning. Often the cards reflect this as well. But perhaps that’s because I intentionally want to follow this plan. When I pull cards for you, it may come out differently based on what you believe and follow.
Following the energy of the Earth makes sense. We are creatures of the Earth, no matter what human systems we’ve created, or how much society tells us we need to go go go and strive the exact same day in and day out, our souls still want to follow nature. We may not be able to change society’s views as whole or tell our boss we only work when nature tells us we should (wouldn’t that be a fun conversation haha), but we can choose areas in which we do follow this. We can make small spaces, small acknowledgments of this rhythm as we’re able to so that we have some rest and some peace.
It all begins with intentionally choosing when we dream, rest, plan, and act.
13-Card Year Long Reading
I’ve got 13 spaces open for pulling your 13 cards.
You share if you’ve got goals, or desires, or questions, then I pull 1 card for your theme of the year, plus 12 cards, one for each month.
You’ll receive pictures of the cards, descriptions and keywords, all laid out in a pdf that you can print or use digitally to add your own notes to. It’s like your own unique monthly planner that no one else will have.
Sign up here: (link)