I recently posted in the Daily Brew-Haha about New Year’s Resolutions.   My coven, OldeForest, has recently completed its annual Resolutions Ritual for coming year.  While traditional Witch’s New Year is Samhaine, OldeForest follows the turning of the Wheel in determining our correct time to move forward with action.  And so we wait until after Yule, when the Sun is in Capricorn, to set our ambitions. 

Between Samhaine and Yule, the Earth sleeps and moves deeply into the darkness.  It is not a good time to set goals when the Sun is dying, withering as it passes through Scorpio and into the pure fire mutable realm of Sagittarius.  Once Yule has passed and the Sun enters Capricorn, the solar year is reborn and the Sun gets his feet under Him again and begins the steep climb to Summer Solstice with surefooted tenacity.  Capricorn is actually half-goat and half-sea creature, carrying within the gifts of both land and sea, reality and deep intuition.  These are the energies we draw upon to set forth our goals — our firm and resolute ambitions for our lives coupled with our intuitive sense of what we need most to climb our own mountains in the year to come.

Each person in our group sets goals for himself or herself, and these goals typically fall in one of five areas:  Financial, Physical, Social/Emotional, Mental, and Spiritual.  Each of these areas corresponds to various chakras, if you will, or points on the pentagram (some of the correspondences may surprise you).  However, arguing over which element belongs to Financial goals isn’t the point of this article series. 

What I’d like to take time to discuss are how each of these five areas I’ve listed must be kept in vital health if you would call yourself a Witch.  In the upcoming articles on this topic, I’ll reference some history and some common sense and hopefully will inspire you to make some goals for yourself in these areas for 2010.  I’ll close the series with some practical advice on goal setting and the SMART technique for wording your goals in a way that allows you to measure your progress.

Remember that part of being a Witch is the never-ending process of transformation.  Resolutions (re-solutions… you know, re-solving problems you haven’t quite figured out yet?) are a time-honored way of choosing one’s crucible and one’s fire in which to render the Self a more pure and efficient tool.  Acceptance of your personal flaws is but a step on the journey.  A real Witch assesses the flaws within, accepts them as they are, and then seeks to transcend those flaws through willed change.

You know what you need to do.  Make this your year to do it.

Photo by Eddi 07 (via Flickr).