winter intention-setting

a practice and a ritual

if you ask me, today is a pretty sweet spot. smack dab in the heart of the winter holidays, we're halfway between yule/winter solstice and new years day, we're beginning kwanzaa and celebrating zarathustra diso, and we're still aglow from hannukah and christmas. those of us who are northern hemispherians (hemipudlians?) are working hard, in our own ways and through our own traditions, to hold the dark in peace and call back the light in trust. beginnings are ending, and endings are beginning.

for me, it means that i've just rearranged my altar to reflect what i want to call into being for the next 1/8th turn of the wheel of the year, the time between yule and imbolc. not because items in space have any inherent and universal magical power (in my own spiritual understanding, anyhow, which will differ from yours). rather, my altars have more of a noetic function, a transformational capability that's more inside-out than outside-in, if you will. created and assembled with intention, this set of symbols will remind both my conscious and unconscious mind, whenever i glance at it, what i want for myself and what i want to call into being for the next few weeks. that visual reinforcement, each time i pass by, will actually cause me to move towards decisions and opportunities in my life, both macro and micro, that will help me to make what i want to have happen happen. as hokey as they might seem to some, it's the reason why vision boards can be helpful. we're using our own deep psychology to steer us towards what we want.