In my family there are certain things you do before sitting down around the New Year’s Eve dinner table wearing silly hats. I don’t know if it’s something my mother once invented to make me tidy my room, but belief has it that the way you leave the old year sets the global direction of the new one. In other words, you’re supposed to have done things like clean your home, pay your bills and shave your legs before downing the champagne and lighting up the fireworks.
As I’ve never been a particular good cleaner or bill payer (not to mention the hair growth on my legs – I’d probably lose a few kilos if I shaved them), I was glad to find out that moon energy can also help me get a good start this year. It so happens that on New Years Eve 2009 there will be a full moon, a blue moon and a partial lunar eclipse.
Whereas a full moon normally occurs once a month, a blue moon – the name given when a full moon appears for the second time in the same month – is a rare event, especially on New Year’s Eve. There hasn’t been one since 1971 (and the next blue moon on New Year’s Eve won’t occur till 2028).
Why is this so important? Well, it’s believed that the (alleged) powers of the full moon are magnified threefold when it’s a blue moon. The blue moon is also considered to be the “purpose moon” – an ideal time for setting new goals that stand a real chance of being attained. Add this to the lunar eclipse – which symbolise endings and letting go – and you have a perfect occasion for creating a new and special start of 2010.
There are different ways to do this but for me a little “moon magic(k)” seems the appropriate way to go. As I don’t have a particular need or possibility of going skyclad (i.e. doing a ritual in the nude) and will probably have a hard time finding even five minutes of silent alone time for moon meditation on New Year’s Eve, I’m opting for the pen and paper wish method. This is done by writing down what you want to leave behind or let go of – or writing what you want to bring into your life. And then burn it. For extra “wish power”, it apparently helps to write it on a bay leaf (but you should know it’s harder – and smellier – to burn!).
Even if you’re not inclined to blue moon beliefs, penning down your vision of 2010 still isn’t a bad idea. According to psychologists, listing your goals and dreams on paper makes them 10 times more likely to happen. So start scribbling – all whilst remembering that blue moons, bay leaves and lists won’t do everything. To make 2010 to what you want it to be, your own energy and willpower will be needed too.
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