For many, New Year’s eve is symbolic for a time of new beginnings. Most of us have at some point made a “resolution” either to start exercising more, cutting off toxic relationships, or quitting bad habits like smoking cigarettes or consuming alcohol. However, come January’s end (I’m being generous here) and most of us have completely fallen off and are back to our usual routines. What happened? In order to truly break free of a habit we must be open and honest with ourselves that we’re fully committed to letting go. Much like the rituals of the New Moon, Creating a sacredNew Years ritual can be plenty of fun.

You may wish to gather with a group of close friends, to createan intimate atmosphere where you'll all set your intentions for the New Year, or practice alone.

Creating A New Year Ritual:

Gather Sacred Supplies: Your altar is where you collect your sacred objects -- pictures, found objects and the like. Using herbs with healing or symbolic properties adds to your ritual. Stones and crystals are another powerful ally. Candles are magical, and in its form contains all four of the elements. A small journal on hand allows you to keep a record of your intentions.

Preparing for the Ritual: This is the most important part of ritual, since your commitment is the key. Take a ritual bath with sea salt to clear your field of any negative energies. Sage is an herb used to clear a space, and make it sacred for ritual.

Light the end of the sage wand and blow on it until there is a smoldering glow. Use it around your own body, and in the space of your ritual. Clear your mind with meditation, using music or just quieting down in your cleared, sacred area.

Grounding: This is something that's important anytime, for staying connected to earth energy. Signs that you're not grounded are mania, nervousness, racing thoughts and the like. Too often we forget to feel the earth under our feet. I've mentioned Starhawk's grounding meditation a few times on the site, and her tree grounding exercise is one of my own daily rituals. In a nutshell, it's visualizing the roots going down into the Earth, through the layers, into the core, and then drawing that energy back up through your feet again. It moves through each chakra, coming out the top and down around you. Try this or another variation of grounding before you set yourNew Year intentions.

Your New Year Wishes: After you've cleared a sacred space and settled your energy, you're ready to set your intentions. Make a list of what you'd like to draw into your life, and Dream Big! take a moment to conjure what seems out of reach, and creating the vision is the first step to making it a reality. But these are not just words on paper. As you write them down as intentions, you are committing to doing your part to make them real. Some call it co-creating, since you're opening to universal energies to set dreams in motion.

New Year's Eve Tarot Spread

Each New Year's Eve, I enjoy doing a tarot spread for the year to come. Last year instead of doing my usual 12-13 card circle spread with each card representing a month I did this one. This is a very simple 5 card elemental pentacle spread. Some people use a 6th card in the center as a Significator. However, what felt best for me was to simply use the 5.

1. The Earth card shows you what will be emphasized for you in terms of physical health and financial stability in 2016.

2. The Spirit card represents your main spiritual lesson.

3. The Fire card shows your creativity, fertility, willpower, courage and ambition. This card relates to your work/calling theme for 2016.

4. The Air card highlights problem solving in the year ahead. Your main communication theme/challenge for 2016 can be seen here.

5. The Water card represents the sphere of emotions: Your main relationship theme/challenge for 2016 can be found here.

Remember, the beauty of tarot spreads is that there is no "right" or "wrong" way to do a spread or reading. Trust yourself and your intuition and open yourself to the wonderful messages/symbolism that the cards and your guides share with you to assist you on your journey in 2016. we all have the ability to change course and to create new opportunities that will serve our highest good.