This December full moon, often called the Cold Moon, offers us a powerful chance to honor and celebrate all the intentions we held, nurtured, and, yes, even the ones we released in 2017. Celebration is such an important part of creation that I want to take the time tonight to journal about what I actually accomplished this year. And I want you to do the same.
In December, my family celebrates a flurry of birthdays in addition to our gathering for Christmas, Yule, and Hanukkah, so there’s a lot of chances to eat too much and avoid work towards personal goals crammed into one cute little month. Between family and my day job, I don’t get much writing done in December. That might be different if I’m ever writing full time. But for now, it is what it is. So I figure I might as well own it and approach the season accordingly.
Two weeks from now, we’ll honor the new moon by clearing the slate and setting brand new monthly intentions that you’ll carry with you into 2018. I’m going to encourage you to set your New Years Goals a little bit early this year, so that your December new moon intentions will be in alignment with your annual goals. (But if you’d rather wait until January to get that in alignment, you do you.) Either way, your New Year goal setting process will be smoother if you’ve taken full stock of what 2017 gave you.
Prepare Your Space
Gather your tools and arrange them in a place where you can sit uninterrupted for an hour.
You’ll need:
- moon journal and pen
- a timer, meditation app, or nature sound app with timer
You might also like to have:
- smudge or incense/air element
- white candle/fire element
- cup of tea or water/water element
- rainbow moonstone or selenite/earth element
Meditate
Get comfortable, dim the lights.
If working with the elements, smudge the area. Visualize a circle of protective light around you. Light your candle, take a sip of your drink, and hold your crystals.
Set your timer. Start with 5 minutes and build up to 30 minutes. There is no goal except to clear your mind. If thoughts enter your mind, just notice them and release them. Picture thoughts as sage smoke rising and dissipating into the air above your head. Don’t get upset with yourself if it’s hard. You’re shifting from a doing mode to a being mode so you can journal from your true self, not the ego self that you identify with in your daily life.
When your timer goes off, get ready to write.
Journal
- What are you grateful for? List form, anything and everything.
- What did you accomplish this past moon cycle? This past year? Don’t limit your accomplishments to the physical plane. Consider this question in the context of your writing, your job or school, your love life, your family, your community, your spirituality. Don’t judge the magnitude of whatever comes up for you, and don’t compare yourself with others. Honor what YOU accomplished and created this year.
- Did you let go of any intentions (long-held or short-term) during the past year? Sometimes we hold onto old goals because we’ve sunk a lot of time, energy, and treasure into it, and we don’t want to be a quitter, not because we actually want it any longer. You should be really proud of yourself if you gave up any goals or activities that weren’t in alignment with where you want to go next or who you most sincerely want to be.
- Did you meet your own expectations of yourself often or not often at all this past year? How would you feel if you could easily set the bar a little higher or should you lower it just a bit?
- End on a high note. What was your best moment in 2017. Zero in on how you felt in that moment and describe it in one word.
When you’re done writing, close your journal, and say out loud, “So it is.”. Finish your tea, blow out your candle, and visualize the circle of light dissolving.
If you feel at all light-headed or jittery, ground yourself with a snack or by kneeling on the ground and placing your hands on the floor. Visualize any extra energy flowing through your body, out of your hands, into the Earth.
