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Making your own tarot and oracle card reading refuge is, first and foremost, an exercise in creating sacred space so I wanted to begin this article by talking a bit about what sacred space actually is.

I think the reason some of us fall short (or at least why I often fall short) is because I / we try to cram everything we want to change into a single list without really thinking about what it will take to make that list a reality.

A second (but related) reason we don't succeed, in my opinion, has to do with the word resolution itself.  A resolution - something we resolve to do - suggests a serious commitment, a pledge or even a vow. And pledges and vows, like sacred quests, are destined to succeed or fail.  

I didn't realize that until I wrote my previous New Year's post but, when I did, the more I thought about it the more it made sense.  I realized that, because there is no halfway point to a resolution, progress doesn't mean much of anything.  And so, if we over-estimate ourselves and can't complete our resolutions, our only option is failure.

Since I don't want to feel like I've failed in 2016, I'm doing things differently by setting several new Year's goals and only one do or die resolution.  The resolution is to publish a book.  The goals include changes I'd like to make in my health, my home, my career and even my garden over the course of the year.

For each large goal I have set one or two realistic, smaller or short term goals I feel pretty sure I can handle.

Becoming more self-sufficient means a rain barrel this spring and building a small hen house over the summer. It does not mean we are going off the grid in 2016 (or ever).

Setting an expectation for home remodeling means that I'll keep on plugging and that I want to have the front hall finished by the end of the winter.  It means I'll look at the kitchen project over the summer and decide if we are going to be able to build new custom cabinets then (or in 2017).  It does not mean that everything will be (or, in an old house, even can be) complete.

Improving my health means the same thing it means every year but because I'm going to focus on the small things (e.g. some exercise everyday whether that's at the gym or in the garden) I think I will finally learn to accept that this is a long haul, change your life kind of endeavor.

And this is what I like about goals.  We can say we are going in a specific direction (our goal) and then set meaningful check points between here and there.  If we don't get to the goal but manage to arrive at those intermediate points, we know we're on our way to something better.

Still, there is something about setting a resolution that has always appealed to me.  Resolutions are big meaningful things.  Resolutions are grand and honorable and brave.  They may be a little over dramatic at times but there is something about declaring your resolve that can very inspiring.

Because of this I just can't let any New Year go without making one.  

For me, a resolution is a commitment to get something done.  It doesn't matter how you do it or even necessarily when (as long as it's completed by next New Year's Eve, of course).  What matters is finishing, honoring your word, and feeling proud.  A laundry  list of New Year's resolutions diminishes that enormous thing you are going to be so proud of when it is finally done (and makes it a lot less likely that you'll succeed).

My 2016 resolution is writing and publishing a book.  Going on record here with that great big declaration is an important first step.  But there are a lot of other steps too and that's okay because I've made a promise to myself that I'll get it done.

My resolution advice for the New Year?  

If you have a list of resolutions, pull that list out and pick the one that makes your heart beat.  The one that scares you.  The one that makes you feel proud.  This is one you will commit to doing - no matter what.

The rest are your goals.  Break them down into smaller pieces and add a few dates.  Don't give up on them when the going gets tough but prepared to revisit them and adjust things if you find that you've over-estimated your stamina or free time.

You can (and should) create a plan for your resolution just like you did for your goals  It can have a number of action steps and, if your first step is figuring out just how you are going to succeed, that's okay too.  Because you know that whatever it takes, that one proud thing is going to happen.  No matter what.

Wishing Everyone Success and Good Fortune in the New Year <3

Barbara

Because Yule is a holiday that hales from an earth-based religion, it is clearly focused on the movement of the planet and the seasons that cycle creates.

Falling on one of the four quarter points of the the Wiccan / Pagan calendar, Yule marks the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year.

From the Autumn Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere) onward, the days get shorter and the nights get longer until on December 21st or 22nd, the sun rises after seven and sets as early as 4:30 in the afternoon.  After that long night, the process reverses.

Viewed from this perspective, the holiday of Yule, isn't just about lighting candles in the dark.  It is about the lengthening days and the barely perceptible shift from increasing darkness to increasing light.

Witches and pagans don't celebrate that shift because they think that darkness is bad or that light is in better.  They celebrate it because they recognize that both light and dark serve a very important purpose.

In light we see clearly.  We take action. We are filled with purpose.  In darkness we rest.  In darkness, undistracted, we are free to focus on what is within.  And if what we see there is problematic we know that it was already there - in dark or in light.

Earth-based religions value all aspects of the yearly cycle.  And it follows that, as earthly creatures in tune with the turning wheel of the year, the process of looking inward can be cyclical, too.  By working with (instead of against) these inner and outer cycles, we can discover new insights and revelations.  For me, this is what the holiday of Yule is really about.

This year, I began the process of evaluating the passing year in early November.  As the world darkened, I spent more time inside.  I used some of this time to think about strategies related to personal transformation and growth.  When the solstice is still weeks away, I began to write out my plans for the year ahead, allowing myself plenty of time to reflect and redefine.

If we attune to the cycle and follow this process, lighting our holiday candles on the longest night of the year means that we know just what we're creating and what we’re releasing.  In that space, poised between darkness and light, we transition from reflection to purpose, prepared to joyfully welcome the year to come.

There hasn't been much Winter in Northeastern Pennsylvania so far this year making it possible to work outside in the yard far longer than I had expected.  This is a good and productive thing but the short days and long nights have still affected me.  That is as it should be.

One night, in late 2014, I asked for global life path guidance before I went to sleep and woke up with the song "Turn, Turn, Turn" running through my head.  Like so many messages from spirit, this one wasn't what I wanted to be told but what I needed to hear. And so all through 2015 I did my best to align with the energy of the seasons.

This wasn't always easy - at least not in a controlling / egoic way - but even at its hardest it still felt right.

Winter was a time of study and introspection and Spring was a time of clearing and planting (in a very literal sense).

In summer, I built things in both worlds simultaneously - and began to share my secret identity as a witch with my non-witchy friends.

Throughout Autumn I did my best to tie up loose ends, think about the year just passed, and set intentions for the year ahead.

That year isn't here yet, and in many ways, I am still in the process of defining it but a few decisions have been made.  One is to begin the formal study of astrology through the American Federation of Astrologers and I'm excited to share that I have just received the wonderful Beginner's Learning Kit pictured below.  

I will also be working with the new Janus software when it is released.  

Astrology is, to my mind, a vital part of the Craft as well as the perfect pathway to individual transformation. On a personal level, astrology has been instrumental in helping me learn how to flow with the turning wheel of the year - instead of stubbornly (and ineffectively) pushing against it!

I hope you'll join me in this new journey of discovery in the year to come.

For a long time, I kept my altar in the corner of my home office.  Partially because it was convenient, but mostly because my home office is on the second floor of my house.  Out sight and out of mind.

There wasn't anything overtly wrong with that arrangement.  I spend a lot of time in my office and the energy there is usually pretty calm.  I have incense and candles and a recliner in the corner where I sometimes take a meditation break.  But it is a working space.  

The office is where I write and blog and broadcast and make and take all sorts of phone calls and file my taxes and budget and pay bills and work on my shop...and the list goes on and on.

Which is probably why setting my grandmother's sideboard up as an altar in the corner of that work space never felt quite right. And why (after a year of keeping my altar in the office) I decided to bring a few key items down to shared first floor living space.

In my old house that space would have meant the den or kitchen but here, in this house, we have a few very appreciated extra rooms.  One of these is my home office.  Another is a living room  with a big mirror in the space that would ordinarily hold the black hole of an unused TV. 

No available TV means that other family members don't stay in the living room for long and because of this the room has gradually become my space and the natural repository for my favorite things. And so, over the last few weeks, it seemed more and more appropriate that my altar items be among those things.

The only problem I could see was this the living room is where we entertain the occasional guest and (shades of my mother) I found myself worrying about what that guest might think.

Magical Cabinet on Display for All to See!

So I began to change things in a cautious way.  The first change involved a very inconspicuous wall altar (above).  The second placed some occult looking tchotchkes on an upper shelf.  I noticed that other people noticed these changes but I found that I really wasn't all that interested in the conclusions that were drawn.

Recklessly, I began to fill up my grandmothers old china cabinet (at right) with the accoutrements of the Craft.  In a few short weeks the majority of my altar items had made their way downstairs.

The living room is different, now, though the change is not extreme. I don't have a permanent freestanding altar, my Goddess statues aren't big enough to stand out and there are a lot of things I put away when they aren't being used.  

At first glance the living room seems pretty ordinary or at the very least subtly unlike other small town rooms.  But subtle isn't the same as hiding and hiding was what the office altar really meant.  So why was I okay with doing that for an entire year?

Maybe because I didn't know how freedom felt.

Last month when I went to Salem I walked the busy streets in the company of dozens, if not hundreds, of other witches.  It seemed like everyone was wearing pentagrams and I saw that some were even wearing cloaks.  Nobody seemed concerned with that.  Which, of course, wasn't always the case.

In between the witch trials of 1693 (when my own great aunt was hung) and the pre-Halloween celebration of 2015 Salem changed from a place of rampant intolerance to pretty open-minded place. Mixing with that crazy crowd it occurred to me, that in order for that to happen, a whole lot of people had to overcome their fear of what other people think.  And that was meaningful to me.

I am still mostly in the closet in my daily life. Nobody notices my herb garden. Or asks me why I don't go to church.  The outer changes I am making are tiny, insignificant, almost imperceptible shifts - but, for me, they are a start.

"Practical Magic" is one of my all time favorite feel-good movies.  I love it because it is lighthearted  and fun while at the same smart and well-acted and magical.  And I have watched it more times than I care to admit.

I don't love it just because it is about witches and magic or because Nichole Kidman is one of my favorite actresses.  I love it because it really is a wonderful movie.

Sally is sympathetic and brave.  Gillian is compellingly flawed.  The aunts are adoptable.  The house, which is not (sadly) a real house, is to die for.  To me, the whole movie is absolutely enchanting from start to finish.  (And they play "Crystal" which is one my favorite Stevie Nicks song at the end.)

And so - having liked the movie so much for so long - it's really kind of surprising that I didn't get around to reading the book (actually listening to the audiobook) until just last month.  But I have to say that I'm glad that I finally gave it change.

"Practical Magic" the book, is not like the movie, in many ways which is not unusual of course in books that are later made into movies.  The book isn't comedic - though it is funny at times - and it isn't really all that lighthearted.  It isn't enormously fast moving either.  In fact, there is a lot backstory, a fair amount of description, and not as much dialogue (or action) as you might expect.

The book does something, however, that the movie does not.  It leads us into the minds and hearts of all of the characters - delicately, carefully and very insightfully.

In the book we get the full story on why Sally is afraid to love.  We learn why she became her sister's partner in crime.  We understand exactly how Gillian allowed herself to end up in such a predicament.  We get a look at the aunts that we do NOT get in the movie.

And we find ourselves caring about all of this in a way we probably did not when we watched the movie.

I was actually a little surprised how invested I became in the characters considering that I already knew exactly how the book would turn out.  Or close :)

So if you loved the movie (or even if you somehow did not) consider given the book a read (or listen)!

I never set out in a given spiritual direction due to any kind of calculation or left brain sort of decision.  Instead I followed dreams and synchronicities and spiritual experience.

This makes for a zig-zaggy path at times. And a long one.

My path began in early childhood with experiences that included a mystical connection with nature, experiences of deju vu, an interest in all things supernatural, the ability to sense energy and the occasion psychic dream. I developed a fascination with witches while still in grade school and sometimes imagined that I was a witch.

As I got older I heard 'ghosts,' had premonitions, vivid dreams and visions. The vision I remember best from that time happened when I was seventeen years old. It wasn't an easy vision but it was very clear.  It had to do with the destruction of sacred grove and the people who mourned that loss - I understood those people to be druids. 

I set that part of my life aside for a while and when I came back to it there were experiences with paranormal investigation, mediumship, and dreams. For a while I studied New Age topics. But the truth is that what interests me isn't really new. It is old. So I'll be focusing a bit more on that going forward.

I started this blog because I needed a place to keep myself on track and that hasn't changed. Because that hasn't changed however the content will, of necessity, shift. I will be writing about what makes me the person I most want to be.