31ST/1ST OF JANUARY – REPRESENTING August & New Beginnings

WELCOME TO YOUR Eighth WILD NIGHT

A new year always invites us to change things around – A new year for a new YOU perhaps? Today I will be giving you a New Years Cleansing Ritual and the “Opportyounity Life Wheel” from the Opportyounity Journal which you can use to analyse your current state before you start setting your goals during tomorrow’s wild night. It’s best to start fresh by leaving things that do not serve you any longer behind and by being clear where you stand right now, to understand where you would like to reach in the future.

THE DAILY PRACTICE

(YOU CAN SKIP THIS IF YOU READ ANY OF THE OTHER WILD NIGHTS)

As the overall theme of the wild nights is connected to the more subtle energies in life, that is what we will be focusing on. Each day will have one particular theme, however ALL wild nights will have a few things in common. 

DURING EACH OF THE WILD NIGHTS YOU CAN:

• Wishes: Pick one of your 13 wishes at random (without looking at it) and burn it. DO NOT burn all 13 wishes. One wish should be left over for the 6th of January.
• Dreams: Write into your dream journal as soon as you wake up in the morning (starting on the 25th of December). Your dreams can give you a rough idea of what might be in store for you next year, however be very mindful of how you interpret your dreams. It might simply be that you are working through the happenings of your day, so take your dreams with a grain of salt. If you feel they do represent your upcoming year, try to dig deeper with the I-Ching, your Oracle cards, a pendulum, meditation or whatever else you feel called to use to connect with your inner guidance.
• Predictions: Each of the nights/days represent one of the months of next year. You can use your oracle deck, the I-Ching or any other tool you enjoy using to connect with your intuition, to find out what the overall theme of the month of January will be.
• Journaling: You can use your diary/journal to write down what your oracle cards, the I-Ching etc. has revealed about the month of January and you can also use it in the evening, to reflect on the happenings of your day. All of these aspects can give you clues for next year.
• Smudging: Smudge your home with Sage, Palo Santo, incense sticks or whatever you feel called to use. The smoke is believed to expel negative energies, so leave your windows open for a little bit after smudging, so that those energies can leave your home.

Always remember do do what feels right to you. None of these things will help you in any way, if you just do it for the sake of doing it. Instead, even if you only do ONE of these things, but you do it with your heart and soul, that when you will see results. Now, let’s take a look at the main topic for today.

New Beginnings

ritual: Welcoming the NEw

The years 2020 & 2021 were particularly educational years. The have distanced us physically from one another, but at the same time it has allowed old acquaintances to blossom. It has pushed us into our homes and offered walks in nature as the only escape. It has shut us off from the world and cleared the way for us to turn more inward. It has made us realise that the only thing we have left in the end is nature and love. Before we set our goals for 2022 bring perspective into all you would like to leave behind with this ritual. Alternatively, if you are not a big fan of such ceremonies, skip to the “Opportyounity Life Wheel” section.

For this ritual you will need:

• Enough time to connect with your inner intuition
• 2 loose sheets of paper
• 1 pen
• 1 small candle (tea light)
• 1 lighter/matches
• 1 glass filled with drinking water
• A quiet place to write/turn inwards.

In the morning or during the day:

Get comfortable and sit with your back straight either on the edge of a chair, or cross-legged on the floor. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths in and out. Then look back at the year 2021. Answer the following question, not with your head, but with your intuition. Pay attention to what comes to your mind first and write the answers on one of the papers:

“Who and/or what do I want to detach from energetically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally and/or physically?”

After you have written everything down, hold the piece of paper to your heart and speak or think to yourself the words: “I detach from everything that holds me back from unfolding my true self.” Think of all the things you have written down and feel with your whole heart how the burden falls away from you. Imagine with all your being, that it has already happened and now lies in the past.

Next, fold the paper and place it on a windowsill, behind a closed window, under the lit tea light. Let the candle burn out to the end. When the candle has burnt out, burn the note too, in a safe place, and scatter the ashes back into nature (potted plants are also welcome).

In the Evening:

Sit down again, this time with a glass of water, your pen and the second note. Again, take a few moments to relax. Ask yourself the following question and answer it from your heart:

“What do I really want to experience in the next year, who do I want to have by my side and how do I want to feel?”

When you have finished, put the piece of paper to your chest. Visualise the situations you have written down and feel them with all your senses. See, smell, taste, hear and feel them as if they were already your reality now. Then put this piece of paper on your bedside table, under the glass of water. The next morning, drink the whole glass with a feeling of love and gratitude.

The Opportyounity Life Wheel

Here you can download the “Opportyounity Life Wheel” PDF and colour out the sections according to where you currently stand in your life. On a scale of 1 to 10, how fulfilled do you feel in each of the following areas of your life (1 = non existent, 10 = high quality/highly satisfied)? You can print it out, every month, to analyse your progress.

Here is a rough explanation of each layer, to help you fill out the diagram:

Physical Layer

The first, most palpable one is your Physical Layer (your body). It thrives with the right nutrition, exercises and environment. In India and China, visiting an Ayurvedic doctor or a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, means that you will be treated in a very individual way. Everyone of us has a distinct “body-type” which we are born with. According to this base constitution and the apparent imbalances, you will receive specific treatments targeted to your needs. This “type-concept” is used to guide you towards your proper diet, environment, routines and exercises. Additionally, it can even help you understand some of your mental and emotional charac-teristics or preferences, as each type is also seen to have distinct tendencies and desires.

Energy Layer

The next layer is the Energy Layer. The concept of a “life energy” which is within and all around us, is known all over the world. Indians call it “Prana”, Polynesians call it “Mana”, Chinese call it “Qi/Chi” and Max Planck, the man who developed the quantum theory, called it “the matrix of all matter”. Even though we are not (yet) able to prove its existence scien-tifically, most agree that, without it, we would seize to exist. It is your Energy Layer which governs your digestion, your breath/speech, your blood and other moving functions in your physical body, building the connection between your body (Physical Layer) and your mind and emotions (layer). A powerful and steady breath leads to a well nourished life energy, a strong body, stable mind and balanced emotions. Breathing exercises, flowing movements (like Yoga or Qigong), fresh air and reconnecting with nature help replenish and balance your Prana. 

Mind (& Emotions) Layer

The Mind Layer experiences the world through your nervous system and reacts to it with your basic instincts or socially/culturally acquired behaviour and routines. Being stuck here would mean that you would live life in autopilot mode and react to situations without evaluating the consequences. An example where this occasionally happens is when you brush your teeth in the morning. You have repeated this routine so many times, that your consciousness takes a break and you are left standing there like an automated robot. Through affirmations, self observation, mindfulness, visual-isation and re-evaluation of your habits/routines/belief patterns/social sur-roundings you can learn to use this layer to your advantage.

Wisdom (Spirit/Soul) Layer

The last layer before your inner happiness is the Wisdom Layer. When this layer is blocked, it becomes more difficult for you to feel the more subtle energies of your being. The main cause for imbalances in this layer is due to our constant distraction with the external world. We are taught to adapt to our environment, instead of turning inwards. Even love is shackled by socially imposed beliefs and “picture perfect” fairytales. Switch-words, spending time in solitude, meditation, intuitive work and observing your dreams are tools which can help you to develop and balance this layer.

I wish you a free, light-filled and healthy start into the new year!

With all my Love
Miko