Listening to the Omens of the New Year

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

- John O'Donohue from To Bless the Space Between Us.

January can be a time to "unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning." Many of us are either shaking off or honoring the year that ended and are now looking ahead with hope asking the question "how will we live differently this new year ahead?"

Some years ago, I read a piece out of Caitlin Matthews "Celtic Spirit" meditations about reading the omens for a fresh beginning based on the widely held belief that the first twelve days of the year reveal the disposition of the weather for the year ahead.

We can also use a long walk today to divine the possibilities of our own year ahead. It is yet another way to stay connected to the elements, your journal and the Universe. It's a very simple exercise and a great centering focus each month of the year.

Find a quiet place to set your intentions for the year ahead, sense the pathway ahead, open your door and set off on your walk onto the land. Check in with each of your senses filling your body with a conscious meditation of all that is around you. If you come across something that jumps into your consciousness, stop and be attentive to what caught your attention.

Attend to the greeting reaching out to feel for the meaning. It may simply be a subtle understanding, a presence, sound or feeling. Appreciate it, note it and then pass on. Repeat this throughout your walk until you have had twelve such experiences. It seems like alot, but the Universe will surprise you. Each time, stop, attend and intuit (without spending too much time finding a rationalization) why you have been engaged.

Upon returning home, review the omens in the order of your experience relating them successively to the months of the year. Write as much as you like about each omen. And, on News Years Eve and each month that unfolds check back in on your findings.

May you find home in the rhythm that greets you in the new year. I pray our paths will cross in loving kindness.

Blessings,
Forrest