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I can't believe that tonight is New Year's Eve! This whole year has just blown right by. In my head I'm still in summer-mode. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago I was complaining about how freaking hot it was. So 2013 is almost upon us. I will try to go over some thing to help us prepare for the new year. If you only cleanse your home once a year then now is the time to do it. I admit that I don't do my house cleansing until about January 3, or so. The reason being is that I want to take care of the Christmas decorations first. So when Christmas is all put away then I will start on the house cleansing. When you are doing your home cleansing you will need to sweep from the back to the front of the house. Brew you up some herbs such as hyssop, rue, or whatever herbs you prefer for cleansing, and then mop from back to front. Use a rag to wipe the doorways and window sills. While you are at it, go ahead and replace your broom if you can afford it. A new year, a new broom.Now for some first-footin'. First-footing is the term where how you start the new year will determine your luck for that year. It also involves omens and the interpretation of omens. So the omens to be on the look out for are the first person to enter the home and the first items brought into the home. Ideally you want a tall, dark man to be the first person to enter the home. Remember these traditions were pretty much passed down through women. A light-featured man means average. The worst is to have a red-head be the first to walk through the door. Sorry, no offense to the gingers out there. I didn't create this belief. For the items, anything that symbolizes prosperity or the items of survival is best. So if a dark-haired man carrying some money into the home would be interpreted in that the coming year would be very prosperous for the family. This whole thing started out with people waiting for it to naturally happen but with time people began to take matters into their own hands by hiring people, such as a dark-haired man, to be the first-footer. So now you can just pretty much take on the role of the first-footer yourself. One of the things I do is prepare first-footing gifts. I got this idea from a local occult shop, Nature's Treasures. Lynda, the owner, would take some colored cellophane or colored saran wrap, usually purple, a Hershey's kiss, a penny, a small quartz crystal, and some ribbon. You then create you little packets and then tie it off with the ribbon. The Hershey's kiss is for love, the penny for money, and the crystal for magic. So just before midnight on New Year's Eve you take the bundle and go outside. At 12:01 you then bring it into the house, thus giving you good luck in the coming year. If you don't want to go that route you can use a silver coin instead. If you prefer you can get you a basket or bowl and put items in there that symbolize prosperity such as, bread, salt, rice, beans, money, etc., and then bring it in after midnight. Plants are also good to give at this time of the year as they also symbolize prosperity. As the plant grows so will your luck.There are other actions you can take to ensure a good new year. For one, open your windows and doors at midnight to let the old luck out and the new luck in. When you wake up tomorrow, make sure the first word out of your mouth is "rabbit" and that will give you good luck. That superstition is good to use on the first day of any month. At midnight on New Year's Eve, make sure you get your lucky kiss. Also, make a lot of noise at midnight, firecrackers, party favors, bells, whistles, party favors, whatever. Just make a lot of noise to scare off the devil and ensure good luck for the new year. If you have any bills, try to make sure you pay them before New Year's if possible. You don't want to start off the new year in debt. And finally, make sure to eat you some black-eyed peas, some call them black-eyed beans. Lots of people don't like them but it's usually because they eat the canned variety which doesn't taste that good. Now for the activities you should not be doing. Do not sweep on New Year's Day or else you will sweep your luck away. Likewise do no chores, not even take out the trash. New Year's Day is a time of rest or relaxation. If you slave away you will be slaving away all year long. If you take out the trash you will be throwing away your luck. If you wash clothes then the person whose clothes wee washed will have their luck or even health washed away. Do not use scissors, knives, razors, or other sharp objects or you will cut or kill your luck. Do not change your calender until after midnight and likewise, do not mark off days until after they are officially over with. To change your calender or mark off days before will bring you bad luck for that year or day. Do not loan money or items on New Years or you will give away your luck for the year. Finally, try your best not to drop a glass, jar, or mirror. Breaking glass on New Years will break your luck for the rest of the year. Of course these are all superstitions people have developed with time. What you choose to believe is up to you. I try to focus on the positive actions I can do instead of the actions to avoid. Now, if you ever wondered just were the lyrics of "Auld Lang Syne", the New Year's "official anthem" are then here is a beautiful rendiditon with the lyrics below.WISHING ALL OF MY READERS A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR! MAY BLESSINGS ABOUND IN 2013!
Credit: practicing-wicca.blogspot.com
