How To Ring in the New Year like That Witch

New Year, Same Calendar Cycle, Fresh Vibes

Whether or not you feel like a new year makes you a new person or not, it, much like the clock at midnight each night, is the turning of our calendar wheel that puts us back to the start of things again. No matter how hard the systems in power try to force us to live and think linearly, our world and universe remain cyclical in nature - how magickal is that?

Ancient vs Modern Celebration

According to Britannica, the celebration of the new year dates back to 2000 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia. The time of year this was celebrated varies from culture to culture all over the world, once again illustrating that we encounter periods of endings and beginnings, death and rebirth, and the turning of the cycles all throughout our time and experience here. We, as a culture and a community, can synchronize collectively within certain cycles, and honor the various stages throughout its journey month after month, year after year, etc.

So if you're still in the habit of asking yourself, "what would witches do in ancient times?" you'll find either a lot of vague or incorrect information, or you'll be hard-pressed to come up with any info at all. It's far more historically accurate (and a more effective internet search) to study what certain cultures or populations practiced throughout ancient history, and yes, a wonderful place to start can be your own ancestry and lineage. Some of us have done the Ancestry DNA or 23andMe thing, so we can use those results as a starting place for research. You can also do some asking around the family if you're not already familiar with your lineage and some of your family's traditions and practices.

And if you're at a place in your life and your practice where you're not feeling very connected to ancestral work, or perhaps asking around the family isn't a feasible option for you for any reason, then honor the calendar cycle itself. From a parallel perspective, ancient witches and magick practitioners honored the turning of the cycle with which they lived most by, so in modern terms, it would make plenty of sense that we honor and celebrate the seasons, the sun and moon cycles, the clock, and the calendar system we live by day in and day out.

The New Year Vibe

Whether you're crafting your New Year intentions, wanting to perform a special ritual, or just wanting to tap into the magick of this celebration, you want to think of everything associated with rebirth, renewal, the turning of chapters, entering the next stage, transitions, and shifts. The New Year Vibe is very much akin to that of the New Moon Vibe; we're reflecting, we're reminiscing, we're planning, and setting goals and intentions. So drawing on inspiration from any new moon rituals would be a wonderful way to spend the turning of the year. What have you learned? What have you lost? What have you tried? What worked? What didn't? And how do you want to use the experience of this year in the new year ahead?

Quintessential New Year's Eve décor is flashy, glittered everything. The brilliance of light dancing is a classic visual tied to this celebration, but it is almost always contrasted with dark blue or black, which is associated with the hour of midnight. Think about it: mid-night. What is supposed to be roughly the halfway point between sunset and sunrise, and in modern times, it is the point at which our day resets and begins anew. So the magick and vibe of New Year's absolutely carries with it the balancing of dark and light, night and day, and take a step even witchier, and say moon and sun.

Things to research for your New Year's Eve Ritual:

Crystals associated with rebirth and rejuvenation
Herbs associated with renewal and purification
Foods associated with prosperity and protection
Shapes/symbols associated with strength and success
Colors associated with longevity and good fortune
Deities associated with December/January (mix-and-match, adjust, and swap out the terms above as needed)
How (insert culture or group of people) celebrate(d) new years
The history of new years in (insert country or region)
Ancient new year's practices around the world (or any time period you're interested in)

Tips for the Modern Practitioner

Depending on when you started intentionally practicing magick and witchcraft, there's a chance that you either already have some traditions and rituals of your own, or you associate New Year's with a vibe of your own already. Maybe you love New Year's and have always loved the energy of this holiday, maybe New Year's brings darker and more difficult memories for you. It would be sound advice to tell one person "Oh yeah, make sure you socialize as much as possible and live the night up!" while the total opposite, "Yeah definitely make sure you give yourself permission to hole up in your home and do you for the night." would be just as effective advice for another.

And so it's really most collectively helpful to turn your gaze and your focus within for a second: what does this day, what does this time of year mean for you? What do you want to do with your time? After all, whether or not you're a "New Year, New Me" person or not, at the end of the day New Year's is about beginning a new cycle on your own terms for your own journey.

New Year's Eve Pre-Ritual Guide

To help you get in an aligned headspace, so that you can confidently and intuitively decide how you want to spend your time as we close this year's chapter to open the next one.

Reflect on this last year month-by-month. What were any intentions you set last year? How did these show up throughout the months?
Browse through any journals, notes, documents, recordings, grimoires, Book of Shadows, etc. that you used for introspective work. Maybe look over parts of your chart you explored, notes on a tarot reading you did, flip through the pages of your journal and grimoire, or listen to any voice notes you recorded for yourself.
Look through photos and videos from this last year either in ascending or descending order. What thoughts come up for you as you reflect on these now past experiences? What do you know now that you didn't know then?
When it comes to the act of setting New Year's Resolutions - what are your thoughts on this old custom? What practice feels right for you this time of year? Especially after reflecting on how this year was for you.
If you selected a word, phrase, or affirmation for the year, what was it? How did it permeate the events that transpired this year? And if you didn't, what word/phrase/affirmation would you assign this past year?
How does the way you spend your time now, reflect the kind of lifestyle and path you are working toward and manifesting? Is there a word/phrase/affirmation that could serve as a strong reminder of this? Write it down.
Intuitively choose an object to represent this past year, and an object to represent the new year. Anything works, don't overthink it - crystals, candles, plants, clothing items, skincare/makeup products, books, notebooks, cards, music albums, artwork, pictures, etc. Let your imagination and intuition guide you. What you do with these objects completely depends on your experience and your intentions. They could sit in a window, be placed on your altar, blessed and charged with magick, carried with you, left behind, given away, held close when you need it–the possibilities here really are endless.
Eat and drink foods and beverages that support and encourage your intentions. For example, are your intentions to take better care of yourself without restricting and punishing yourself? Then what kinds of meals would you eat to nourish your inner child? So that your inner child was both taken care of and enjoyed what they ate? Look at your new year intentions, and use this simple kitchen magick mindset to offer yourself realistic and aligned support.
Calculate your major arcana tarot card of the year. Add the digits of your birth date for the new year until you get a number up to 22. (If your digits add higher than 22, then add the two digits of that answer together to reduce.) Mine for example this year would be: 10/30/2023 → 1+0=1 3+0=3 2+0+2+3=7 → 1+3+7=11 The Justice card. Your card of the year carries a message of the themes your life will take on, and will serve as a powerful teacher and guide for you throughout the year.
Set time aside for some gratitude work. This is a big one, and often skipped over too. We spend a lot of time thinking about all these things we want to "fix" about ourselves and our lives for the year ahead, and boy oh boy does it get easy to really lose sight of the things we should be the most grateful for, things we take for granted on a daily basis. Access to water, plumbing, heating, clothing, food, healthcare, a bank account, our favorite books, music streaming, apps for every thing we could possibly need, access to the internet and technology. Validate your struggles, and damnit I want you to validate your gifts and your earnings too. Say thank you a million times. Offer that gratitude out into the world. Watch it unfold gloriously before your eyes.

After your pre-ritual practice, let yourself make decisions from this intuitively aligned space. Whether you're partying friends and family, or staying in on your own, take the magick you connected with during your pre-ritual, and know that you are embodying Authentic Self.