Dr. Cheri Erdman, Celebrant

Serving Greater Daytona Beach Area, Volusia County, and Central Florida

Do Something Great to Welcome 2008!

by Dr. Cheri Erdman, Celebrant
Originally Printed in
The Island Voice
November/December 2007

The New Year is one of our most celebrated “thresholds”  – meaning we are at a place of change from the old to the new, represented by moving from one year to another. A threshold is a symbolic boundary: once we cross it we leave our old selves behind and are in a fresh place.

New Year’s Eve is a pre-threshold – a perfect time to reflect on who we have been and what we have done in the past year. Midnight is the actual threshold that we cross over into new time. One second after midnight we are in the New Year -- a blank page, an opportunity to start anew -- making New Year’s Day the time to state our intentions for the year.

Going out for New Year’s Eve to eat, drink, dance and party to say goodbye to last year and to welcome in the new can be fun, but . . . wouldn’t you rather do something great to welcome in 2008?  Something different? Something that has personal meaning to you, your family and friends?

Here are some ideas to help you create an unusual New Year’s celebration:

•  Literally cleanse your space to clear out old energy. This can be done with the typical broom and vacuum. Or you can burn sage, a traditional Native American herb used for that purpose.

• ·If you invite friends over, have a bowl available representing 2007. Have them write down what they want to leave behind in the New Year and put it in the bowl. Later you and your guests take the bowl outdoors and let go of these behaviors/attitudes symbolically by either burying or burning them.

• Pick a candle in a color that represents 2007 to you and light it to honor the past year.

• With smaller groups, tell stories about important moments in 2007.

• Have guests bring a something that symbolized 2007 for them to talk about.

• At midnight do the final countdown, kissing, explosion of laughter, singing and joy (some traditions should not be messed with!)

• After midnight – open the room to new energy by ringing bells, blowing out the 2007 candle and lighting a different color 2008 candle, bang pots and pans, shake rattles, sing loudly, clap hands, opening door and windows to let 2008 energy in.

• Have guests plant flower seeds in a small flowerpot filled with dirt. This seed represents their new beginnings. They take their pots home to care for them.

• Gather at the beach. Before midnight, throw a stone back into the water representing what to leave behind. After midnight, pick up a seashell to take home to represent your intentions for the new year.

• And, of course, eat, drink, laugh, hug!

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