So here we are about a week into 2010.  How are those New Years Resolutions going?  I can hear the guffaws already.  Most people fall into two categories when it comes to New Years Resolutions–either they make New Years Resolutions every year in hopes that *this year* they’ll succeed at keeping those resolutions or they have given up on the notion of making resolutions altogether because they always fail to hold to those resolutions.  But the problems we have in achieving the things that we resolve to achieve at the New Year has almost nothing to do with resolutions themselves and a whole lot to do with our modern expectations and means of trying to do the things we resolve to do.

The notion of making a New Year’s Resolution has strong pagan roots.  Wiccan traditions start the New Year at either Samhain (Halloween) or Yule (Winter Solstice) depending on the tradition, and even today during the rituals held on the “New Year” Sabbat, participants are generally asked to state their intention (or resolution) for the year to come.  This actually comes out of our agrarian history–One can imagine our ancestors calling out that they intend to build a new barn this year, or they intend to double their harvest.

There are a few important things to note about these supposed ancient “resolutions.”  First, they are declarations made about tasks that will take all year.  Building a barn before modern machinery took a lot of work–chopping down trees, processing logs into lumber, then nailing each piece of lumber in place by hand was a task that took not only time but lots of manpower.  Harvesting twice the crops of the year before similarly required not only significant planning and double the work, but the time of an entire growing cycle (aka the entire year) to accomplish.  Yet today when we make New Year’s Resolutions, we expect to jump right into the task and see results within weeks if not days.  We don’t plan, we don’t gather our tools, and we don’t give our efforts time to produce results.

Second, declaring intentions in communal space made the community aware and responsible for helping the individual achieve his/her goals.  The person who declared that they were going to build a barn put the thatcher and carpenter on notice that they’d be called on to help, the person who wanted to double the harvest similarly asked for aid both from those who may have advice to give on better crops to plant or means to grow them but also those who could spare a hand or a horse to help plow.  That community sensibility is something we have a hard time tapping into today in our urban centers, but it is still vital that we find friends/family/community that can guide and aid us in reaching our goals .

And finally, by declaring their intentions in sacred space, our ancestors called upon whatever higher powers were out there to aid them.  By doing this they acknowledged the importance of providence (or alternately chance) in the achievement of their goal.  The farmers who wanted to double their crops needed the cooperation of the weather to succeed; the barn builder would get no where in the face of a giant fire.   But when circumstances lead us to fail we tend to blame ourselves or completely lose heart.

My personal experience with successful resolution making was the year that I resolved to quit smoking cigarettes.  I resolved to do so at Yule, but instead of quitting that moment, I spent a month buying tools– patches and licorice root sticks, getting acupuncture points put in that would help with emotional balance, etc.  Then, when I felt ready, I quit…for month, but then got involved in a show with a bunch of smokers and started smoking with them.  After the show was over, I tried again…until my dad, who smokes three packs a day, came for a visit.  And then it was September, and I still wanted to quit but was starting to get disheartened; everyone I knew was still pushing me to try to quit but starting to feel like it wasn’t gonna happen; and…Providence happened.  I caught pneumonia, and smoking literally hurt so much that quitting was the easiest route to go.

This year’s New Year’s Eve was a heavy hitter as we opened a new decade with a Full Blue Moon Lunar Eclipse.  That’s a lot of numerological and astro-energy being put behind those resolutions, so  don’t treat them lightly, give them time to mature, get your community involved, and don’t be afraid to ask whatever else is out there to give you a hand as well.  It may be a bumpy ride, but change always comes with a price tag…