January Symbolism

Overview

And just like that, we’re in a new numerological year and energy. I feel that there are so many overlapping patterns we exist in, it makes me wonder what a year really is - maybe not 365 days so much as the pillars of time that mark the beginning and end of certain rhythms, lessons, and fates. Personally, I’m feeling really good about this year. It feels capable of giving back in a way that the 2020’s have yet to show to us and I think we’re all ready to receive a little more than we have been - or at the very least to give a little less than everything we are, all the time.

This feels like a potent reminder and priming that while the nature of giving and receiving isn’t linear, and that karma is often not a looping path we come back to, that there is value in offering all we can to the things we truly love, desire, and align with. All we can is not synonymous with all we are - but a deeper recognition of what is worthy, of what is sacred, and even more importantly what we are truly capable of when moving from our hearts and hope instead of our minds and fear.

There is energy in this year. It will be forceful at times, but if we move with it instead of resisting it or trying to control it we will find the many gifts of following our intuition.

There is beauty in this year. It will bloom in many seasons and many ways, be patient and present to see all that awaits you - big and small.

There is opportunity in this year. Open doors, beckonings forward, cleansings from past selves and ties. Take whatever grips you with desire.

There is transformation this year. From seed to plant, from on chapter to the next, from student to teacher. Let yourself be challenged and witness how the world opens.

The Symbolism

Sunflower

This is a year to cultivate community. Get clear on what you want around you; the quality of your relationships, the support and effort, the values that are important to you and calling for your attention. This is a powerful month to set the tone for what you want to cultivate not only with others, but also within yourself. Make time and take risks to connect with those that give you butterflies of transformation, that see your gifts and propel you towards belief in what is possible.

Amber

Amber here, in this moment, is a reminder to not get too swept up in temporary sweetness. It can too easily harden and trap us. While we can preserve special moments and instances for ourselves and take stock of the sweetness in our lives, it also is a reminder that right now we have an opportunity to get really clear about the long haul. What it means to hold out on instant gratification for long term success. Double check with yourself if your indulgences are actually what feels good right now, or if it feels familiar and thus the comfort associated with that is at the forefront.

Mountain

The mountain is a reminder within the challenges we face in life, we must try to cultivate the lessons instead of conquer it. We must go into the situations and more importantly into ourselves and look at what is being asked to cultivate. Perhaps its patients, perhaps its devotion. Whatever your blockages are, January gives us a scope and opportunity to really go inwards and glean wisdom from them that will help us further down the line. This is the beginning of a more intimate and overarching relationship with the self that is going to weave its way through the year.

111 Rx

Not only is it a “new year” on the outside, but there is a refresh on the inside as well. Maybe there is a new vantage point unlocked or skill that you’ve mastered within yourself. Whatever it is, this is a time to very consciously plant your seeds. Make your vision board, get exacting with your language, be really fucking straightforward about how you want to feel in your life and what small things allow you to do that. It’s not a time to focus on overhaul transformation, but more so about planting the seeds for long-term sustainability. Think of one thing for each aspect of yourself that is under 5 minutes that you can do every day to help strengthen your relationship with yourself and your life.

Intuition

Intuition, when she shows up as the high priestess I refer to it as “the fickle bitch” which is to say often our intuition cares less about our opinions on the matter of what we are being taught and how, and more about the depth and availability of it. Our intuition is one of our deepest and most honest friends that doesn’t care about hurting our feelings because it knows our feelings don’t last as long as our memories. This is a time to stop trying to understand where it is steering you or even thinking that where it’s taking you is supposed to feel particularly good, and allow yourself to be carried away by the many paths that are hidden to us until we feel into them.

Meadow Rx

You might feel like many things you’ve been thinking about, cultivating, have been planting seeds for are suddenly all more available to you than they have been for a long time. Thoughts have turned to energy have turned into desires has turned into opportunities. Notice what blooms in you right now - a desire to read more, a need to dance, the urge to wake up early, the voice telling you to make dinner instead of order it… these are friends, coming to live within you and guide you. As the seasons change so will these different voices and just know that there is a time for everything - let things come and go naturally, you’ll soon see the pattern of it all and understand the gift of surrendering to these blooming desires.

Storyteller

There is so much power to rewrite your story here. Be honest about where you have victimized yourself. Be honest about where you have painted yourself into a corner. Get fucking clear on your language, get clear on how “protecting” yourself has turned to blocking yourself. Allow yourself to be radically changed by the power of your own perspective. The Storyteller can be one of our greatest allies or enemies - even how you tell the story of those around you is important here. Let yourself go wild and free with your own narrative. Let it be a fantasy, a romance, a great adventure.

Quantum Leap Rx

When you stop putting energy into controlling and sometimes even trying to understand or project where something is going, you’ll be surprised at how fast transformation can occur. I think the one key to the quantum leap, asides from trust and belief in it, is devotion to it. Devotion to that which you know is going to change you. If you’ve been thinking about breath work but not actually showing up to do it…. fucking do it. If you’ve bee thinking about cold dips or hydration or saving money or whateverrrrr it is even if it seems so mundane or boring or insignificant - then do it… There is a part of you that knows how close and possible this leap is. Don’t hold back. Let yourself go all the way in. Let your body and spirit guide you and your mind chatter along its bullshit as you fall into a whole new level of yourself.

Salt

Cleanse and protect. Let that shit go. Whether it be a thought pattern or clothes you’ve been hoarding or ideas you haven’t acted on… The salt wants to bring everything back to where it belongs. It wants to take energy you’re holding that isn’t yours and return you to neutral. It wants to protect against the projections and fears of others. It wants you to make space in your life and in your body. Have a salt bath. Do a cord cutting ritual. Salt your entrances. Say a little prayer while seasoning your food. Use it to your advantage and develop a trust for its gifts.

Bull Rx

The Bull speaks so much to devotion and being steadfast. Set yourself up for success. Show up for the things even when there are kicking and screaming feelings within you. Do it imperfectly. However it is you need to get going, the bull says this is not where we regress. And it also says - don’t try to go to fast either. This month is so much about the day-to-day building - you can’t make some things up the next week. You can’t go back in time to do that meditation or eat that meal even if you replace it in the future. The Bull is the steady force within us that allows us to show up, allows us to take charge in the moment the inspiration clicks into place, and it knows that true transformation that is lasting and healthy takes deep diligence.

Yellow

There is energy this month, this year. Use it. Don’t question it. Don’t go back to bed. Don’t frame it all as anxiety. Use whatever leverage is coming your way to your advantage. Use the storyteller energy to write a different narrative about how it feels in your body, about what you can use it for. There is lightness as well as depth to this. Look out for signs of yellow around you, to guide you, to call you forward. Not only is it an energy, but it’s a direct sign. I write this from a sunny perch in a collective space I work in sometimes, with a swirling yellow and orange and brown rug under my feet.

To Close…

This month is really the primer for the year.

It’s not pressure to do it perfectly, in fact it’s the opposite. It says let go of perfection to find the progress and steadiness in each moment and choice. Allow yourself the pleasures and joys that make it sustainable while also letting your relationship to these things shift and transform. There is so much evolution here in January some of it may be subtle, some of it may be deeply obvious - you’ll feel it more than you’ll see it. Letting go of control gives you more freedom to show up in creation - the deep root level creation. The aligning with values and emotions kind of creation. The winter kind of creation that comes with the deep listening of true stillness.