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A Witch's October~New Year and New Goals


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It’s finally October which is, without competition, my favorite month of the entire year. It’s brimming with magick that comes swirling on the backs of the colored leaves as the wind dances them down the sidewalk. The breath of our ancestors can be felt permeating the air, mixing in deliciously with the chill of the October air. There’s a sacredness that can be felt even by non-magickal folks. Quite simply, its an energy that cannot be denied.


This is the time of the Crone, of the Dark Goddess, and of Deities of the Underworld. It’s a time for ancestral veneration and working with them. It’s also appropriate to begin delving deep into our psyches, into the parts of ourselves we don’t wish anyone to ever shine a light upon, and begin deep transformative works, known as Shadow Work. Samhain, October 31st, is also known as the Witch’s New Year which makes October a time for reflection and goal-setting, at least in my practice.


October is when I begin reviewing the year so far, what’s worked and what hasn’t, what lessons were learned, the blessings I was bestowed (don’t forget, this is also a Harvest Festival!), and how much progress I’ve made with my yearly goals. Have I completed any? Made some progress? Got completely off track? If I have, that’s fine as the last thing I am going to do is chastise myself. Why? It’s simple really. My goal may not have been in alignment with what I actually needed, which Spirit brought me to do instead, so I’m not about to get upset. I’m where I’m meant to be right now for a reason. Even if it seems I’m completely off the path and stumbling through the ferns and brambles, I’m supposed to be here.


Instead I decide whether the goal is still relevant and if it’s something I continue to want, I simply reframe it so it becomes in alignment with who I am now. I’ve learned lessons and discovered more about myself and what I want over the past year so there may need to be a tweak in the wording. These aren’t resolutions, as I refuse to make such, but new year goals. What’s the difference? The intention and heart behind them. If you’d like to know more about this difference, you can listen to my podcast episode about this very topic by clicking here. This is also when I’ll begin making a list of words that could potentially be the theme for the next year.


Does this mean I don’t make goals on January 1st? Actually, I do. What my process is, which may seem like a lot, is that I create a list of three to five main goals during October and usually have them before Samhain. This gives me time to sit with them and really feel into the vision. I still have two months worth of lessons and experiences coming up before the secular New Year. So, come January 1st, I may find myself either rewriting a couple to better encompass my vision for the next year or I might stick with the same ones I’d already made, perhaps only changing the words slightly. It gives me ample time to come from the heart and truly discern what I want to create and manifest versus feeling pressured to come up with a bunch of resolutions off the top of my head.


This Samhain is even more special for me as I begin clearing away at all the gunk that has gathered in my magickal/spiritual practice over the years and instead begin rebuilding more stable foundations. I’m literally being guided to return to the very basics and start fresh. I’m coming from a place of experience, understanding, and guidance. It’s no longer about being eclectic and just willy-nilly adding anything in that I was interested in. Everything needs to have a reason and purpose. Only add to my personal practice what resonates and what I’m guided to. Anything else is just knowledge for another day. That means continue reading and learning, writing it all down, but understanding that not everything must be included in my spiritual path. I must strip the path to the bare bones, reenforce them, before adding in substance and details. It’s both exciting and daunting. I have eight years of accumulated information to sift through but I know that in the end it’ll be worth it.


In addition, I’m also being led to a new pantheon, a new branch of witchcraft, and a new Goddess who I do believe to be my Matron as I’ve never felt such an intense call before. However, as I don’t know much at all about this pantheon, I’ve got plenty of study and research to do which is something we should continue throughout our lives, regardless of how long we’ve been on our paths. There’s always something more to learn, after all.

It’s definitely a period of transition and transformation, one that is reminding me of why I chose this path to begin with. It’s allowing me the chance to feel the magick and excitement I felt and had forgotten about. We get so lost and caught up in the mechanics that we lose sight of the mystical nature of it all. This brought it back to me. It was a reaffirmation of faith and desire, a rekindling of desire and magick, as well as a renewed sense of purpose and empowerment. I actively got to choose once more to take up the mantle of witch and this time seems so much sweeter than the last. Perhaps it's because I know exactly what all it entails. The work, the effort, the research, the awe…all of it. The path of the witch isn’t easy and it isn’t meant to be…which only leaves it more exciting and beautiful.


I recently realized just how much I’d gotten swept up in all the seriousness and fluff that I’d forgotten the core of witchcraft and being a witch. It actually was reading Christopher Penczak’s book The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation, and Psychic Development and I came across a line that left me staring at the page in awe and, quite frankly, duh! He writes, “People do not realize that witchcraft is a daily commitment to renew yourself in the cycles of the Earth, to synchronize yourself with the powers of life.”. It’s so simple and yet perfectly summarizes what I feel witchcraft is meant to be. Somehow I got carried away with the spells and needing to do everything “right” so I could develop and grow upon my path that it no longer was mine but the smatterings of others. My path had begun to resemble Frankenstein’s monster in that one arm would be based loosely off what I read from one book, perhaps a leg was an idea or inspiration I’d pulled from a video, while the head was my logical approach whilst the upper torso was my true path.


It’s hard to explain because I believe we should use the inspiration given to us by others to create and shape our own practice and yet I don’t think we should base our paths off anyone else’s. Obviously with Wicca there are tenets that are believed and that’s not what I’m referring to. I mean the way in which we do ritual, spells, devotions, etc.. For example, crafting something for your altar because you saw it in a video and thought it was adorable isn’t necessarily going to serve you unless you have an intention to use it. Otherwise, it becomes clutter. Sure, you can still make it, but don’t just place it on your altar because someone else had it and you liked the way theirs looked. Your altar is meant to be a place for you to connect with the Gods, yourself, and your magick which means everything should have a purpose and not be frivolous.


Anyways, Mr. Penczak's summary will definitely be something I write down in my Book of Shadows so I can keep that with me as I traverse this new journey.


May your October be full of magick, wonderment, and all delicious matters of spooky goodness.





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