New Year Resolutions: Looking Back at my 2021 Plans

Last January, as usual, I made a list of 10 resolutions for the year ahead. I generally find I have a greater chance of success than if I make just a single New Year resolution. 

At the start of 2021 I hoped we'd emerge from hard times and I'd be able to get out and about without restrictions. My list of resolutions reflected that. I was able to get out more than the previous year, but sadly not quite as much as I wanted. Anyway, I still managed to achieve half of what I'd planned. Here's the details:

1: Do some form of divination at least once a month and blog about it

This was something I've enjoyed doing and succeeded in. For January, the message was Trust in Magic. Always a good thing for a witch to do. You can see the picture of that card from the Messenger Oracle to the left and I've posted links to the rest of my yearly readings at the bottom of this post, if you are interested.

2: Start a new Facebook Live series and share the videos on my YouTube channel

This was one of my major achievements for 2021. Starting in January I used Facebook Live to talk on Magic for the Month, creating 12 videos over the course of the year. I uploaded them to my YouTube channel, which you can find using the link above. For my January Facebook Live talk I also wrote a new guided visualisation called The January Garden. I blogged with the text and a link to the video: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/01/magic-for-month-of-january-video-and.html

3: Do more research into the history and folklore of my local area and blog about it

In June I blogged about a set of concrete benches which look so like a set of megaliths that my local community has given them the name Stonepenge. You can read that here:  http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/06/weird-london-stonehenges-brutalist.html

4: Continue using the London Lore Tarot to explore esoteric London

Sadly I didn't do this, but hope I will in the future.

5: Start to visit all the Hawksmoor churches and blog about them. 

This was another thing I didn get to do in 2021. Maybe I will in 2022

6: Blog about the trees of London

I've been particularly grateful to friends for sending me photos they've taken of trees in and near London.

• Nathalie Andrews sent me a picture of the historic holm oak at Fulham Palace. You  can see it to the right, and here's the link to the post: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/07/pagan-eye-historic-holm-oak-at-fulham.html
• Lee Edwards sent me a picture of trees on King Henry's Mound in Richmond Park and I blogged about that: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/11/pagan-eye-tree-viewed-from-king-henrys.html
• Jane Mortimer wrote about wassailing the apple trees beside the A12, just north of London: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/02/wassailing-apple-tree-in-springtime-by.html

Technically a tree in my neighbour's garden counts as being in London and I wrote about that: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/09/pagan-eye-sycamore-seeds-on-tree-in.html

7: Walk a lost river in London

No, I didn't do this. Maybe next year.

8: Visit a historic or sacred site outside London I've not been to before

I tried to do this when I visited St Cedd's Well earlier this week, but then discovered it was technically just inside Greater London. It was still a lovely place to go: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/12/sacred-sites-st-cedds-well-north.html

9: Finish writing another book

Well, yes. I don't think I've mentioned this on my blog before, but back in January 2021 I started a course to write a novel in 26 weeks, which I completed. I've edited the book since then, but haven't yet decided whether to self-publish it on Kindle or whether to submit it to traditional publishers. The book is called Erosion: Of Friendship, Dreams and the Edge of a Cliff. The blurb I wrote for a potential back cover is: "She wanted to write a book about a perfect summer by the sea. She didn’t want it to be a tale of terror." 

Also, under my name Lucya Szachnowski (Lucya Starza is the pen name I chose because Starza is also a family name from my Polish relatives), I self-published a short book of poems about my memories of growing up in the south London suburb of Penge. It's called Poems by a Pengeuin - A Scrapbook of Memories. You can find it here if you are interested: https://amzn.to/3z8MgJr

10: Create a candle labyrinth

No, I didn't do this. It's been on my list of resolutions for several years and for some reason I never seem to achieve it.

Seasonal Mandalas

This wasn't originally one of my 10 resolutions, but in January 2021 I decided to create four seasonal mandalas using natural items. The picture to the right shows my mandala for winter, created in January and showing how much colour there still was to see. Here are links to the others:

• Spring: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/04/spring-mandala-jill-in-green-from.html
• Summer: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/06/summer-mandala-sun-wheel-of-leaves.html
• Autumn: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/10/autumn-mandala-leaves-in-green-gold.html

Previous related posts: A Year of Card Readings
Trust in Magic: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/01/trust-in-magic-divination-with.html
February: The Princess of Cups from the Lover's Path Tarot: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/02/divination-princess-of-cups-from-lovers.html
March: The Council of All Beings from the Witches' Wisdom Tarot: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/03/witches-wisdom-tarot-council-of-all.html
April: Joy from the Merlin Tarot: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/04/divination-joy-or-six-of-fishes-from.html
May: Enter Sacred Space: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/05/divination-for-day-iona-enter-sacred.html
June: Begin Now: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/06/divination-begin-now-sacred-traveler.html
July: The Blasted Oak from the Wildwood Tarot: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/07/divination-blasted-oak-from-wildwood.html
August: Curiosity: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/08/divination-for-international-cat-day.html
September: Hunter of Mysteries from the Shaman's Oracle: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/09/divination-hunter-of-mysteries-from.html
October: The Plains of Bagan from the Sacred Sites Oracle: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/10/divination-plains-of-bagan-sacred-sites.html
November: Ten of Pentacles from the Wicca Moon Tarot: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/11/divination-ten-of-pentacles-from-wicca.html
December: The Wisdom Keeper from the Witches' Wisdom Tarot: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/12/tarot-wisdom-keeper-tower-and-dreaming.html