How I Spent My Silent New Year

As posted on my Instagram feed, I had a "Silent New Year". Being a parent of two children, one very small and the other quite sensitive to his senses, my husband and I opted to skip the usual festivities and fireworks. We headed home after dinner out with family and did preparations for the upcoming countdown. I nursed my baby, read a story to my 7-year old, said our prayers and then did a few more extras on top of the usual bedtime routine. You can call these the new Manzano family traditions to be done annually :)

1. We don't usually turn the air-condition on because I prefer negative ions coming in from the fresh air outside but since we were expecting pollution coming in through the windows from the fireworks, we sealed our room shut and turned on the AC!
2. My husband prepared the ipod and speakers to play soothing music so the baby doesn't get startled from the noise outside.
3. I used Lavender and Geranium pure essential oils to act as an air purifier and help set the lulling mood for deep sleep. You may get your pure essential oils online from Mountain Rose Herbs.
4. I fixed a space for my prosperity candles and lit them at 11:30 pm. I intended to blow them when the clock struck 12 midnight but Maya cried wanting to nurse right before 12 so I had to breastfeed her til after a few minutes past 12, so I continued to blow them out around 12:18 instead. 

There is something about the element of FIRE that strikes wonder and excitement not just for children but for me, an adult as well. Fire symbolizes transformation. I've been lighting candles for Shabbat, Chanukkah, Advent and now this.

In Hinduism, Kali is the Mother Goddess associated with destruction and fire. She is a powerful diety because the aftermath of her wrath is always....renewal and regeneration.

The next morning, I laid out the prosperity candles according to height. On the directions of the prosperity candles given to me, it says that the shortest candle will represent the greatest blessing that the new year will bring followed by the rest in succession. While I am uncertain if this would be true or not, I do like participating in these rituals because they signify transitions in time that help me flow.

Here's what the each of the colors mean:

ORANGE: Brightness

BLUE: Peace

GREEN: Money

VIOLET: Material Wealth

PINK: Love / Health

RED: Life

YELLOW: Good Spirit

---

How did you spend your New Year? Any special traditions from your family? Please share!

For those interested, the prosperity candles were from RSJ candles which you can buy in National Bookstores.