Make a New Start: My Favorite Ritual for Releasing the Old
Spring is in the air! It’s the season of new beginnings, an occasion to let go of the old so you can move forward on your path. It’s also a great time to make a talisman and do one of my favorite rituals of release.
A talisman is an object created to hold or embody a belief. Throughout history, virtually every religion and culture has created such objects to represent healing, protection, love, success, letting go, and so on. The word “talisman,” derived from the Greek verb “teleo,” means to accomplish, or bring into effect. A talisman is marked with magic and represents the sacred relationship between you and whatever it symbolizes. Ritualistically speaking, the talisman is not just the symbol of an attitude or belief, but it actually becomes the attitude or belief. You may even already own a talisman, such as a lucky charm or a Buddha statue.
I talked quite a bit about creating a talisman in my 28 Days to Live the Life You Were Destined to Live online course, and many of the participants had amazing experiences letting go of old patterns. While this isn’t as thorough as the work we did in the five-week course, I’d like to invite you to make way for new beginnings and do the following ritual over the next month. You’ll be truly amazed at the results. So, give it a try even if you aren’t 100% sure it will work!
For this ritual, I recommend that you make or find your own talisman to represent a pattern, situation, or letdown you’d like to change. It can also embody an ideal you want to reinforce such as success, love, authenticity, etc. Choose an object or make one that has special meaning to you and what it will represent. For example, you might choose a stone, make an object out of sticks, draw an object, or find an image in a magazine or newspaper. Ideally you should create something from something else, or your image should be a symbol of metaphoric meaning. As you create your talisman, focus your intention on the thought, attitude, belief, or feeling you wish to release. A talisman is also never negative, but signifies protection from those negative aspects.
Once you have your talisman, take some time to again focus on what it represents. Then, place it in a bowl and sprinkle it with salt to signify purification. Next, put the bowl in the freezer, signifying decay and preservation. Imagine you’re freezing the energy associated with what the talisman represents. And leave it in the freezer until the next full moon on May 27. (If you are reading this after May 27, just look up the next full moon on the Internet.)
Before or on the full moon, set aside some time to release the energies of your talismans. Take your talisman out of the freezer, bring it outside, and say the following affirmation prayer:
I release you to Spirit. You are no longer useful to me. Thank you for all you have taught me. I celebrate you and set you free. I am now free to travel into a new world of limitless potential!
How you release your talisman will depend on your situation. Here are four powerful methods to let it go; just choose the one that feels right for you.
- Fire: Burn the talisman and discard the ashes.
- Water: Submerge the talisman in a bowl of salt water and then discard.
- Earth: Bury the talisman in the ground.
- Air: Smash the talisman into pieces and then discard them.
After you finish your release, say the following aloud as you complete your ritual: I thank you for all that I have become. I release you, for I no longer need you on my journey.
Here’s a story from one of my course participants who released her talisman on the full moon in February. She made a talisman of a heart within a circle to represent breaking a pattern of dating unavailable men. She went through all the steps I outlined above and buried her talisman on the full moon. After the ritual, she was compelled to take a photo of the moon since it was so amazing. Just as she took the photo she swayed a little bit, and the photo of the moon turned out to be a heart encircled by light. A message from spirit! I got an email from her last week expressing shock that she has met several available men over the last month.
Exercise:
What pattern, feeling, belief, letdown, or thought do you need to let go of in order to move forward this spring? This week, make a talisman using the steps I outlined above and mark you calendar to release it on or shortly before April 28. Share your talisman with other readings in the comment box to add even more power to the release. And, be sure to report back!
Love,
Colette
P.S. If you want to do more with breaking old patterns and totally shifting your consciousness, my 28 Days to Live the Life You’re Destined to Live online course is now available on demand! For more details, click here.
(6 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)
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Thank you for this! Perfect timing – something I sent to a friend of mine, but will do for myself as well.
Namaste!
Thank you for this BLOG, Colette! At some point today I will be creating my talisman! My talisman will be around finances . . . I have set up my life in that finance flows EASILY and ABUNDANTLY into my life at ALL times . . . yet I always find myself back at a place of lack and limitation! These moments in my life have at times lasted years . . . in the last 2 years however, these moments have been shorter . . . only months and of late only weeks . . . I have sooo much gratitude for the adundance and blessings in my life, yet somehow my gratitude is not overpowering the underlying belief that I have always carried with me that says I’m NOT worthy!
This belief stronghold of worthlessness keeps resurfacing no matter how much money comes my way . . . the money always discintegrates!!! I will spend time journalling (after I finish blogging) in order to discover what I want to fill my talisman with and how I want to dispose of it (earth, fire, air, water) . . .
I love you Colette!! I’m just so grateful for the essence of you being you . . . thank you for sharing that with all of us your fans!!!! You’re a ROCK STAR of your own design!!
Thankx for the inspiration!!
Hugs
Debbi
Thanks for the information — I’ll give it a try.
I made my talisman today and I will let you know after 5/27/10 my results! I forgot all about this ritual! Thank you, Colette!
Dear Colette,
This exercise sounds amazing. But I am hoping for some guidance.
As we are supposed to keep it positive, should I be making a talisman and letting go of the opposite fear for example (i.e. trust), or is it okay to use the word fear – or abundance vs. poverty, etc. I know releasing our desires are important but so are releasing old patterns, so I am curious which it should be.
Thank you!
Pam
Thank you for all you do Colette; it is so very much appreciated! The Talisman concept is one I’m looking forward to doing with success.
Love & Light,
Karol
What a wonderful ritual
I am breaking the chain of addiction I have been an addict since I was 11 and now I am nearing 40. It is time to let go and let GOD. I am so freightened and excited I am sure it will only hurt for a while I hope the tailsman eases the way.
Full moon tonight!Will be releasing my talisman tonight!
Making my own Talisman was actually a lot of fun,
Thank you so much Colette!
I made a type of collage; I flipped through some old magazines and let the pictures speak to me.
I also drew my own tree and taped the magazine images around it- the images were of things I want to feel- in control, free, strong, to believe in myself… ect.
This was a wonderful exercise!
The next full moon is on June 26th, I can’t wait for the results.
With much love and gratitude,
Agnes K.
so, tonite was a full moon.
Over and over again pieces of a tramatic event kept replaying in my head. I’ve tried to release it once before, but “blurbs”of it stick. I know that everyone has little bites of things that replay in their heads, but I was already getting sick of it. So, I wrote a letter…releasing. Thanked the event for it’s occurance,ect. Thanking the individuals for their actions. I marched to the firepit and set it aflame.
So, I sat down at my computer. What next? The sign? No lie, as I was thinking about it ,literally, fireworks went off outside.Coincidence? I believe my new journey has begun!
[...] a belief, lesson, goal, pattern you want to discard, attitude, and so on. Last spring, I wrote a blog on using a talisman to represent a belief or thought that you want to release. As I teach you in my [...]
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