Do you choose a word for the year?

I have chosen a word-for-the-year probably since around 2010. I remember hearing of the practice from singer-songwriter/life coach Christine Kane and thinking that it sounded *so* much more nourishing and supportive that tired old New Year Resolutions. And so I started the annual practice of choosing a word. But honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had a word choose me before. Until this year….

In my work as a goddess guide, I am continually reminding my clients that they hold the wisdom that they seek, and that they already hold the tools that they need to use in order to access it. As is so often the case, we teach what we know, and so when I was struggling to come up with my word for the year, I turned to what I knew, and I picked up my tools. In this case, it was my own very special (and well-handled!) deck of goddess oracle cards.

This deck does not look fancy. It doesn’t have pretty pictures on it. It doesn’t sit in a lacquered box. This, my loves, is a working deck. The edges are a little worn. My handwritten names of each goddess are a little messy. The backs of the cards are just plain white.

But what you don’t see is the magic. I work with this deck every day. It is composed of the names of the goddesses that called me into this work – each of them kindred, confidantes, loves. My energy is threaded all the way through this deck, each card’s edge rubbed smooth by my hands. I hold this deck so often throughout a day… sometimes, I give it a shuffle and then put it back down again. Sometimes, a draw a card. Sometimes, I just let them sit nestled against the palm of my hand.

So yes, when I was struggling to find a word that would be my guide, my north star for a whole year, I picked up my deck, began to shuffle, and drew a card with the name of a goddess upon it.

How does this help me to find my word? Well, every goddess has her story, she has her special powers, she has her life themes. And so I worked my way through each goddess whose name is in my deck, and I jotted down a selection of words that were evocative of each one. Then, I would either choose one of those words, if it was singing to me. Or, I would use those words as jumping off places, and begin trawling through online thesauri looking for synonyms.

Once I found a word that I thought could be a possibility, I would then look up the etymology of the word, to discover its roots. Where did it come from? What does it mean? For example, did you know that ‘thesaurus’ comes from the Greek thēsauros, meaning ‘storehouse, treasure’? I just found that out when I googled to check if the plural of thesaurus was thesauri – hahaha!

Ultimately, I end up with a word that I find myself turning to again and again over a whole year. A word that helps me to cleave closely to my desire, to my intentions, to the course that I’m charting through my life.

To give you an example – and I’ll just speak to this briefly, as I’ll probably return to write to this more fully in the new year – my word for 2017 has been ‘craft’. I was gifted this word by the goddess Iduna – the Goddess of Soul Food. Over this past year, she has taught me so much about embodying my soul and expressing my soul through the tangible creation of beauty and love. The word ‘craft’ comes from the Old Germanic word for ‘strength’ – and so I chose it because I wanted to get stronger in the ways that I showed up for my art by honing my skill – by developing my craft.

I had thought that was going to be through writing. I was all prepared for it to be writing! And then I discovered it wasn’t about writing at all – it was about knitting. And, again, I’ll only mention this briefly, as truly I could write a whole book about knitting – hahahaha!

My journey through the year with the word ‘craft’ as my touchstone has taken me in directions I never would have imagined. And as I end this year, I am taking with me a whole wealth of gifts… finely knitted shawls in so many colours and so many soft and precious fibres… a community of women who have lit up my life… a strengthened creative bond among the women of my family… an embodied intelligence tangibly delivered through skilful hands.

So what about this coming year? What about my word for 2018?

Well, as I said before, I have always chosen my word. But never before have I experienced a word choosing me. And that is exactly what has happened this year.

Before I begin to work on my list of My Word Goddess Readings, I begin by discerning my own goddess guide for the coming year. This feels like a planting of an intention, a setting of the scene, a sacred introduction… And so I can tell you that my goddess for 2018 is Artemis – the Goddess of Goal Setting/ Goal Getting. She is the protectress, the archeress, the wildly independent one who makes her home in the green places.

A sat with this knowledge for a bit, before picking up my needles and beginning to knit. I’m working on a snuggly shrug in a shade of bright rusty orange right now. The soft wool/alpaca blended fibre passing through my hands, as my fingers flick the yarn up and around the metal points of my needles. I find that knitting helps me settle my energy, so that I can discover what I know to be true.

By about the second row, I had my word. But it’s a strange word. So, I wasn’t sure… I began to second-guess. I’ll sit with it, I thought. I’ll let it marinate, let it stew. And if it sticks, then it sticks. I let a few days pass without giving it a huge amount of thought. After all, I’ve been busy busy busy working my way through my long list of readings! And then yesterday, my word claimed me.

A notification popped up on Facebook while I was answering some messages there. Someone who had purchased a reading for herself had informed a friend that she had bought one for her also, and she’d tagged me in the post. In the comments was a gif that contained my word…

No prizes for guessing what my word of 2018 is! Yep, the word I have been sitting with all this week is ‘concentrate’.

I first considered it because, as I was knitting, I found myself visualising the experience of seeing the forest through the eyes of Artemis. I felt the bow in her hand, the earth beneath her feet, the breeze ruffling her hair. And then I felt the experience of taking aim, drawing the arrow, the tension in the bow, and the strength of my own core muscles… everything about the experience was a concentrated effort. I had to fully be in my own skin – wholly as myself – before I could hit my target, my goal.

So, I began to think of the word ‘centre’ – the way that you need to centre in yourself to find your point of balance so that you can take the kind of actions that will allow progression – whatever that may be towards. But right on the back of that consideration, the word ‘concentrate’ found me. It comes from the Latin – to bring towards a centre, and has various meanings including to focus attention, to gather people or things, and to reduce a diluting agent to created a ‘concentrated essence’.

Now, just as with the word ‘craft’, I don’t know where this word will take me. And if I attempt to determine too closely the ways in which it will express, I will undoubtedly get it wrong. So, the trick is to hold it loosely, let it breathe, and trust in your own capacity to be attentive to its subtle nudges. Although, it would appear that there’s very little that is subtle about ‘concentrate’!

I would be so honoured to help you to choose your word for 2018, my love. After a few years of gifting myself with these readings, I decided to offer it as part of my business, and bring it’s gifts, its wisdom, to others. I’ve been offering it now for 7 years, and every year, it expands, it deepens, it dances. And so, this year, I have included even more words for you to choose from by including a selection inspired by an oracle card chosen specifically for your goddess, and the astrological transit of the asteroid named for your goddess.

My recommendation is that you read the quote, the evocation, the description, the prompts. That you visit the Pinterest page and spend time with some of the images that catch your eye. That you speak each one of the suggested words out loud. And then do the action that brings you peace, brings you clarity, brings you home to yourself – it might be a walk around the park, or it might be making soup. It might be your yoga practice or it might be writing in your journal. Or it might even be knitting.

Let the words settle. Let your imagination wonder. Let your thoughts flow with your breath. Let your word find you.

And then yes, you may wish to do what I did, which is park it for a while to see if it has staying power. You can explore the definitions online, look up its roots, check out its synonyms. Test it out. Try it on. Trust me – you’ll know when it’s the one.

If you would like your 2018 My Word Goddess Reading, then simply click on the link below for all the details and purchasing options.

2018 My Word Goddess Reading

And, as always, if you have any questions at all, do just ask. Oh, and once you do know which word you are choosing for the year ahead, do let me know. I so love this practice and find it endlessly fascinating!