Dec 21, 2025 3 min read

Reminder - Engage Your Intentions

I’m creating this series to guide your reflections (and my own) during the period from Samhain (October 31/November 1) to Imbolc (February 1/2). Each week I’ll share my thoughts as we descend into the longest nights of winter and provide a prompt to encourage your connection with the ancestral wisdom and earthy quiet of winter. I’ll close with a mantra and simple meditation practice to support your personal weekly journey. If you’ve been feeling drawn, as I have, to live more aligned with the turning of the season, then I invite you to travel this path with me.

Solstice Greetings to you all! In week two I included an exercise to help you determine what you want to incorporate into your life in the coming year. Beginning tonight, you will burn one slip of paper, without reading it for twelve nights. This isn't the same as letting something go. This act assimilates your intention into the cosmic energy, allowing the universe to do its work. Here's what I wrote in week two:

"Think about 13 things you want to bring to the next cycle when the light begins to return. On individual strips of paper, write down the energy, aspects, and intended results directly attributed to these 13 things. Imagine bringing them to fruition as you fold the papers and put them in a safe place such as a jar, a small box, or a pouch. Tell no one what you’ve written, but keep the list of each so you'll remember what you wanted. This is between you and the universe. Incorporate your tarot cards to help you understand what’s just below the surface.

Between the solstice and the new calendar year, burn one strip of paper without opening to release it to the universe. Keep the 13th one as the task that you must tend as it belongs to you."

If you haven't compiled your list of intentions, goals, wishes, then do so this afternoon. It's important you have them all ready before you begin your evening burning rituals today, because the universal energy makes sense of seemingly random events. Remember, the final task is your responsibility. You must actively work to make it so. I'd love to hear your experience through the coming year, if you'd like to share. You can email, contact me through my social accounts, or respond to this message. All confidential, of course.

Until next week,
Mary

If you would like to know more about my ancestral connection work, my Daoist path, or my other offerings such as tarot readings and classes, spiritual guidance, and mindset mentoring, you can find more detailed information by using the drop-down menu on my website: https://the-mystics-parlour.ghost.io.

In January, I’ll be contributing to the TABI Midwinter Conference with a presentation entitled: Less is More – Complete Readings in Three Cards. The conference is free to TABI Members and you can join at https://tabi.org.uk – dues are approximately $30US per year.

This coming February, I’m presenting a workshop for the Tarot Association of British and International members (TABI). The topic is: Romantic Archetypes of the Tarot. The fee is very reasonable, with a recording of the workshop if you can’t attend the live session and all proceeds will be donated to the animal sanctuary The Misfits Coven in Pennsylvania. More information will be available on the TABI website soon and you learn about the work they're doing at Misfits Coven here: https://misfitscoven.org/

I’m also one of the 2026 WitchCon Online presenters, offering my talk on Tarot for Ancestral Connection. No special divination kits or tools are needed. Just your favorite ‘go to’ tarot deck! Register here for over 120 presentations with unlimited rewatch capabilities: https://www.witchcon.com/presenter.php?presenter=mary-du-plessis

You can also contact me via email at themysticsparlour@gmail.com and I’m @themysticsparlour.bsky.social on Bluesky and @the.mystics.parlour on Instagram.

I appreciate your continued support and encouragement.