My pen left the page and for a moment I considered taping it shut so even if I was tempted, I would not be able to look. For it is such that if you make wishes, it is important to not speak or think about them until they have come to pass. Since the wishes were for the year ahead, I thought it would be ok to keep a secret copy of them to review once the wishes had journeyed once around the sun.

I had burned all but one, the 13th wish, and this was the one I needed to fulfill myself. You might be curious, dear reader, but I may not speak of this one for it is a wish for an entire lifetime so you and I will be long gone and it is for those who come next to discover if it came true at all.

What I can share with you are the wishes I have burned, at least those that have come to pass. I will share some secret details of each from my life with the intention that it may be of benefit and service to you. So many of us now live in closed homes without bountiful numbers of grandmothers and little ones around. So many of us live without stories told by candle light and hearth fire in dark nights, shared in low voices. It seems for many the screens have replaced the stories of the past and the future, stories of legends and mythical beings. If these words will make it onto your screen, imagine you and me sitting by a fire. You are in a rocking chair wrapped in a cozy blanket, leaning back as I lean forward and share with you my stories from the year gone by.

These are how wishes came true:

13 wishes they were, cut out strips of paper, wrapped into tiny little spirals. Each night after dark when all was quiet I sat in by a special altar I had made in the bedroom for this time. An old glass TV table on wheels was now covered in cloth and candles, cards and runes, crystals and stones, and a white rose I had been gifted near the oldest temple in the world to still be standing. For 12 nights I burned one wish, unbeknownst to me which one it was. On the 13th night I gave the ashes to the winds and the earth. Now it is one year later and the ashes have traveled with me 149.6 million kilometers around the sun.

Much has happened in that time. I notice a few weeks ago how at peace I feel with myself and who I am. It seems like for the first time in my life I consciously feel my strength and my own light and it feels good. Inside there is a calm core where the waters remain still even when there is a storm whirling around. My first wish last year was to consistently feel peace within myself.

Just the other day I also notice how I have become more patient. Of course I crack sometimes, but only when I am absolutely exhausted and am carrying more weight than I can handle. But overall I feel a patient, loving, and kind perseverance emanating from within and it feels good. This was my second wish.

The third wish did not quite come true yet, and it is well on its way! Very exciting. :-)

Whether or not my fourth wish came true is open to interpretation. I think I should keep it close to my heart because I can say that it only came true in the last few weeks and it is still tender and fragile. Like a flower that has fully blossomed, it is hard for me to pluck it and bring it to you and show you its beauty without losing a few petals on the way. So onwards we go!

There is something astonishing that has happened. For the first time in my life it is easy for me to do focused, dedicated, daily practice. With that I mean magic! Before it was more like a chart on the Stockmarket: When you zoom out all the way you can definitely see a steady upward trend, but as you take a closer look at the daily charts, it can seem rather volatile with big ups and downs. I am glad that each day of magical practice now looks more like a steady step on a life-long hike through a beautiful landscape.

Oooh and now we are at the 6th wish and this one I cannot judge for myself! Am I an incredibly good mother? That will be for the one receiving my mothering to judge one day.

I wish to act with wisdom and bravery. Number 7 is one of those wishes where I can only speak of who I was compared to who I am now. I don't know if it is fair to judge myself by some gold standard, rather I will look at how far I have come. Reflecting on 2023, there were a few situations where I acted with more wisdom and bravery than I ever have in my life. I will always try to do better than I have, and I can also say that I have grown a lot.

Now, to act with wisdom in the face of conflict is another matter entirely! However, I can say that the most important conflicts I have had this past year have been resolved in some very beautiful ways. What could have turned into rifts became an affirmation of bonds. What more can I ask for?

Though my body and mind are currently more in service of other living beings than they ever have been in my life, I have found that this has actually helped me a lot in showing up to my truth and true desires every day and to do what I need to do in accordance with this. For I have discovered that if I do not do this, I am actually not as good as I could be in tending to the ones who depend on my care. This is a beautiful lesson to have learned to embody, though I definitely needed some help along the way to learn how to do this. So, thank you!

My 10th wish is like the flower I told you about earlier, so we shall allow it to bloom in the garden! My 11th wish is the one that was left after I had burned the other 12 and the number has some magic of its own. This wish is the one that perhaps another generation will speak of while cozying up in an armchair and sipping hot chocolate while eating a delicious cookie.

The 12th is a wish that is forever in the making and it is one that cannot be spoken loud enough: Peace and the thriving of all! When will this come to pass? Perhaps it is one that the world has made us into always yearning for, I don't know. I wish that someday, someone, will get to live in a world where these words are true.

13 has us returning into a delightful celebration. After a pregnancy and a birth that left me recuperating for a long time, I am proud to say that I take tender daily care of my body. I build muscle, and work on my mobility and flexibility.

Oh look, our tea cups are almost empty! What perfect timing, for I am now at the end of my story. I would love to hear about your wishes next, the ones you made, the ones that are secret, the ones that are still flowers in a hidden garden, the ones that came true and the ones that seem in our nature to always yearn for.

I wish you a wonderful year ahead and must leave you now, for it is time to burn this year's wishes.

With love,
Pipaluk