I REBEL AGAINST TRADTION
I found the list of traditional barmbrack ‘charms’ to be unappealing and limited. Given the reality of life in Ireland long ago, it’s understandable. But my spirit rebelled. Who says the charms in barmbrack have to be traditional? Our lives are more complex and wide-ranging these days. The charms in barmbrack should reflect this. Modern-day craft stores stock all the charms you could ever want or need in your barmbrack. So I went to my local craft store and cut loose. See these as ideas to get you started:
• Anchor – Either 1.) You’ll stay in one place; no real movement 2.) Matters of faith and personal belief will be a focus, or 3). You take up boating.
• Angel – You’re being watched over by someone in the spirit world.
• Arrow – Taking aim at something; but is it for harm, gain, or sport? You make an ambitious move in the coming year. Finding one’s true direction. Or, you may be a target, so beware.
• Buddha – Either 1.) Look into Buddhism in the coming year, or 2.) You need to learn how to relax, don’t worry so much, and be happy and at peace with yourself.
• Christmas Tree – Something of significance will happen for you at Christmas time.
• Clover (Four-Leafed) – Good fortune is yours over the coming year.
• Compass – Either 1.) This will be a direction-finding year for you, or 2.) You will know what direction you wish to head in, and proceed without hesitation.
• Crown – A crowning achievement of some kind in the coming year. This could be anything from you win the essay contest, to you win the Nobel Prize.
• Dragon – A challenge; you will have a dragon to slay in the coming year. Or you get into fantasy culture in a big way.
• Heart – Love in the coming year, you lucky person! This can be anything from romance to a new pet, to a new good friend, to finding a long-lost relative.
• Key – Either 1.) You find a new place to live or 2.) You are entrusted with a new responsibility or 3.) You un-lock something which has been kept secret.
• Leaf – Autumn, either this autumn or next, will be the most important season of your coming year. Or, you’ll be ‘turning over a new leaf.’
• Mountains – You may take a trip to a mountain range in the coming year, either going on a retreat or to ski or hike. It can also represent a big challenge to come.
• Passport – You’ll go on a trip, very likely abroad.
• Pizza Slice – Pizza. There is pizza in your future. A ‘no-news’ kind of year ahead. Sometimes we need those. It could be worse. Or you start working at a pizza place.
• Puzzle Piece – Either 1.) A baffling new mystery to solve or 2.) You will receive another clue or two in the pursuit of an answer to a long-running mystery.
• Seashell – Fun beach adventures in the coming year. You may go on a tropical vacation.
• Sloth – Either 1.) Slow down! You’re moving too fast! Or 2.) Your life will go at a slower pace in the coming year, or 3.) The Ancestors are telling you to quit being so lazy. This can be another harbinger of a ‘no-news’ year.
• Snowflake – Either 1.) Winter will be the most important season of your coming year, or 2.) A message to embrace your uniqueness, or 3.) You take up a winter sport, or 4.) A name-caller will doubt your strength—prove them wrong.
• Ship’s Wheel – Either 1.)Take the wheel, and steer the ship of your life in the direction of your dreams and desires this coming year. 2.) You will travel by boat.
• Tag – Either 1.) Someone will try to ‘label’ you in the coming year; refuse to be categorized or quantified. 2.) You enter an occupation which requires you to wear a tag.
• Triquetra – A three-fold blessing of some kind is coming this coming year, Or, you start looking into Celtic spirituality.
• Sea Turtle – A symbol of longevity, this charm is telling you either you will live a long life, or you will start some long-lived endeavor in the coming year. Or you go scuba-diving.