MYSTIC MONA: Universal Blessings

Simply follow the steps below and you'll have the advantage of all the best the Universe may offer.

This ritual is good for anytime you wish to clear the energy at your home or office. Examples when this is a good ritual: at the end of a relationship; the beginning of a new job; after really negative people have left your house; or the morning of your birthday. This is a harmless way to create the best energy possible where you live or work.

Purchase a bound sage and cedar burning (smudge) stick and a container of sea salt or kosher salt—Wild Oats and Whole Foods carry these items. Sage and cedar represent the balance of masculine and feminine energies.

In the days before you perform the ritual, purge your home and donate any unused items to your favorite charity, remove any plants that are not thriving, clothes that do not fit, anything broken, and items that remind you of negative or depressing experiences from the past.

The morning of your ritual, take a salt bath: one cup of salt to a tub of water. After five minutes of soaking, lather up as usual, finish your normal grooming routine, dry off with a freshly laundered towel, and get dressed in freshly laundered clothing.

With care, ignite the sage/cedar smudge stick and then blow out the flame so that the end of the stick is smoking. (If you think the burning smoke may trigger a smoke detector, it's OK to open a few windows as you're moving around your house.)

Beginning at your front door, make a counterclockwise circle around the frame of the door with your smoking sage and cedar. Then going to your left (again counterclockwise), walk the entire inside perimeter of your house. (If your house is two stories or more, begin at the floor your front door is located and then go up and circle each next floor counterclockwise. If there is a floor above and below the level of your front door, do the main level first, then the next level up and then the level below the main entrance.) This counterclockwise circle releases any negative energy in the home or office.

Once you are back at the front door, still keeping the sage and cedar smoking, make a clockwise circle of the perimeter of your front door. Then turning to your right (clockwise), walk the entire inside of your home again. When you're back at the front door, trace one more clockwise circle around the frame of the front door. The clockwise circle seals in positive/neutral energy.

Then go to the kitchen and pour water on the smudge stick to make sure it's no longer a fire hazard before throwing it away. Open every window in your home and turn on the fans for about five minutes. That will clear out the smoke and bring all fresh new air into your house. (It also gets rid of that "sort of smells like marijuana" scent for which sage and cedar gets a bad rap.)

While the house is airing out, go to your freezer and dump out all the ice into your sink. Close all your windows and turn off the fans. Your house is now ready for a new beginning.

Below is the traditional New Year's meal in our household:

• Black-eyed peas—this is for luck.

• Some sort of leafy vegetable: spinach, collards or even lettuce—this is for money.

• Meat from an animal that doesn't scratch backward (chicken and turkeys scratch backward): pork is a good choice—this is so you're never hungry.

• Something sweet: cookies, candy, cake, or ice cream—so you can count on sweet surprises in the upcoming year.

Lastly, be with someone you love (or really like) on New Year's Day. Who you are with on the first day of the year sets the tone for what you'll tolerate or celebrate for the entire year.

Happy New Year!

Note to readers: I am moving my radio program, also called "Psychic View"—stay tuned for new information.

Mona Van Joseph is a licensed professional in the psychic arts. E-mail questions to [email protected].