Is it too late to set an intention? 2/1/26

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are the traditional time in the Western world to make resolutions and set intentions. At least that’s what we’ve been told for all our lives. However, they aren’t the only days for intention setting.

The Lunar New Year is a little less than a month away, on February 17^th. What about making that a possibility? What about taking a couple of extra weeks and using the start of the calendar year and weeks before the Lunar New Year as a buffer? A little more time to reflect, with no holiday pressure, back into “normal” life. We can make it a time to contemplate where we’re heading without all the usual holiday haze.

While many in the Western world follow the calendar year, many people elsewhere around the world follow the Lunar New Year. So, if you haven’t figured out what your plan for 2026 is, you aren’t too late. It’s never too late to set a new intention, but if you want to set one for the entire year, now would be a good time to do it. Consider January and part of February your weeks to take the time to do that.

Why the Lunar New Year? Well, for one, the Lunar New Year starts on what is the first new moon that signifies the beginning of spring. Yeah, most of us in the Northern Hemisphere are still grappling with the snow, cold, and ice of winter. In the United States right now, we’ve been dealing with some pretty intense winter weather. Sure, it doesn’t feel like spring is on its way, but it is as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow and set in the evening. The days are getting longer and we’re all feeling a little brighter.

The Lunar New Year is a major 15-day festival in Asia. It’s celebrated with family reunions, cleaning out homes to remove bad luck, giving red envelopes with money, decorating with red, praying for good fortune, and honoring the ancestors. Sounds much like how we celebrate the end of the calendar year in the West.

There is also Imbolc, which celebrates Brigid. It’s often celebrated from today, the 1^st and into the 2^nd of February. We decorate with white, green, and red. Ewes and lambs are associated with it, reflecting birth and renewal. The fertility of this season and the blossoming of the Earth to come begin to welcome Spring. New life is starting and will only become more glorious as the season progresses into Spring. It’s a fire festival and fire brings warmth and melts the snows of winter. Imbolc is the time to plant seeds. In some Wiccan traditions, it’s the time to set intentions. It’s another reason to see that New Year’s Eve isn’t the only time to do that.

If we look at all these traditions, we see so many similarities. Rebirth, renewal, intentions, ancestors, and fire. Seeds that have been dormant in the earth all winter. The returning warmth brings those seeds to life slowly over the coming weeks. The days become longer and the grass turns green again and begins growing. What more perfect time is there to set intentions for the coming year? Growth is all around us and intentions are growth.

So, if you haven’t set those intentions yet, why not now?