Polka-Vita

There are certain little rituals that have quietly found their way into my life over the years, and one of my favourites happens on the first day of every month.

All you need is a little cinnamon, an open front door and a few moments to think about what you actually want to welcome into your home – and your life – for the month ahead.

Now, before we go any further, I should probably make something very clear: I am not a crystal expert, manifestation guru or particularly accomplished witch.

I’m learning.

I have a growing crystal collection, a money bowl in my flat and an ever-expanding assortment of little rituals I’ve picked up along the way. Some stick, some don’t, but I’ve always been drawn to this slightly more spiritual side of life.

And this is one of the rituals that stuck.

Do I believe blowing a handful of cinnamon through my front door is going to result in £10,000 mysteriously appearing in my bank account the following morning? Unfortunately, no.

Would I be delighted to be proven wrong? Absolutely.

For me, it’s more about the intention behind it.

And there’s something about the beginning of a new month that feels like the perfect opportunity for a little reset.

The First-of-the-Month Cinnamon Ritual

The ritual itself couldn’t really be much simpler.

On the first day of the month, you take a little ground cinnamon in the palm of your hand, stand outside your front door and blow it through the doorway into your home.

Cinnamon has long been associated with prosperity and abundance in various spiritual and folk traditions, and the idea behind this particular ritual is that you’re quite literally welcoming that abundance through your front door.

And yes – the direction matters.

We’re blowing the abundance into the house. Not out.

Nobody needs to be accidentally evicting their prosperity on the first of the month.

Before I blow the cinnamon in, I like to stop for a moment and actually think about what I’m asking for.

Because when I talk about abundance, I don’t necessarily mean just money.

Of course financial abundance is lovely. I’m certainly not turning that away.

But abundance can also look like opportunities. Creativity. Success. Travel. New experiences. Feeling secure. Having enough. Meeting the right people at the right time. Or simply having one of those months where things seem to fall into place a little more easily.

Whatever I’m hoping to welcome more of, that’s what I try to focus on.

And then – cinnamon goes flying through the front door.

Before the First

There’s another part of this that I try to incorporate into my little routine – emphasis very much on try.

If I know I’m going to be home on the first, where possible I’ll give the flat a good overall clean beforehand. Nothing quite as dramatic as a spring clean, but I’ll hoover, tidy everything away, get everything feeling fresh and essentially do all the boring practical stuff before I start trying to invite magic into it.

The idea is that once I’ve blown the cinnamon through the doorway, I don’t then immediately want to get the hoover out and suck it all back up again.

I like to leave it there for a while and let the ritual be.

Of course, real life doesn’t always work quite that neatly.

With my job, I could just as easily be halfway across the world on the first of the month as I could be standing in my own front room. So this isn’t something I’ve managed to do religiously every single month, nor do I panic if the calendar changes and I’ve completely forgotten about the cinnamon.

It’s simply a little practice I’ve been trying to incorporate whenever I’m actually home and able to do it.

There are plenty of variations of rituals like this, and I’m certainly not going to sit here and tell you there’s one official Cinnamon Rule Book that we all need to abide by. This is just the way I like to do it when I can.

And actually, there’s something I really enjoy about waking up on the first with the flat already clean.

No cleaning. No massive list of household jobs.
Just a fresh month, a fresh home and a little cinnamon scattered across my otherwise freshly cleaned floor.

Slightly counterproductive? Perhaps.

But we’re committing to the ritual now.

My Money Bowl

My first-of-the-month cinnamon isn’t the only abundance ritual living in my flat.

I also have a money bowl.

And I’ve recently given mine a little upgrade.

A money bowl is essentially a physical collection of things that represent wealth, prosperity, opportunity and abundance. Mine contains money alongside crystals I’ve chosen because of what they’re traditionally associated with.

At the moment, I’ve got:

Citrine – traditionally associated with prosperity, success and abundance.

Green aventurine – associated with luck, opportunity and growth.

Pyrite – probably the most appropriately flashy member of the group. It looks almost gold and is traditionally associated with wealth, prosperity and confidence.

And my newest addition is a beautiful Clear-quartz obelisk, which I’ve placed in the middle of the bowl. Clear quartz is often used to amplify intentions, so essentially I’ve recruited it to give everybody else a little boost.

Teamwork.

I’m still very much a novice when it comes to crystals, which is actually part of what I enjoy about collecting them.

I’m learning what different crystals traditionally represent, finding the ones I’m naturally drawn to and slowly building a collection that actually means something to me rather than simply buying every pretty rock I see.

Although, admittedly, the pretty-rock element does occasionally win.

A Little Everyday Magic

I think this is ultimately why I’ve become so fond of little rituals like these.

Most of life is incredibly practical.

There are bills. Work. Plans. Goals. Things that need booking. Things that need cancelling. Things you’ve been meaning to do for three weeks and are still somehow sitting on the to-do list.

Sometimes it’s just nice to leave a little room for magic amongst all of that.

For me, manifestation isn’t about sitting at home waiting for the universe to deliver everything I’ve ever wanted while I do absolutely nothing.

It’s about getting clear on what I want. Setting an intention. Allowing myself to believe that good things and new opportunities are possible – and then actually doing my part to go after them.

The ritual is just a little physical reminder of that.

So, when I’m home for the first of the month, you’ll probably find me standing outside my front door with cinnamon in my hand, thinking about everything I’d quite like the month ahead to bring.

And this September, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.

I’ll blow it inside, leave the hoover firmly where it is and see what the new month has in store.

New month, new intentions and hopefully a little more abundance coming through the door.

Want to Make Your Own Money Bowl?

I’ll be sharing what’s inside mine, what I’ve chosen to include and how you can put together your own abundance bowl in an upcoming Rituals post.

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This post is part of Rituals – a little corner of Polka-Vita for crystals, manifestation, intention-setting and the everyday practices that bring a little more magic into my life.