My first Wiccan ritual

So on New Year's Eve I did my first Wiccan ritual. I did a new beginnings ritual to see in the new year on a positive note. 

As this was my first ritual and I was nervous to make sure it went well I followed a basic idea from Patti Wiginton who is the wonderful author of paganwiccan.about.com. I love her articles as they are so informative and suitable for every level. I changed the ritual to work with what I wanted to do and changed the wording around but the basic structure came from Patti. I was also still sick so wasn't really able to completely write my own ritual. 

So this is what I did. For this ritual I used. Incense, a black candle, a green candle, paper, pen and a fireproof bowl or cauldron. So firstly I double checked that I had everything that I would need for the ritual. Once I knew I had everything in place I grounded myself by meditating. Once I was ready to start I lit my incense. Now this time I used vanilla incense. I only did this because I find the smell relaxing. But in the future I will try to use incense more designed for the purpose of my ritual. I may post what the different incenses are for at a later date.

I then lit the black candle and watched the flame for a while. While watching the flame I thought about all the negative things that had happened over the past year. I also thought about the negative traits that I have that I want to get rid of and any things that I felt had held me back this year. I wrote all of these down on some paper then when ready I lit the paper in fire with the flame of the black candle. I placed the paper in the fireproof bowl so that it could completely burn. While it was burning I said the following on repeat until the paper had stopped burning. " you are my past I send you away, far away from me, you will no longer hold me back, I banish you, you are banished."

Once the paper was completely burnt. I extinguished the black candle and lit the green candle.  This
time as I watched the flame I thought about all the things I want to achieve this year. All the ways I
can be a better person and tried to set some goals to work on. I wrote all these down on some paper. I then lit the paper using the flame of the green candle. As this piece of paper burnt I said " now is the time for change, time to be a better person, time to be true to myself.  I am strong secure and confident. I am asking for assistance and guidance from the universe to help this year. To help me be who I want to be to help me with my goals. I send my goals put there in this fire and smoke. I know I can be better. "

Once the paper had completely burnt in the fireproof bowl I meditated a little longer. When I was done I extinguished the green candle. I took the bowl of ashes outside and let them scatter into the wind be outside in the universe.

Things that I will would do differently next time. I will cast a circle to help keep me protected while doing ritual work. I will also consecrate my candles, to ensure they are charged with my energy. And 
I would also ask a specific god and goddess for help instead of the universe. The only reason I didn't do that this time is because I'm still researching with god and goddess I'm most connected to. 

So there you have it.