If the new year is all about getting a fresh start, then the combination of new year, new century and new millennium offers the possibility for a fresher start than most other January renewals. Now is the time to take a close look at your life and decide what needs changing, what needs discarding and what needs to be introduced to make things better.

Most rituals of purification and revitalization contain a physical component. It is not only symbolically that the body and mind are linked. When we eat or drink too much, we are likely to feel burdened and sluggish on all levels. When we exercise, we feel enlivened mentally as well as physically. A fast or a cleansing diet will revitalize the mind and the spirit as well as cleanse the body.

To design your own purification ritual, first determine your goals. Do you want to do something dramatic, or just ease yourself into a simpler, purer lifestyle for a time? Take your character into account as well. If you are the ascetic type, a complete fast will probably seem enjoyable to you. If you are one who does not feel alive without the pleasures of regular food and drink, you may be better off with a ritual that eliminates only one or two items from your diet, or with a ritual based on adding exercise or some other positive element rather than one which deprives you of something. You would possibly not stick to a very austere regime, and the sense of failure would be the overwhelming result of the experience. Not an auspicious start to a program of self-renewal!