On this first day of January, I wish you a very happy and healthy New Year. Perhaps a return to a simpler life is in store for you. That may not sound very appealing, a simpler life, it sounds incredibly boring. But let's be honest, would you prefer a future full of complexity and drama? Zhù nǐ píngdàn wúq, 祝你平淡无奇, is said in China: 'I wish you a normal, peaceful life.' Sincere, without irony.
1-1-2026 06.24. Early in the morning, the banging has died down. This year, 130 million euros were shot into the air in the Netherlands, no half measures to drive away the evil spirits, in order to start the year fresh and unburdened. However, there is a good chance that those evil spirits crept back in shortly after the fireworks frenzy died down. Just like the frightened birds, which settled down again after flying around for hours. The return to simplicity, the return of the evil spirits, the return of frightened birds. Everything goes in circles.
06.49. I can hear the wind. Perhaps it is better than fireworks at dispersing unwanted spirits – together with the resulting gunpowder fumes? On the weather map, I see that both are being blown away by the wind. Towards Bremen, then Copenhagen, Stockholm, Sundsvall, Trondheim, over Atlantic white caps, Aberdeen, Leeds, Amsterdam, and damn it, there they are again, back to square one. Those bloody circles there too.
The boomerang is the apotheosis, the masterpiece of circular motion. The Aboriginals knew this, as did the Egyptians in the time of Tutankhamen. You throw the boomerang away from you, it spins, turns, tilts and spirals, and returns as if by magic to the hand that threw it. How you throw it is how you get it back. Force returns as force, doubt as doubt, energy as energy.
For an accurate throw, you need space: a large field or an empty beach, a slight breeze, definitely not bitterly cold, not in direct sunlight, and of course a well-balanced boomerang. But there is another option for us. A cardboard mini boomerang that you can make in a few minutes. To perform a small New Year's ritual. A ritual to start this year off right, as an ode to spirals and circles. Unlike a wooden boomerang – it's very windy outside these days – this one is suitable for indoors!
Let's get started. I'm posting this late on Thursday evening. So, the ideal time to make a mini boomerang will be Friday during breakfast, or else this coming weekend during breakfast or brunch. What you need is an empty cornflakes box. Or any other cardboard packaging that is similar in thickness and strength. Not too thick, not too flimsy: a box of chocolate flakes, of oats, you're bound to find something.
Draw the outline of a boomerang with a pencil. The photo gives you a few ideas about possible shapes. As for size, the largest red and blue three-armed boomerang is 7 cm in a straight line, from tip to tip. If you make the boomerangs too small, they will not have enough lift to fly. Draw and then cut them out.
Frog and heron boomerangs are certainly among the possibilities. As are knife and fork boomerangs. The possibilities are endless. You can leave the coloured side of the cardboard visible, or colour the unprinted side with a marker or pencil. Or you can write your New Year's slogan or wish on it: travel!, more music! or keep your spirits up! etc.
Bend the tips of the boomerang's wings slightly upwards. Place it on your flat hand or on a book so that part of one wing sticks out. Then, using the index finger of your free hand, flip the tip of the boomerang, as shown in the clip below. It will shoot away and start spinning. With a little practice, it will fly away and come back. Try to catch it between your flat hands. Catching every opportunity! A flying boomerang – even one made from a cereal box – instantly brings magic to the air. A great activity to start the day, or even the whole year, with.
I am very curious to see what your mini boomerang will look like (send me a photo!) and how it flies and returns (send me a video!). As boomerang insiders say to each other: many happy returns!
THE IMAGE of the hexagram: a cold mass of five yin lines and one yang line penetrating at the bottom. In secret, the odds are turning. It is only one light line - more will follow later - one spark, one struck match, enough to give a glimmer of hope in the darkest of times.
Chapter 24. Returning is associated with the winter solstice period. Read more about this in:
To be continued …