Find Religion

And to all a good night! Wheew! Are you all as glad it’s over as I am? I love going to see everyone and making special memories. I can do without the added stresses and tensions that can come with the season like an unwanted virus. This time of year often feels like a huge emotional wave that comes overtakes me with sentimental feelings of nostalgia of Christmas magic from when I was a kid. Knowing now what my mother went thru to make the holidays special even as she worked full time really fills me with so much love and appreciation for her care and thoughtfulness. What care she took to pick out gifts and wrap them beautifully for us. She’d make us little letters that ‘Santa’ would leave for us thanking us for our delicious cookies. She had everything dialed in from the onion dip to the homemade pumpkin pie. She did everything with what appeared to be such ease. Every Christmas is infused with her recipes, her love, our traditions and a great need to make everything special, wonderful and delightful for us kids.

I’m the opposite of my mother’s grace. I can make onion dip and pumpkin pie. But not without the fire alarm going off or the phone ringing or something to pull me away from my task. My mom always seemed so focused and methodical in her work. She wasn’t often distracted and was able to go to task without being pulled left & right by this, that & the other. Me, on the other hand; my life seems to delight in running me around and wringing me out. Flipping me around like it’s own little red rag waving in a tornado force wind. Life doesn’t twidder about me like the bluebirds of happiness. It batters me with it’s forces of energy. I feel like a tilting planet all it’s own sometimes with my own gravitational force. I long for that seeming paradise of calm, cool & collected that my mom can achieve. I wish she’d share the recipe for that! That is what I am craving right now!

I hope the season brought you joys from Christmas past, blessing on Christmas now and peace for the coming new year’s future. It’s not time to drop the fun of giving though. I have a couple things I received that I can’t use or return so I will donate them or pass them to someone who may be able to use and appreciate them. I also have a big pot of soup to make from the turkey carcass we brought home from a holiday gathering. I will make soup up and freeze it in quarts to give away. It’s always nice to have homemade soup. I also have some more fudge wrapped up that needs to get out of here before I eat anymore of it! I think the mailman has his name on some!

Have you been feeling the love? Have you set a warm ember of hope thru a memory or event you enjoy or have been looking forward to in your heart? I hope so! I want to whole-heartily encourage you to find your genuine smile. If you can’t be a friend to someone-then be your own best friend. If someone else can’t then you have to. Take yourself out somewhere special. Be kind. Use kind words. Smile with not only your mouth but your eyes as well. Listen to that small inner voice of wisdom and hear it and heed it.  Are you impelled to take an offramp not on your normal route? Don’t ask why or erase it away! Listen to that little voice of inner wisdom. There are a myriad of reasons why and the one reason may not be readily apparent. The why may be irrelevant, it’s the action of listening and acting on that impulse that creates repertoire of trust within yourself that you can build upon.

Do you want more joy in your life? It is there, within you, just waiting to be discovered and tapped. What do you want to create next year? It’s a brand new year and time for us to contemplate the last year and plan for the next. What did we do well? What can we improve upon? Did we right any wrongs or just muddle along? We can only get out of our life what we put into it. Give it your all!

In this season of the winter solstice, let us be merry, kind and generous in heart & spirit. Let us share when and where we can. Let us be gentle and kind to each other. Let us give with joy and celebration.

I made 6 pounds of fudge that I have passed out to the friendly ladies at the post office, the librarian and the local thrift store. I also brought cookies to the guy that works at Kinkos. You should have seen his face when he realized I brought them just for him. In his gratitude he was taken in a rush and flood of emotion. His personal turmoil burst forth the painful truth of his marriage gone bad that has left him  lonely, bereft and depressed. My little treats haven’t solved any great problems that the worlds holds for us to solve but it has brought us closer as neighbors sharing this spaceship planet earth all of us here together. I felt the love. It was even better than the fudge! And the fudge was really, really good!

Since we can’t seem to give peace a chance, let’s try love for a change. Put some love in your hearts! The holidays aren’t about racing around trying to find something cheap to buy someone you love. Really, it’s not. Yet we find ourselves and see so many doing so. Put some love in your heart! Try love for a change. If you can’t get there on your own, put some lovely music on. Something that evokes the spirit of tenderness and love. Do whatever you have to to try love for a change. Be inspired! Think back, oh sweet memory if nothing holds love for you now. Where is the love? Try love for a change. It starts in the heart. It starts by shutting off the brain to the barrage of intellectualized reasons why we move in haste and often without a genuine smile. Try love for a change. Find your smile. When you have done that, you know you have love in your heart. Feed the flame of love. Stoke the stove heartily with fuel so the embers can heat thru any iciness and melt down the walls that keep us from really connecting. Slow down. Listen to some great music that you love. If it is holiday music, even all the more inspiring! Find your smile. Share it willingly. You never knows who needs that smile the most. Probably the person you want to smile at the least. Find the joy in your heart that isn’t based on expectations of anything but delight. Haste is a form of violence. If we can all slow down, find out inner love song, put on a genuine smile, I know that tomorrow will be a better day. Join me, won’t you? <[;>)

Was the silence on my blog golden or deafening? To me, it was deafening. My ever so helpful spouse took it upon himself to erase the hard drive from my brand new computer without backing up the system! Thanks, Honey! You did such a great job screwing up all my well laid plans. Santa saw that, you know! So did Jesus! He’s telling God/dess for me. You will be accountable. BWHAHAHAAAA….
As you can see, I am back on tonight! I will be making up for lost time. I have been busy in the real world doing detestable duties like dishes, laundry and chicken chores. The rain has been falling. Mud flows, roof’s leak, cancer grows and bullets scream thru sinew and flesh. And life continues on and the sun still shines his face,  somewhere, thru it all.

Jam thumbprint cookies are cooling in the kitchen. I made mom’s old butterscotch yule log recipe tonight to package and give as gifts.  I have one last box to assemble and send out to a sister of a friend.  I didn’t ‘do’ cards this year. I didn’t have a picture of the kids in enclose. I got all caught up in the frantic psychic energy of the season. Like an undertow of emotion, I have been swept off my feet. I’m trying to swim parallel with land but the watery emotions want to submerge me into it’s icy, mythical & revealing depths. I take a deep breathe and hold until it passes. I’m still holding. This too shall pass. This too shall pass. This too shall pass. I tell myself…

During this season of giving I can’t help but feel the pain of the millions of people who all they want are things money cannot buy. Like peace and hope. Or love and joy. What is the value of these things? What does hope look like? What does peace look like? Hope, to me, looks like the eyelashes of a tiny baby that rests on a silky cheek. Peace looks like the wind that raises the birds in the sky; elusive & fleeting. Love looks like a smile, open and friendly, ready to be generous and maybe even share a laugh. Joy looks like the fertile earth that has been dug up by the leaping paws of a happy dog, that has unearthed the earth itself with galloping strides of joyful bursting forth in energetic delight.

What do your wishes and hopes look like? Are they asking you to notice them, like the blossom of a flower, who tries so hard to get noticed, touched, smelled and appreciated? Breathe life into your dreams so they can come to fruition. Keep them alive anyway you can. Write and plan your dreams. Now is the time to access and reassess everything you have in your life . Conscientious people live the life that they want. Instead of life having you; you have the life you want. By accessing your life, your choices for the coming new year you can get rid of what no longer serves you, be it a bad habit or stressful unfulfiling work. Try to use your eyes that can see things like hope in the eyelashes of a child. This will create a balance of creative and pragmatic energies that will serve you well for the coming new year ahead. I wish you many blessings of all the good things in life that hold the true meaning of the season. All the things that money cannot buy have the most value. May you be showered with all the good things in life! And don’t forget, the best things in life aren’t things.

This is an interactive card.
Follow the directions and enjoy the animation.
The final part is the best!

http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html

My dear friends,

Somewhat embarrassing to admit, I’m really short on cash and Christmas is tight this year. I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as gifts. Please let me know your sizes. You’ll most likely agree that it’s a splendid idea, and should you wish to do the same, I’ve included the instructions below:

How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads:

You need four maxi pads to make a pair.
Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part.
The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top.
Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part.

Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most aesthetically appealing), etc.

These slippers are:
* Soft and Hygienic
* Non-slip grip strips on the soles
* Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh
* No more bending over to mop up spills
* Disposable and biodegradable
* Environmentally safe
* Three convenient sizes: Regular, Light and Get out the Sand Bags.

I’ve attached a photo of the first pair I made so that you can see the nifty slippers for yourself….

As soon as I get embroiled in all the great things the season has to bring, reality kicks in and so does the fear and loathing. A dear friend of ours has found lumps in his throat and neck and we are very concerned for his well being. Of course the first thing that pops into mind is cancer. It’s just like an automatic reaction. When I was a kid the worst thing in the world was cancer. This was before we seen what aids and other incurable disease could do.

So the season is now fraught with fear of disease, tests, scans and needles and waiting for results.  The worst part is the waiting. Time goes into a bubble warp and twists and turns and drags it’s feet when you are in waiting. Time has no friend like the good news we hope to hear from this uncertain place in time. One of the worst parts is that he doesn’t have insurance and has put this off for months and months now. That precious time can make the difference between stage III or IV cancer and have a huge impact of his rate of cure. I am ashamed of a country as rich and powerful as ours who has nothing better to give it’s own people than a war hell bent and built on lies, and lack of the most basic care that every human needs and should be entitled to as our birthright as proper medical care. What is this country coming to? We are endangering human life as we natter on about health care solutions. The solution lay in giving. Give until it hurts. Then maybe the people who are really hurting can get some care and relief.

Hold on to your loved ones tightly! Nothing is guaranteed. We can be grateful we get to see the sunrise of a new day. What will we do with this new day? My hope for you is to be able to linger in the beauty of all that surrounds you be it people or nature that you love. Indulge your senses. The time to live is now! Nothing is certain and anything can happen. It feels like flying by the seat of your pants. It can make you uncomfortable, but the ride is fun and the view is great. Enjoy the view in your life today. If there is no focus on illness or disease or despair, then rejoice for your good fortune.

Do you know what that means? It means give up something of value to yourself so you can bring joy & humanity to others who may be without. Give something that is your own; give what you want. Give something that is comforting and warm. A hat, scarf or mittens. Slippers or homemade soup and bread. A warm smile, nod, handshake or hug. Give something you love and would want for yourself. Cloak a part of your world with kindness and warmth. Give something you could keep yourself but out of the goodness of your heart you want to share that which you already strive for and love. Nourish someone. Give them sustenance for life. Heart & soul. This is why we are here. To do so eases wrongs and sets the world right. To do so is a sign of spiritual & emotional maturity. To delay one’s own gratification for the needs and fulfillment of another is one of the highest forms of intellectualized spiritual truth that represents a high level of emotional maturity. This maturity serves as a lifeline of grace & peace to an all too often gray & hardscrabble world. Behaving as such sends a very important message into your life and into the world around us. A message that lingers and sings words of Hope, Joy, Charity, Faith & Love. In today’s world-this is revolutionary! Viva La Revolution! No pain, no gain! Get giving! It hurts so good!

Today’s Santa is a folk figure with multicultural roots. He embodies characteristics of Saturn-Roman agricultural god, Cronos- Greek god, also known as Father Time, the Holly King- Celtic god of the dying year, Father Ice/Grandfather Frost- Russian winter god, Odin/Wotan- Scandinavian/Teutonic All-Father who rides the sky on an eight-legged horse, Frey-Norse fertility god, the Tomte- a Norse Land Spirit known for giving gifts to children at this time of year, and Thor- Norse sky god who rides the sky in a chariot drawn by goats. Julbock or Julbukk, the Yule goat, from Sweden and Norway, had his beginnings as carrier for the god Thor. Now he carries the Yule elf when he makes his rounds to deliver presents and receive his offering of porridge.
When Early Christians co-opted the Yule holiday, they replaced the ancient Holly King with religious figures like St. Nicholas, who was said to live in Myra (Turkey) in about 300 A.D. Born an only child of a wealthy family, he was orphaned at an early age when both parents died of the plague. He grew up in a monastery and at the age of 17 became one of the youngest priests ever. Many stories are told of his generosity as he gave his wealth away in the form of gifts to those in need, especially children. Legends tell of him either dropping bags of gold down chimneys or throwing the bags through the windows where they landed in the stockings hung from the fireplace to dry. Some years later Nicholas became a bishop, hence the bishop’s hat or miter, long flowing gown, white beard and red cape.
When the Reformation took place, the new Protestants no longer desired St. Nicholas as their gift-giver as he was too closely tied to the Catholic Church. Therefore, each country or region developed their own gift-giver. In France he was known as Pare Noel. In England he was Father Christmas (always depicted with sprigs of holly, ivy, or mistletoe). Germany knew him as Weihnachtsmann (Christmas man). When the communists took over in Russia and outlawed Christianity, the Russians began to call him Grandfather Frost, who wore blue instead of the traditional red. To the Dutch, he was Sinterklaas (which eventually was mispronounced in America and became Santa Claus). La Befana, a kindly witch, rides a broomstick down the chimney to deliver toys into the stockings of Italian children. All the Santas were arrayed in every color of the rainbow, sometimes even in black. But they all had long white beards and carried gifts for the children.

Santa’s reindeer most probably evolved from Herne, the Celtic Horned God. Eight reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh, representative of the eight solar sabbats. In British lore, the stag is one of the five oldest and wisest animals in the world, embodying dignity, power and integrity. From their late Autumn dramatic rutting displays, stags represented strength, sexuality and fertility. As evidenced by multiple prehistoric excavations of stag antler ritual costumes, the wearing of stag antlers in folk dance recreated the sacred male shaman figure called Lord of the Wild Hunt, Cernunnos, or Herne the Hunter, among others–he who travels between worlds, escorting animal spirits to the afterlife and sparking wisdom and fertility in this world. Likewise, the stag’s branching antlers echo the growth of vegetation. In America, the stag represents male ideals: the ability to “walk one’s talk,” and powerfully, peacefully blend stewardship and care of the tribe with sexual and spiritual integrity.
In Northern European myth, the Mother Goddess lives in a cave, gives birth to the sun child, and can shape shift into a white hind, or doe. Therefore, the white hind was magical, to be protected and never hunted. In myth, graceful running women of the forest–who were actually magical white hinds–brought instant old age or death to hunters who chased them.
To the Celts, all deer were especially symbolic of nurturing, gentle and loving femaleness. White deer hide was used to make tribal women’s clothing. White deer called “faery cattle” were commonly believed to offer milk to fairies. In Britain amongst the Druids, some men experienced life-transforming epiphanies from spiritual visions or visitations by white hinds, balancing and healing their inner feminine energy. In Europe white hinds truly exist, and are many shades of warm white cream-colors, with pale lashes–otherworldly in their peaceful and modest behavior. To many Native American tribes, deer are models of the graceful and patient mother who exhibits unconditional love and healthy, integrated female energy.

The Wheel of the Year is often symbolized by the wreath. Its circle has no beginning and no end, illustrating that everything in its time comes back to its point of origin and travels onward, over and over again. Scandinavians began the tradition of hanging the wreath at Yule, the beginning of their new year, to commemorate new beginnings in the cycle of life. Today in rural Germany, a giant wreath, known as St. Catherine’s Wheel, is a holdover from another pagan custom which involved sympathetic magick to lure the sun’s warmth back to the earth. A giant four-spoked wheel with an effigy of a person bound to it, is lighted on fire and rolled down a hill. The effigy probably hearkens back to a time when human sacrifices were made in plea to the sun. In some traditions, Yule was a more important holiday for honoring the Sun God than Midsummer. In Winter, Mother Earth was cold and barren without the fertilizing power of Father Sun

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Mistletoe was also known as the golden bough and was held sacred by both the Celtic Druids and the Norse. Mistletoe was used by the Druid priesthood in a very special ceremony held around this time. Five days after the New Moon following winter solstice. The Druid priests would cut mistletoe from a holy oak tree with a golden sickle. The branches had to be caught before they touched the ground.
Celts believed this parasitic plant held the soul of the host tree. The priest then divided the branches into many sprigs and distributed them to the people, who hung them over doorways as protection against thunder, lightning and other evils. The folklore, and the magical powers of this plant, blossomed over the centuries.  A sprig placed in a baby’s cradle would protect the child from faeries. Giving a sprig to the first cow calving after New Year would protect the entire herd. Now for the kissing part. Although many sources say that kissing under the mistletoe is a purely English custom, there’s another, more charming explanation for its origin that extends back into Norse mythology. It’s the story of a loving, if overprotective, mother.
The Norse god Balder was the best loved of all the gods. His mother was Frigga, goddess of love and beauty. She loved her son so much that she wanted to make sure no harm would come to him. So she went through the world, securing promises from everything that sprang from the four elements–fire, water, air, and earth–that they would not harm her beloved Balder. Leave it to Loki, a sly, trickster spirit, to find the loophole. The loophole was mistletoe. He made an arrow from its wood. To make the prank even nastier, he took the arrow to Hoder, Balder’s brother, who was blind. Guiding Holder’s hand, Loki directed the arrow at Balder’s heart, and he fell dead.
Frigga’s tears became the mistletoe’s white berries. In the version of the story with a happy ending, Balder is restored to life, and Frigga is so grateful that she reverses the reputation of the offending plant, making it a symbol of love and promising to bestow a kiss upon anyone who passes under it.
Balder is sometimes seen as the sacrificed and resurrected god, who is restored to his people after the Battle of Ragnarok.

Winter was a time of death and stagnation in the eyes of early humans. The earth was barren and unproductive, shelter was drafty, disease was common, and food was scarce. Little wonder they did all in their power to assure the Sun’s return each year. During the festivals of the waning year, fire became a form of sympathetic magick to entice the Sun back to the earth. Bonfires were lit, flaming wheels rolled down hillsides, burning candles were placed in windows. Candles were later placed in the boughs of evergreen trees, later evolving into lights on our holiday trees.
Honor the new solar year with light. Do a Solstice Eve ritual in which you meditate in darkness and then welcome the birth of the sun by lighting candles and singing chants and Pagan carols. If you have an indoor fireplace or an outdoor fire circle, burn an oak log as a Yule log and save a bit to start next year’s fire. Decorate your home with colored lights. Because of the popularity of five pointed stars as holiday symbols, this is a good time to display a pentagram of blue or white lights.

The Oak King

The Wiccan God is the Lord of the Greenwood, consort to the Lady of the Greenwood. Known also as Cernunnos, the Green Man, Herne the Hunter, and Lord of the Wild Hunt, he is a god of fertility, growth, death, and rebirth.
Two God-themes figure predominantly in Wiccan Sabbats: the Sun-God theme and that of the Holly King and Oak King.
The Sun-God rules the seasons. At Yule, he is the new babe, the embodiment of innocence and joy. He represents the infancy of the returning light. At Imolg, his growth is celebrated, as the days are growing longer and light stronger. At Ostara, he is a green, flourishing youth whose eye is taken by the Maiden Goddess. On Beltane, he is the young man in love who takes the Goddess as his bride. Their consummated marriage is celebrated with maypoles and bonfires. At Midsummer, he consumates his marriage in a union so complete that it becomes a death. He is mourned at Lammas, and at Mabon, he sleeps in the womb of the Goddess. At Samhain, he waits in the Shining Land to be reborn.
The symbolism of the Horned God is also played out the theme of the Holly King and Oak King. The Horned God is the Holly King and the Oak King, two twin gods seen as one complete entity. Each of the twin gods rule for half of a year, fights for the favor of the Goddess, and dies. But the defeated twin is not truly dead, he merely withdraws for six months, some say to Caer Arianrhod, the Castle of the ever-turning Silver Wheel, which is also known as the Wheel of the Stars. This is the enchanted realm of the Goddess Arianrhod where the god must wait and learn before being born again. Arianrhod means “silver wheel” and the castle is the Aurora Borealis. She is the goddess of the astral skies and there she rules as goddess of reincarnation.
The golden Oak King, who is the light twin, rules from midwinter to midsummer. The darksome Holly King rules the dark half of the year from Midsummer to Midwinter.

Holly King

From the Celtic tradition, we get a pair of ancient pagan images who fight for supremacy at Yule. The Holly King and the Oak King are probably constructs of the Druids to whom these two trees were highly sacred. The Oak King kills the Holly King at Yule. The Oak King then reigns until Midsummer when the two battle again, this time with the Holly King as the victor. The Holly King, who has evolved into the present day Santa Claus, wears red, dons a sprig of holly in his hat, and drives a team of eight, (total number of solar sabbats) deer, an animal sacred to the Celtic Gods. Holly and mistletoe are traditional to the season through commemoration of the battle. The holly was hung in honor of the Holly King; the mistletoe in honor of the Oak King.
The Oak King and Holly King are mortal enemies at Midsummer and Yule, but they are two sides of a whole, and neither could exist without the other.