Chung Yeung

Top of Hendrick's park in October sunshine (2016).

Chung Yeung falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month in the Chinese calendar. The name means "double yang". According to the I Ching, nine is a yang number, and since today has nine for both day and month, it has too much yang, and is a potentially dangerous date.

Agenda Today:

1. Climb a mountain
2. Honor my ancestors
3. Drink chrysanthemum tea and appreciate chrysanthemums
4. Make gao (rice cake)

Diwali and New Chrysanthemum Moon

The Chinese call this ninth new moon the Chrysanthemum Moon. The chrysanthemum is a symbol of long life and endurance because of its ability to withstand colder temperatures. According to Chinese scholars, it shows the virtues of one who can endure temptations and maintain grace.

This is also the start of the five day Hindu Festival of Diwali, which falls on the new moon of late October or early November. Diwali is the festival of good luck and prosperity- one of the most important festivals of the year for Hindus. On Diwali, people wear new clothes, clean and decorate their homes, go to fairs with music, dancing, fireworks, jugglers and snake charmers, and give gifts to each other.

Agenda Today:
1- Journal queries
2- Make diya lamps
3- New moon meditation and puja
4- Make almond katli

Indigenous People's Day

Happy Indigenous People's Day! Some people celebrate the second Monday in October as Columbus Day, but some of us prefer to honor instead the people who were here in the Americas for centuries before Columbus "discovered" it. 

Many cities are finally making the name change official, adopting Indigenous People's Day as a day to celebrate the people and their culture, and also to reflect on their ongoing struggles in this land. The celebration today includes powwows, drumming, dancing, Native American foods and crafts.

Agenda:
1. Journal queries
2. Make fry bread
3. Make a prayer stick

Full Squirrel Moon and Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

The squirrels are creating great entertainment these days for my dog Sadie!

Tonight is the full moon, called the Squirrel Moon because now the squirrels are busily gathering nuts for the winter. 

This is a good time for me to gather my forces inward.

Today is also the start of Chung Ch’iu, the 3-day Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. It's a happy and beautiful Asian family celebration that comes each year at the time of the full moon in September or October; in China it's celebrated as a harvest festival and also the moon’s birthday.

Agenda for today:
1. Update my altar
2. Journal queries
3. Work at my theme
4. Make moon cakes
5. Make floating lanterns
6. Have a moon-viewing party

Mehregan

Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), is an ancient Persian festival, older even than Zoroastrianism, that began as a feast for the sun god/dess, Mehr.

Mehr (also known as Mithra) is responsible for knowledge, love, friendship, promises, and the light. The word "mehr" in Farsi means kindness.

When Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia, in around 1400 BCE, Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained. Now Iranians celebrate it usually on October 1st or 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving and the start of the second half of the year (Noruz, in March, is the start of the first half). People decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

Agenda Today:

1. Journal queries
2. Make Aash-e-jo (barley soup) with lamb
3. Set the table
4. Fire