Christmas Novena - Day Five (and a Solstice Fire)

Today is the fifth day of the Christmas Novena, a Catholic ritual of a prayer recited or sung during the nine days leading up to Christmas Day.

Agenda today:

1. Prayer journal queries

2. Read a Novena

3. Review my core values
4. Paint a plum tree calendar

5. Solstice fire!
1. Prayer journal queries:

This week of advent my focus is the Guiding Light of God. My image of God is the Creator Spirit of earth and sky, and the Love and Light that lives in all people. I try to live always awake and listening for the message of love, and always feel a connection to Creation, but I often get distracted.

I started a new prayer journal, which for me is a way to speak to my Inner Guide. This week I will spend a little longer each morning in quiet prayer. Today I will ask and answer these queries:

What's burning, warm and fiery, in my life right now?

What would I (should I) like to kindle?

What advise do I ask?

What people in my life can I hold in the Light?

 

2. Read a novena:

I've been reading this Creation Novena from the Indian Catholic Matters site:

Day 5: A Prayer for Water

Creator God, we give thanks for water. We thank You for the rich depths of the seas, their unimaginable variety. We thank You for the rivers and lakes in our communities, for the sparkle of light that dances on their surface.

We thank You for all the ways that water sustains us. We give thanks for the clean water that we are blessed to drink. We give thanks for the moisture that rises from the seas to become the rain that waters our crops. We give thanks for the power of the waves that stay within their shores.

As we pollute and warm Your waters, give us foresight. Help us see the consequences of soiling Your waters and changing their ancient compositions.

Help us protect our children and grandchildren now, by taking even small steps to preserve the great gift of water.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

3. Review my core values:

This full moon time before the new year is a good time to think again about your core values, beliefs, and principles.

-Values are subjective, personal, emotional, and arguable. We practice our values (such as "work hard and play by the rules", "live simply so that others may simply live"), and they guide our behaviors.

-Principles are universal truths (integrity, honesty, equality) based on natural laws; they are objective, factual, impersonal, and indisputable. We can't practice principles - they just ARE.

I don't worry about the distinctions - I just lump them all together, but I do work periodically to define the values, behaviors, and intentions that support my principles.

My top ten values and principles, with rudimentry definitions, are:

1. Love: Practice habits of listening, generosity, patience, care, and kindness with my community, my family, and the earth.
2. Integrity: Be whole and undivided, and hold to my values and principles. 
3. Community / Unity: Commit to moving forward together, with Light and Love, not letting our differences prevent cooperation.
4. Earthcare: Have a lifestyle that cherishes and nurtures Creation; advocate and educate about the climate crisis.
5. Simplicity: Use only my share of the earth’s resources, and preserve time for my priorities.
6. Peace and Equanimity: Stay calm and patient with people and problems, not obsessed with any thought, and not acting with aggression or anger.
7. Equality: Treat every person and creature with respect and love, knowing that there is that of God in all; work to correct shortfalls in my community.
8. Discernment: Think before acting; listen within deeply, and seek clarity; make wise choices, with an open mind.
9. Witness: Speak truth through my words and actions, and lead by example.
10. Purpose: Lead the best life I can, and grow into being the best person I can be.

4. Paint a plum tree calendar:

Funny looking plum tree!

Dong Zhi is the Chinese celebration of the winter solstice; the name means "Arrival Of Winter". It's a time of hope, optimism, and thanksgiving for a successful harvest, the fertility of the land, and the reunion of the family. The Chinese have a great feast on Dong Zhi. Everyone wears new clothes, and visits their families with gifts. 

The feminine yin qualities of darkness and cold are most powerful at this time but the solstice is the turning point, giving way gradually to the masculine yang of light and fire.

In China, the number nine is linked with winter because odd numbers are yang, and nine is the largest odd number. Nine represents infinity and extremes. Winter is divided into nine periods, each nine days long, totaling 81 days. 

The Winter Solstice (tomorrow) is the beginning of the first nine-day period. The weather should improve a bit every nine-days, and at the end of the ninth period, spring comes!

Before the Winter Solstice, people in China sometimes paint a plum tree with 81 white flowers. The plum blossom symbolizes longevity, hope, courage, and the promise of spring.

Materials: 

• soft absorbent paper (rice paper or newsprint)
• bottle of black sumi ink
• a Chinese brush 
• or use a black marker!

1. Experiment with the brush. Dip your brush into the ink. Hold the brush vertically, very gently.

2. Practice painting a tree and plum blossoms. To get fine lines, touch only the tip of the brush to the paper. Move your whole arm. Just paint the outline of the blossoms, and five dots in the center.

3. When you feel confident, paint a tree with 81 plum blossoms.

4. Hang the tree on the wall, and, starting tomorrow, color one flower red each day. At the end of nine-times-nine days, 81 red blossoms will welcome the spring!

4. Solstice fire:

The winter solstice occurs tomorrow morning at 7:58 a.m. PST. In the Pagan tradition, the Winter Solstice is the start of the 12 day festival called Yule; it's the Sabbat that begins the Pagan year. Yule (Jul) was a midwinter festival celebrated by the indigenous Norse and Germanic peoples. The name might mean “Wheel of Fire”. Traditionally, a large oak log is burned tomorrow night, and kept lit for 24-hours or more.

We are going to have a fire tonight - a safe, socially-distanced fire - and a chance for my whole family to be together.