Tu B’Shevat

Tu B’Shevat (to b’sch VAHT), the Jewish New Year for Trees, begins tonight at sunset, the evening before the full moon. This is the season in Israel when the earliest-blooming trees start a new fruit-bearing cycle. In contemporary Israel it’s celebrated with tree planting ceremonies and a focus on ecological awareness, and a seder (ceremonial meal) of tree fruits.

Agenda: 

1. Tree of Life meditation

2. Plant a tree

3. Intentions for Earth-Care

4. Share a seder meal

Late January Garden

Here we are at the very end of January. I am continuing the tasks of planing the next season's garden, and taking care of the nature that lives here. 

As always, I'd rather not go into the garden in the rain and the mud, but if I can be strong, get on my rain gear, and take a short daily tour of my garden, I find many simple things to do, without getting too muddy.

Agenda:

1. Support urban wildlife in winter

2. Garden plans

3. Prune the grape

Drive and Commitment

I'm fully committed to my Nature-Culture project. That means I have let go of caution and am involving myself wholeheartedly (brain, body, and soul) to the service of this project that I love. I'm taking a vacation from my usual way of being, and stretching my whole self beyond the way I’ve always done things.

I am also engaging hyper-drive; I am manifesting my courage, harnessing the power of productive obsession, and engaging slow passion, a kind of simmering energy that keeps me focused on my priorities.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Art of Simple Living"

2. Love cycle

3. Four days of passionate flow

Thursday Beginner's Mind

Agenda:

1. Read "The Book of Doing and Being"

2. Beginner's mind meditation for creativity

3. Pre-K school plans

4. Projects for the week

On Writing

Agenda

1. Read "The Earth Keeper's Handbook"

2. Low status oxymoronic priorities

3. Creative Visualization

4. Proaction and reciprocity plans

A Focus on Understanding

Hummingbird waiting for my nectar on a frozen morning

I've been thinking again about my responsibility to listen a little deeper; to pay attention to body language and ask questions to clarify; to really understand what's being communicated, when the other person may not be as direct or as skilled as I would expect - really, to stop expecting, because that is always trouble!

Agenda:

1. Read "Perspective":
2. Ongo journal
3. Love cycle

Prepare for Imbalc

Imbalc is in a week and I have a few practical and contemplative preparations to make - mostly I need to slow down to watch as the wheel of the year turns. I'm exploring what it's like to BE the earth, accepting the seed and willing to nurture it, and shifting my perspective to make room for the possibility that the Earth-Me has a powerful Goddess supporter called Brigid. 

We've been having a very cold spell, and we still have a month of winter left, but my thoughts are turning outward, to the garden, our neighborhood, and my community.

Agenda:

1. Practice a Reverent Way of Being

2. Read "The Spirited Walker"

3. Love cycle

4. Make a Creativity Altar

5. Write about my seeds of inspiration

6. Plan a party

First Quarter Moon of Late January

Today is the First Quarter Moon; we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - growing in light and energy, creating a time for decisive action and full effort.

I use this late January quarter moon's energy to lean in to love.

Agenda Today:

1. Journal queries

2. Read "Revolutionary Witchcraft"

3. Ongo  journal

4. Love cycle

5. Full effort for order

Retreat for Home and Garden

Today I have an entire day alone! I get to read, write, take a webinar, go for a walk, and paint some butterflies in the bathroom.

I've been pretty focused and effective this week, except with housework. In fact, I've been putting things off all month. It's time for a reset, and some earnest time with housekeeping and order.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Art of Simple Living"

2. Discard what I don't need

3. Today's housecleaning catch-up

4. House blessing ceremony 

Days of Passion

I began a Slow Passion Project last July, working to SLOW DOWN and GO WITH the FLOW, and INVOLVE MY WHOLE SELF in my Nature-Culture project. It went pretty well for a while, and now I want to recommit and reignite!

Agenda:

1. Read "The Art of Simple Living"

2. Clarify my passion plan

3. Ongo journal

4. Four days of passion

5. Flow plan

Beingness

Beingness is the fundamental quality of existence, simply being rather than doing or having. The trick is to be aware of my beingness, my essence, with a deep presence, which I will feel as peace, aliveness, or inherent worth.

Today I hope to take some time to appreciate the raw fact of my existence.

1. Read "The Book of Doing and Being"

2. Beginner's mind meditation for creativity

3. Pre-K school plans

4. Projects for the week

5. Afternoon Beingness routine

Babinden

The Slavic holiday Babinden (bah-bean-den) happens each year on January 21. Baba means "grandmother", and the in is possessive; den is "day", so the meaning is "Grandmother’s Day". It’s also called Midwives Day.

Babinden is an ancient festival, still celebrated in Bulgaria, to give thanks and show respect to the women (or men) who have helped in the child-birthing process, and for all the other skills and knowledge the grandmothers have: Growing food, cooking, herb lore, looking after their grandchildren, and teaching folklore and traditions.

The roots of this festival, however, are in fertility rites. In Bulgaria, a house full of healthy and beautiful children is a basic value, and this is the underlying focus of the rituals on Babinden. Fertility is an essential theme of nature, and today I celebrate the place my grandsons have in the great, burgeoning, hope-filled circle of abundance, and my role as one of their care-givers.

Agenda today:
1. Journal queries

2. Read "The Earth Keeper's Handbook"

3. Hand-washing ceremony

4. Prayer for grandmothers

Worm Day

Yesterday my worms arrived, and I finished my worm bin and put them in it. Today I get to share this new study and practice with my grandsons!

1. Ongo journal

2. Love cycle

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Today I am reminded again to honor the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people, and share in the efforts.

Agenda for today:

1. Love cycle

2. Intentions

3. Read "The Spirited Walker"

4. March
5. Index to MLK Day projects

New Bitter Moon

Photo by Alan Gillespie

Tonight is the new moon. This last new moon of the Chinese year is called the Bitter Moon, because we are into the month of the bitterest cold.

The new moon is the start of the lunar cycle, a time of high energy and clear thinking. Historically, the new moon is when women took time to be alone; it's a time to retreat, set intentions, and initiate something new.

1. Retreat Day

2. Read "Perspective"

3. Choose a month theme

4. Set intentions

5. Ongo journal

6. Love cycle

January Garden

My winter garden is alive and well. It's feeding my ducks, and wild birds, as well as other insects and animals I can't see, and providing us with a handful of greens and beets.

My main focus in January is to plan the next season's garden, and take care of the nature that continues to live here. The best tip I've read in any permaculture blog is: Be consistent with 15-minutes a day, year round. We've had a streak of amazing, dry weather, so I've got no excuse not to take a short daily tour of my garden - I alternate the front and back gardens so I don't feel rushed. The consistency of the 15-minute daily visit keeps me connected to my garden even when I don't accomplish much.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Serviceberry"

2. Ongo journal

3. January harvest

4. Garden plans

5. January tasks

6. Prepare a worm bin

7. Days of Passion

Find My Direction

It's been a tough week, with a sick kid and a cold myself. I'm really ready to get some work done. But first, I need to find my direction.

1. Read "The Book of Doing and Being"

2. Beginner's mind meditation for creativity

3. Pre-K school plans

4. Projects for the week

Waning Crescent Moon

Photo by Alan Gillespie

This waning crescent moon is the final phase of the White Moon cycle. The next new moon, in five days, will be the Bitter Moon cycle. At the new moon I'll set my intentions for the month ahead.

But right now, at the waning crescent, it's time to evaluate and brainstorm, find purpose, and surrender. I'll open to curiosity and attention, contemplate what I might want in the 30 days ahead, and rest up for the move back into yang-action mode. These next few days are a chance to look back and look forward, and think about the big picture of my life. 

Agenda:

1. Ongo journal

2. Review my purpose

3. Review priorities

4. Monthly journal brainstorm

5. Surrender, rest, recuperate

Plow Monday

Plow Monday, the first Monday after Epiphany, is the traditional day in Europe for farmers to restart their farm work. Our garden isn't large, but, with the ducks, it's like a miniature farm. 

Normally, it's too wet at this time in the Pacific Northwest to do any digging, but many other tasks are possible, and it's good motivation for me to have this set date each year to start my “farm work”.

I got a lot of good permaculture information from Amy of the Ten-Acre Farm.  Amy says,

"January is one of my favorite times of year because I love the opportunity to start anew, make new agreements with myself about how I will spend time in the garden, and determine what kinds of experiments I will run to continue learning and improving."

Agenda for today & this week: 

1. Journal query

2. Creative Perspective plans

3. Walking script

4. Read "SoulSpace"

5. Clean and clear the living room

6. Tool blessing ceremony

7. Garden planing

8. Daily garden visits

9. Make Plough Pudding or Homity Pie

Sabbath for Healing

I've gotten a winter cold (and so has my grandson), and am feeling pretty sluggish. Today I will take it easy and drink lots of tea.

Agenda:

1. Read "Revolutionary Witchcraft"

2. Connect to my ancestors

3. Ongo journal

New Year Perspective

We're a week into the New Year, and a lot has already happened. I've studied and talked and written about positivity and a new perspective, and then Ice Agents shot a Mom in her car.

My neighbor asked me, what do we do? I said, we do what we can - write letters, work at legislation, talk to people, but I understand how she feels. The events are too heavy for us to carry. How often can we rise up in grief and protest, and put our own lives at risk? 

Agenda:

1. Read "Perspective"

2. Identify a past failure

3. Inner peace practice

4. Kitchen blessing

Third Quarter Moon of January and Nature-Culture Brainstorm

Today is the third Quarter moon. This waning moon energy is yin - quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness. At this phase we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work, renewal, and self-care. This isn’t a moment for starting new projects but for finishing up old ones, making peace with the past, and preparing for a fresh start at the next new moon.

Agenda:

1. Ongo journal

2. Ritual for Release and Realignment

3. Meditation and Evaluation Journal

4. Bird and butterfly garden planning

5.

 Start a phenology journal

6. Days of Passion

My Birthday for a New Perspective

Today is the start of my 70th year -  and this calls for an acknowledgement and celebration of a real shift in perspective. Aging has brought a natural evolution of my priorities, and a realignment of the perceived importance of all the small traumas of life. I find I am generally happier and less attached to grudges and blue moods. I feel a profound sense of contentment from simply being present with the people I love. 

Agenda:

1. Generosity practice

2. Rite of initiation

3. Read "Find Your Unicorn Space"

4. Beginner's mind for creativity

5. Pre-K school plans

6. Projects for the week

7. Winter nature tray

Distaff Day

Woman with distaff in left hand, and spindle in right hand.

Distaff Day (January7) is named for the stick-like tool that holds fibers while a woman uses a drop spindle to spin thread.

Spinning and weaving were never-ending chores for pre-industrial women; most women and girls would spin thread while also cooking, caring for children, or minding the sheep. Because women were seen always with a distaff in hand, it became the symbol of “women’s work”. 

But during the Christmas season women took a break from spinning. January 7th was the traditional day for women to start back to work, and so was called Distaff Day.

Agenda:
1. Journal queries and spindle meditation

2. Love meditation

3. Read "Present Moment Awareness"

4. Ongo journal

5. Start a fiber project

6. Proaction and reciprocity plans

Epiphany

January 6th is Epiphany, the final day of the Christmas season. This was the day when the three Magi arrived in Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus, and recognized that he would grow up to be a great helper of people.

Epiphany comes from the Greek epiphania, meaning manifestation, or moment of recognition. The Magi had an epiphany - a moment of recognition, when the truth became clear through something simple and striking.

Agenda for today:

1. Epiphany meditation

2. Love meditation

3. Read "Present Moment Awareness"

4. Bake a King's cake and make a crown

Twelfth Night

 The evening of January 5th is called Twelfth Night, the Eve of the Epiphany, the night that the three Magi traveled to Bethlehem to see the newborn baby Jesus.

In Italy, the story goes, the Befana (short for Epiphania) was busy sweeping her floor that night, when the Magi stopped at her house. They invited her to come along with them on their trip to see Jesus but she said she was too busy.

Later she changed her mind and decided to follow, but she couldn’t find them. She continues her search each year on Twelfth Night, flying on a broom, going from house to house and leaving gifts.

Agenda:

1. Twelfth Night queries

2. Creative Perspective plans

3. Resolutions postcard

4. Walking script

5. Read "SoulSpace"

6. Sweeping

7. Clean and clear the kitchen

8. Make Focaccia della Befana

9. Leave gifts

Sabbath for Intentions

This is the eleventh day of the twelve-day festal tide - we have two days of Christmas left! I celebrate these last days in Sabbath mode, doing as little work as possible, resting, reflecting, and finding peace within.

I spent all of advent reviewing and brainstorming my principles and new priorities, and today I will begin to set some intentions for the New Year.

Agenda:

1. Read "Revolutionary Witchcraft"

2. Prepare for initiation

3. Ongo journal

4. Set intentions

5. Create an intentions ritual

Full Wolf Moon

Tonight is the full moon of January, called atalka - the "Stay Inside Moon" - by the Kalapuya of my area, and the Wolf Moon by others, because of the hungry packs of wolves that used to roam for prey at this time of deep winter. The full Wolf Moon is a good time to ponder what I am hungry for, and how to be resilient.

We are now at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, and will soon begin the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon. The full moon shines her light on everything; use the full moon energy for creatively completing things, and for seeing your next moves, and also to CELEBRATE how far you've come and give thanks for the lessons learned and the blessings received.

This is also the tenth day of the twelve-day festal tide - we have 3 days of Christmas left! By now, most people are fed up with holidays and ready to get back to "normalcy", but I'm holding on for my full 12-days-worth. I celebrate these last days in Sabbath mode, doing as little work as possible, resting, reflecting, and finding peace within.

Agenda for today: 

1. 

Vision walk

2. Gnothi Seauton

3. Choose a theme for the New Year

4. Read "Perspective"

5. New narrative for the week

6. Celebrate stillness

7. Eat Hoppin' John