Dia de los Muertos

 Dia de los Muertos - the Day of the Dead - is a holiday observed in Mexico on November 2. It’s a family time for remembering and honoring dead friends and relatives - a period when the souls of the dead can return for a visit. It’s celebrated with humor, not sadness.

Today I will continue my sabbath for souls.

Agenda

1. Make Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)
4. Make skeletons
5. Make sugar skulls

Sabbath for Souls

Today is my Sabbath, and it's also the doorway to the dark half of the Celtic year, the opening of a new cycle. Blótmónað is the word for November in Old English; it means Sacrifice Month, but the sacrifice is joyful, as Persephone goes peacefully down to the underworld every year. Peace is the fruit of total acceptance.

In November I see the circle of life in all its full roundness - as it blossomed in spring and as it dies in fall. November is colder and wetter, drawing me deeper towards winter. This is a month when I celebrate the final fruits of summer’s work, and remember to express my gratitude.

The early Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin at this time of year, and so spirits of the dead could visit the living.

This is the time of year to welcome home the souls of your ancestors. But I definitely feel some angst regarding my relatives who moved here to the "New World" to take it away from the Native Peoples, and who bought into the false American Dream, built on the subjugation and decimation of so many other living beings. 

It has become my custom at this time of year to open my heart to healing the soul connection between me and my ancestors.

Agenda:

1. Unity Art for souls

2. Make Soul Cakes

3. Throw the runes

4. Have a soul ceremony

5. Offer ongoing support for my ancestors

Halloween

Halloween is the modern name of the ancient Irish and Scottish holiday of Samhain (pronounced SOW-win), a Celtic-Gaelic word meaning “summers-end”. It begins at dusk on October 31, and marks the doorway to the dark half of the Celtic year, the opening of a new cycle.

In the 7th-century CE the Pope established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century it was moved to November 1. The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Samhain became Halloween.

The Reformation put an end to the religious holiday among Protestants, although in Britain Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday. The celebration of Halloween was mostly forbidden among the early American colonists, until the 1800s.

Agenda

1. Days of Passion

2. Make a costume

3. Trick or Treats

Belonging

I am writing myself a new story of belonging, in which I am understood for who I am - wise enough and good enough as I am now; and in which I accept that I do make mistakes, and can respond with an open heart; and in which I have faith that I will still be loved and accepted.

To be understood means I need to share myself deeply and completely. I won't make any impact on world transformation unless I learn how to do that with my writing and my artwork. 

Agenda Today:

1. Read "The Creativity Book"

2. Evaluate my creativity habits

3. Craftivism plans

4. Preschool plans

5. Studio

6. Do the smallest thing

First Quarter Moon at the End of October

Tonight 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 October quarter moon's energy to help me get organized for decisive action. 

Agenda Today:

1. Journal queries
2. Read "The Earth Keeper's Handbook"

3. Proaction and reciprocity plans:

4. Make a full effort plan

Prepare for Halloween

We've been preparing for Halloween, with spooky books, skeletons, ghosts, and jack-o-lanterns. 

Our grandsons love Halloween! The build up this month allows us to shift to a darker phase of the year; darkness isn't bad, but it can be frightening, and having fun with fear is part of the process.

Agenda

1. Celebrate the darkness

2. Carve jack-o-lanterns

3. Make flappy paper bats

4. Decorate inside and out

5. Dunk for apples