Halloween

Halloween is the modern name of the Irish and Scottish holiday originally called Samhain (pronounced Sow-win); Samhain is the 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. The early Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain, and so spirits of the dead could visit the living. People dressed in costumes and masks to scare off any spirits that were bad.

Agenda:

1. Journal:

Reflect on the themes of Halloween. Take stock of my life, my past year, and myself.

What one problem pattern of behavior, thinking, feeling, or being do I want to change? Choose a word or phrase that names this pattern and write it on a piece of paper.

2. Carve a pumpkin:

Celts carved the images of spirit-guardians onto turnips and set these jack o'lanterns before their doors to keep out the unwelcome visitors from the otherworld.

3. Dunk for Apples:
Kids love to dunk for apples (and so do I)! Why don't more people try this? Be prepared with towels and dry clothes because there is no way to stay dry.

This game may have originated in Ireland and Scotland, and it was probably a fortune telling game.

4. Make Soul Cakes:

It was also a custom in Britain and Ireland for people to go ‘a-souling’ on Samhain- go door to door, singing and saying prayers for the dead; this is the origin of trick-or-treating! These people were called Soulers, and people gave them Soul Cakes. Each cake eaten represented a soul freed from suffering. The recipe is here.

Diwali and New Chrysanthemum Moon

The Chinese call the ninth new moon the Chrysanthemum Moon. Yes, I know I wrote about the Chrysanthemum Moon last month; the Chinese calendar has a leap month every three or four years, and this is it! We get to celebrate two ninth-month moons in a row!

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. 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.


The new moon is my monthly time for “seeding” intentions. I write down what I hope to focus on in the next 30 days or so, and then give my ideas a period of gestation, like seeds in the soil, before I take action. Having this regular time each month to focus my goals has helped to give me clarity of purpose.

Agenda for today:

1. Journal:
What might give my life more wholeness?
What am I hungry for?
What are my next steps in life?
What does prosperity look like for me now?

Diwali is dedicated to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, so this is a good time to seed intentions of prosperity and good fortune. List my intentions for the next month in these areas-

Self, Friends and Family, Teaching, Artwork, Writing, Home and Garden, Work/Business, and Volunteer work. 

2. New Moon Meditation:
Light a small white candle. Center, and feel myself fill with thankfulness for all I have now in my life. 

Remember: Prosperity is a sense of peace and well being within, enough money to pay my bills on time, and the support I need to make my dreams come alive.

3. Plan:
As the moon waxes, I expand-- plant seeds, make connections, and begin new projects. Today I will plan my first small steps.

This October has been very busy- I've been stressed, exposed to chills, mold spores, and lots of kid germs. I am also expending a large amount of mental energy making plans and worrying about details. It’s easy to become impatient and grouchy, catch a cold, or fall into a blue mood at this time of year. When the season changes, I need to adapt- I need to remember to cover my head when it’s cold out, get more rest, find comforting ways to care for myself, and open myself to love, health, and happiness.

4. Make dija lamps:

The word Diwali is short for Deepavali, which translates into "row of lamps"; people set out hundreds of small diya lamps filled with oil for this festival, to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. 

A diya lamp is easy to make- you will need a little bit of self-hardening clay. Form a small egg-shaped container, with a shallow bowl to hold a tiny bit of oil, and a lip to hold the flame. 

When the clay is dry, twist a wick from half of a cotton ball, and fill the bowl with a bit of vegetable oil. It will burn for quite awhile.

5. Make a Mandala:
To prepare for Diwali, Hindus clean and decorate their houses with flowers and tinsel. They also paint designs on the ground in front of the door of the house, as a sign of welcome to Lakshmi. 

Floor painting is an art handed down from mother to daughter in India. Many women make designs every morning, by sprinkling white or colored rice flour with their fingers- rice flour is thought to have protective power. The artist starts her painting with a period of meditation and works in a prayerful way. 

We drew designs on the front porch with chalk and rice flour. Floor paintings are very temporary since walking feet, wind, and rain will soon turn them to dust.

6. Make Almond Katli:

On Diwali, Indians also give gifts to each other, especially big trays of candy! Almond Katli is a traditional Diwali sweet, and it’s easy to make. The recipe is here.

7. Make a Puja:
A puja is a ritual of reverence or celebration. At Diwali, I add some coins to my altar, and light a diya to welcome Lakshmi. 

Then I focus on my idea of prosperity, and chant-

• Om - the primodial sound 
• Shreem -  from which beauty and feminine energy eminates
• Ma-ha - great
• Lak-shma-yai - goddess of wealth
• Na-ma-ha - I pray.

Indigenous Peoples Day

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! Some people celebrate the second Monday in October as Columbus Day, and others believe that Columbus shouldn’t be honored for "discovering" America, since the indigenous people had been living in North and South America for centuries before Columbus arrived. Soon after Columbus made his famous voyage in 1492, the Spanish conquistadors found lots of gold and silver, and began to conquer the Native People and turn them into slaves.

Indigenous People's Day is an alternative, celebrating the original people and their descendants with powwows, dancing, Native American foods and crafts.

Agenda:
1. Journal:

Set an intention for the day- 

What do I wish for all people of the world?

2. Make fry bread:
Traditional powwow food!

3. Make a prayer stick:
A prayer stick is a Native American tradition- it’s a decorated stick made as a prayer or wish. Prayer sticks are decorated in many ways- sometimes painted, wrapped with strings, with feathers, beads and other objects attached; sometimes a small bag of sacred cornmeal is tied on.

Our wishes for all people:
A home, education, life, health, love, and peace

We each set an intention for our stick- something we wished for all people of the world, and we made small charms out of Fimo, to symbolize our wishes.

Then we cut sticks from the apple tree, carved them, painted them, wrapped them with string and yarn, and added beads and feathers.

Lastly, we tied on our charms, and smudged each stick with sage smoke while focusing on  our prayers. 

Then we each took our stick home to plant in the ground.

Full Squirrel Moon and Sukkot

Tonight is the full moon, my monthly time for action and release: I look again at the “seeds of intention” I planted 2 weeks ago at the new moon and decide on my next steps to take, I take those steps, then I release my expectations in order to clear space for new ideas and new intentions.

This full moon is called the Squirrel Moon, because the squirrels are busily gathering nuts for the winter, and all of the earth is gathering it’s forces inward. This is a time of transition, and a good time for me to get caught up on business, finish home tasks, and complete my outdoor projects before the cold of winter.

Tonight is also the start of Sukkot, a 7-day Jewish harvest festival. The word Sukkot means “Booths”; Jews all over the world build outdoor booths for Sukkot, like the simple huts that farmers in ancient Israel lived in during harvest time. The roof is always made of leafy branches, open to the sky so that you see the stars through the leaves. Each family decorates their hut, makes it comfortable, and eats at least two meals there; they invite guests, light candles, and say prayers of thanksgiving for the harvest.

Agenda for today:
1. Altar:
Each month at the full moon I put a motto or quote on my altar, to ponder. This month:

"Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand!" - Steven Covey

I also add new candles, in colors that symbolize what I want to focus on. Today I add a silver candle, for synergy and change.

2. Journal:
Review the intentions I set 2 weeks ago, at the new moon. Review also the goals I set at the beginning of the year.

Do these aims all still seem vital? What are my next steps? How can I best bring some of my goals to completion?

3. Practice at my theme:

My theme this month is synergy, the area of creative change and right action. Synergy is the ability to seek unity, embrace teamwork, and work tirelessly towards a better end. It’s the eternally active primal force of creation-- no matter what the conditions are, they will change. 

I create synergy in my life when I make the effort to see clearly, take persistent right action, and stay open minded. Synergy will allow me to experience the people in my life as angels, and the places I live, work and play as paradise.

Am I open and responsive to helpful people and new ideas? Do I accept my life's challenges as creative fuel? Do I take the time to understand different points of view? What can I improve? 

My intentions:

• Seek to understand different opinions.
• Open to inspirations & adventures.
• Learn how to fascilitate group creativity.
• Analyze how I contribute to the committees, teams, and partnerships I am part of.

4. Take Action:
The full moon is a time to celebrate life, stay up late, see friends, exercise harder, and be more creative and outgoing. The crazy full moon energy builds and builds; it’s best to acknowledge it so it doesn’t throw me off balance. This surge of energy allows me to take action on intentions I set two weeks ago.

5. Build a sukkah:
We had fun piecing this hut together from wood scraps, branches, and African fabric.

6. Make luminarias:
We made paper lanterns with Hebrew words- very pretty. Instuctions are here.

7. Cook a stuffed pumpkin and eat in the sukkah:
It's traditional at Sukkot to eat fall harvest foods, especially anything stuffed, because these are a symbol of all the plenty we have been blessed with. 

The recipe is here.

Mehregan

Today we talked about what friendship means, then my
 students had fun sprinkling herbs on each other's heads. 

Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), is an ancient Persian festival that began as a feast for the sun god, Mehr. Mehr (also known as Mithra) was responsible for knowledge, love, friendship, promises, and the light. The word "mehr" in Farsi means kindness.

Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia in around 1400 BCE and Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained, and is now celebrated as a day of thanksgiving, usually on October 1st; people decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

Zoroastrians in Iran and India have a community feast today, with a large pot of noodle stew called âsh-e. The stew is always prepared by everyone together because the Avesta (the Zoroastrian holy book) says that each should bring whatever they can afford- meat, vegetables, lentils, grain, or firewood.

Agenda Today:
1. Journal:
Today I like to focus my thoughts on how well I honor the promises and commitments of friendship.

In what condition are my friendships? How might I be a better friend?

List the friends that I want to nurture and pay special attention to this month, those I feel distant from or whom I want to understand better and appreciate more.

2. Make soup:
Aash-e-Reshte, a delicious, rich noodle soup, is the meal normally served on this occasion. The recipe is here.





Part of the fun when we make this soup is the anticipation- I ask my students to each bring a few of the ingredients, which get taken out of backpacks after school and gathered on the table. 

Each student prepares the foods they contributed- peeling carrots and potatoes, chopping spinach and parsley.


3. Ceremony:
Zoroastrians set a very elaborate table display for this celebration. I don’t even try to duplicate it, but I do try to include these Zoroastrian symbols:

• Mirror – symbolizing Sky
• Apple – symbolizing Earth
• Candles – symbolizing Fire
• Rose water – symbolizing Water
• Seeds (such as peas, beans, and lentils) – symbolizing last year's harvest and next year's plan.

We also set out flowers and incense, all surrounded by branches of herbs from my garden.

We gathered around the table, lit the candles, and had a moment of silent prayer, to review and rededicate promises we have made to our families and friends. Then we had fun tearing up sage and lavendar leaves to sprinkle on each other’s heads, to wish everyone good health and happy life.

And then we ate our soup! (We put the pot down for Sadie, because Zoroastrians revere dogs and always make sure they get soup on this day.)