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.

Agenda:
1. Plan a costume
2. Carve a pumpkin
3. Make Soul Cakes
4. Dunk for apples

Full Squirrel Moon

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. 

Agenda for today:
1. Update my altar
2. Journal queries
3. Practice at my theme of abundance
4. Blessings Walk

Winter Nights or Vetrnætr

The Winter Nights, called Vetrnætr, is a twelve-day festival that begins on a night in mid- to late-October. (The exact dates vary with the regional weather; in northern areas it tends to be held earlier.) The name Vetrnætr is Old Norse, composed of two words, vetr meaning winter, and nætr meaning nights.

Winter Nights is celebrated by the Ásatrú; Ásatrú is an Icelandic name, taken by the modern-day Norse and Germanic people who worship the old northern gods (such as Thor, Odin, and Frey) and goddesses (such as Freya and Frigg). 

Though its practice was interrupted, Ásatrú has been reconstructed as closely as possible to the original religion of the Northern European people, based on the surviving historical records.

Winter Nights marks the end of summer, the start of the winter, and the beginning of a new year. It celebrates the bounty of the harvest, and it honors the Norse Goddess Freya- goddess of the harvest, artistic endeavors, and passion- and also the Disr, who are the ancestral mothers.

Agenda this week:
1. Set up my ancestor altar (ofrenda)
2. Disr meditation

3. Make more runes
4. Throw the runes
5. Make fiskesuppe (fish soup)
6. Feast and blót

Navratri, Part 3

Navratri continues for three more nights, with the arrival of Saraswati. 

The word navratri means nine nights; on each set of three nights we meditate on a different aspect of Shakti, the universal principle of energy and creativity, Mother Earth, and the feminine power in each of us. For these final three nights we honor and thank the Divine Mother as Saraswati, who is "the essence of self".

Agenda Today:
1- Add to my altar
2- Morning meditation on wisdom
3- Make moong dal (yellow lentil) sundal
5- Evening visualization and prayer
6- Lakshmi mantra

Balance on the Sabbath

Today is Sunday, which I celebrate as my Sabbath-- meaning that I keep it simple, slow-paced, and peaceful. 

Autumn Flowers- acrylic on board

It’s not possible for me to do NO work on the Sabbath, but I schedule very little work, and my work has a different focus and flavor. I take time out from busy-ness so I can practice deepening my inner life-- how I feel, how I behave, and how I express myself.

My theme this month is balance, and I've decided to contemplate today how to bring a little balance to my Work Flow- how can I maintain a steady pace at the work of my life, with fewer diversions in to solitaire and television?

Sabbath Plan:
1. All day meditation
2. Journal queries
3. Cultivate flow
4. Healthy habits

Navratri Continues

Navratri continues tonight with the visit of Lakshmi. 

The word navratri means nine nights; on each set of three nights we meditate on a different aspect of Shakti, the universal principle of energy and creativity, Mother Earth, and the feminine power in each of us. Tonight we honor and thank the Divine Mother as Lakshmi, the Goddess of success. 

Agenda Today:
1- Make a new rangoli design
2- Add to my altar
3- Morning meditation on creative growth 
4- Make sweet corn sundal
5- Evening visualization and prayer
6- Lakshmi mantra

Ayathrem

The Zoroastrian community honors the six seasons of the year by celebrating six Gahambars- the word gahambar means "proper season". Each of these six festivals is celebrated for five days, and each honors one of the six material creations: The heaven, water, earth, flora, fauna and man.

Ayathrem is the fourth Gahambar, celebrating the creation of plants, the time to sow winter crops, and the season when the herds come home from pasture. It takes place each year from October 12th through the 16th.

Agenda this week:
1. Recite prayers
2. Make Aash-e-Reshte (noodle soup)
3. Sow fava beans

Autumn Navratri

Navratri is a Hindu holiday during which we honor and thank Shakti, the Divine Mother, in all her forms. Shakti is the universal principle of energy and creativity, Mother Earth, and the feminine power in each of us. 

The word nava means nine and ratri means nights; the festival lasts for nine nights, symbolic of the nine months in the womb.

Navratri is celebrated at least twice each year in India- in the spring and fall- because these are times when nature and people undergo great changes. Autumn (Sharad) Navratri begins on the day after the rise of the new moon in late September or early October.

Agenda:

1- Make a rangoli design
2- Plant grain seeds
3- Set up an altar for Mother Nature
4- Morning meditation on strength 
5- Make channa sundal (spicy chickpeas)
6- Evening visualization and prayer
7- Durga mantra

Indigenous Peoples Day and New Chrysanthemum Moon

Happy Indigenous People's Day! Some people celebrate the second Monday in October as Columbus Day, but many 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 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.

This is also the night of the new 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.

Agenda:
1. Journal queries
2. New moon meditation
3. Set intentions
4. Make fry bread
5. Make a prayer stick

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