Simple Gifts for Black Friday

Black Friday sales are an abomination! All I want to do on the day after Thanksgiving is eat pie and whip cream, and think about Advent. I make most of my holiday gifts, and usually spend this free day at home, with my family, working on projects.

Agenda:
1. Compile a family wish list
2. Make gifts
3. Make peanut brittle

Thanksgiving, Full Frost Moon, and Xia Yuan Jie

Today is Thanksgiving! Yay! I am looking forward to this Thanksgiving because I will be with my family and dear friends. I've put some energy into talking to everyone so we all have the foods we need to make the day a success, and so we could share the effort and no one feels overworked or stressed- including myself.

Today is also Xia Yuan Jie-- Lower Primordial Festival-- a Chinese festival that falls on the 15th day of the 10th lunar month. It’s the third of a trio of Taoist holidays, that honor three Taoist gods, called the Three Great Emperor Officials:

• Tian-Guan, the Heaven Official, gives happiness, and rules over the first 6 months of the year (the yang part), beginning on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, at the Lantern Festival.
• Di-Guan, the Earth Official, forgives sins and guilt, and rules over the next 3 months (the yin part), beginning on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, at the Ghost Festival.
• Shui-Guan, the Water Official, rules over the last 3 months of the year (also yin), starting today.

And tonight we see the full moon called the Frost Moon because now is when the first hoarfrost might appear-- that white frost that makes walking crunchy, and that requires scraping of windshields. Frost is a reminder that winter is coming, and we all need to finish our outdoor chores and close up the storm windows.
Agenda:
1. Thanksgiving Meditation for Peace & Abundance
2. Update my altar
3. Finish the food
4. Practice at my theme
5. Give thanks
6. Hold the world in the light

Mawlid al nabi

Tonight and tomorrow is the celebration of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, on the 12th day of the third month of the Islamic calendar.

The word “mawlid” comes from the Arabic for “to give birth”, and al-Nabi means prophet.

The practice of celebrating Mawlid al-Nabi can be traced back to 11th-century Egypt. Traditions vary; some Muslims don't celebrate this day, some do. It's an especially important tradition for Sufis. Some cities are decorated, and people hand out sweets and candy to children. 

Agenda:
1. Read a Sufi poem
2. Make tharid (lamb stew)

Prepare for Thanksgiving and Advent

Thanksgiving is in three days, and our plans are pretty much set. We will host a dinner at our house this year, for our dear friends, and our son and his partner. Since we are hosting we will make the turkey, stuffing and gravy, as well as pumpkin pies, of course!

Agenda:
1. Make a thank-you card and hand it out
2. Cook the pumpkins
3. Collect greens
4. Make pies

Stir Up Sunday

Last year's Christmas pudding

Today is Stir Up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent. This is the traditional day in Britain to make the Christmas pudding, and set it aside for Christmas Day so the flavors have a month to develop. 

At least, it used to be the traditional day; apparently most families buy a pudding in a tin now. What a shame! Being partly of British descent (and also being fond of brandy) I think it's worth the effort. And the flaming pudding is an exciting end to Christmas dinner!

Agenda for today:
1- Prayer
2- Start the Christmas Pudding

Martinstag

Martinstag is the day of St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of beggars, soldiers, and conscientious objectors.

Martin was born in Hungary in 316 A.D. As a teenager, he joined the Roman army, becoming a soldier like his father, and traveled to what is now Italy and France.

The most famous legend of St. Martin is of his time as a soldier: One snowy winter evening, Martin and the other soldiers were returning on horseback to Amiens. A freezing beggar was sitting at the city gate. Martin didn't have any money or food to give him, so he used his sword to cut his heavy red soldier’s cloak in half, and gave half to the beggar. That night Martin dreamt that Jesus thanked him for giving Him his cloak. This dream convinced Martin to become a Christian and be baptized. 

Martin remained in the army for two more years, but then he decided that his faith prohibited him from fighting, and he was jailed as a coward. He was eventually released from prison and from military service, and went on to become the bishop of Tours in France. He died peacefully on November 8, 397 A.D., and was buried on November 11, among the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint.

Originally Martinstag was celebrated only in the Catholic areas of Germany, Austria, Flanders, Netherlands, and Portugal, but it has now spread to Protestant areas as well.

Agenda:

1. Journal queries
2. Gift list brainstorm
3. Make a lantern
4. Bake Weckmänner (Bun Men)

Diwali and New Kindly Moon

Tonight is the night of the new moon. The Chinese call this tenth new moon the Kindly Moon. In China, this is winter crop planting season, and this month brings the first “little snow” which gently (and kindly) moistens the winter wheat seedlings. We don't have snow yet, but we've had some kind rains!

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. On Diwali, 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.

Agenda Today:
1- Journal queries

2- Set intentions
3- Make diya lamps

4- New moon meditation and puja for prosperity

5- Make almond katli

Days of the Dead

The Day of the Dead- Dia de los Muertos- 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.

Agenda:
1. Set up an ofrenda
2. Make paper banners
3. Make Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)
4. Make skeletons
5. Make sugar skulls

Discipline

This month I am studying and learning about discipline, what it is and why it is useful. I'm especially attracted to the ideas of the ancient Greek and Roman Stoic philosophers.

The Stoics used discipline as a tool on the journey of a life well lived. Epictetus listed three disciplines: 

• Amor Fatior, the loving acceptance of one’s fate, which was for living in harmony with the nature of the universe as a whole; 
• Hormêor, impulse to ethical action, for living in harmony with other humans; 
• and Sunkatathesis, or mindfulness, for living in harmony with our own essential nature, with reason and truthfulness in both thoughts and speech.

I long for greater discipline, to give me stability and structure, and help me to be responsible; to allow me to keep promises to myself and to others, and maintain the integrity and self-control that I want; to empower me to grow and reach my dreams. But I hope this growth leads to a transcendent state where I no longer rely on discipline, because I love and understand myself so well that I follow the right path naturally!

Agenda today:

1. Journal queries

2. Set goals

3. Discipline in Action