Little New Year

Kitchen God I drew a few years ago.

Today is called Little New Year- it falls on the day of the waning half moon one week before the new moon in late January or early February- one week before Chinese New Year! 

It's also known as the Kitchen God Festival because this is the day that the Kitchen God, Tsao-wang, and his wife, Wang Bo-jia, leave to report to heaven. In a Chinese home, a picture of these two gods hangs in a niche just above the stove. The picture is printed or drawn on rice paper. 

Tsao-wang and Wang Bo-jia watch the daily life of the household and keep a written record of everything that goes on- whether the family is tidy or messy, honest or sneaky, thrifty or wasteful... it’s a little like having Santa watching all year, to see if you’ve been good or bad!

Agenda today:
1. Housecleaning
2. Make window flowers
3. Make nian-gao (new year's cake)
4. Kitchen God Good-bye Ceremony

Prepare for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is in two weeks, on February 5th this year- so it's time to prepare.

In China a whole month is spent in preparations- cleaning, cooking, and decorating the house. All of the things displayed at Chinese New Year are symbols of the ideal life- tokens and reminders of the good things we hope for: Luck, wealth, long life, and happiness.

Agenda this week:
1. Housework
2. Nian-hua and good-luck calligraphy
3. Forced Blossoms
4. Make Jiao-zi dumplings 

Babinden

The Slavic holiday Babinden (bah-bean-den) happened already on January 21, but I am celebrating it today instead.


Baba is "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.

Agenda today:
1. Journal queries

2. Hand-washing ceremony
3. Plan gifts for my grandmothers
4. House cleaning and blessing
5. Make pitka (Bulgarian bread)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today I am reminded again that I need to honor the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people, and share in the efforts.

Agenda today:
1. Journal queries
2. Study
3. Make a new banner
4. March
5. Index to MLK Day projects

Full Wolf Moon and Tu B'Shevat

Tonight is the full moon. The full moon of January is called the Wolf Moon because of the hungry packs of wolves that used to roam for prey at this time of deep winter.

Tonight is also Tu B’Shevat (too b’sch VAHT), the Jewish New Year for Trees. It begins at sunset on the evening of the full moon of late January or early February. This is the season in Israel when the earliest-blooming trees begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. In contemporary Israel it’s celebrated with tree planting ceremonies and a focus on ecological awareness. Many also share a seder (ceremonial meal) of tree fruits.

Agenda: 
1. Journal queries
2. Altar
3. Practice receptivity
4. Blessings Walk
5. Tree of Life visualization
6. Plant a tree
7. Share a seder meal

My Year of Virtue

Virtue is ethical behavior. It encompasses a wide array of very nice things like honesty, compassion, temperance, and so on. I think I'm mostly a good person, but I'd like to be better... I disappoint myself all the time. I decided to give attention to virtue this year, and see how I might improve my virtuousness.

I ran across Ben Franklin's system for virtue improvement. Ben devised a small chart that he carried with himself, to record his behavior day-to-day in 13 areas. If you do a Google search you will see that MANY people are interested in Ben's system! You can buy journals and download charts if you want, but I know I won't be happy unless I personalize mine.

Agenda:
1. Create a virtue chart
2. Make visual reminders
3. Daily review

Pongal

Pongal is a four day harvest festival celebrated in India, beginning on January 13th or 14th. The word Pongal means “overflowing” and “abundance”. It's celebrated as a shift in the season- the end of winter- the day on which the sun begins to move northwards.

The sun is a symbol of wisdom, divine knowledge and spiritual light, and now it turns towards us and blesses us with life and energy.

Each day of Pongal has a slightly different focus and theme: 

Today is called Bhogi Pongal, which means "enjoy abundance"; it's a day to honor the rain god, Indra, for providing rain for the harvest. Today farmers anoint their plows and sickles with sandalwood paste to bless them, then bring in the fresh harvest of rice and sugar cane.

The second day is called Surya Pongal, named for the sun god, Lord Surya. On this day people cook sweet rice at sunrise, and watch for the rice to bubble out of the clay pot. The boiling over symbolizes good luck and prosperity for the family.

The third day is Mattu Pongal, focusing on the cattle who pull the plows. (Mattu means "cow".) The cows are cleaned, decorated and fed treats.

The fourth day is Kanum Pongal. Kanum means "to view": It's a day to visit friends and family.

Agenda for Pongal:

1. House cleaning and blessing
2. Have a fire
3. Make a rangoli
4. Make Pongal Paanai (Sweet Rice)
5. Recite the Surya Mantra

Self-Discipline

Winter Stillness detail

I long for greater self-discipline, so that I could be a productive artist, stay on top of my committee work and lesson plans, keep my home spotless, and still have time for writing and contemplation. 

My husband says I'm amazing and I do a lot. But I feel dissatisfied- I'd like to get to a deeper place with my painting and I'd like to have better self-control with my bad habits. I just turned 62, so (the way I see it) I've got at least 20 more years to prove to myself that I can be a creative genius!

Agenda:
1. Journal queries
2. Study stoic philosophy
3. Envision, hold, explore
4. Schedule time and keep it sacred

Distaff Day and Plow Monday

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

Distaff Day (January7) is the day, historically, when women returned to work after the Christmas holidays.

And Plow Monday (the first Monday after Epiphany) is the traditional day in Europe for men to restart their farm work. 

Our garden isn't large, but I think of it as my 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”. 

Agenda for today & this week: 

1. Spindle Meditation
2. Journal queries
3. Housework
4. Tool blessing ceremony
5. Sort seeds
6. Daily garden visits
7. Make plough pudding
8. Kitchen blessing

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. Journal queries
2. Open to an epiphany
3. Bake a King's cake

Twelfth Night and New Bitter Moon

Tonight is the last new moon of the Chinese year, called the Bitter Moon, because we are into the month of the bitterest cold. January is the first full month of winter, a time when everything is shrouded in mystery- the sky is gray, trees hold their buds tightly closed, and hidden seeds germinate secretly in the ground

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 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. Journal queries
2. New moon meditation and prayer
3. Sweeping
4. Make Focaccia della Befana
5. Leave gifts

Soyal

Today I begin Soyal, a Hopi ceremonial period that begins at winter solstice, or at the new moon closest to the Winter Solstice, and lasts for 16 days. 

Soyal is short for Soyalangwul, which means Establishing Life Anew for All the World. It's a sacred time of peace and preparation.

Agenda:
1. Settle into the Soyal Way of Being
2. Journal
3. Write to my family
4. Make prayer feathers
5. Prayer

Kakizome Day

Kakizome means "first writing". Today people all over Japan will take time to use a brush and sumi ink to write out a favorite quote or phrase- the first calligraphy of the new year. 

Kakizome is a way to express your positive wishes for the New Year. 

Agenda:

Omamori from 2017

1. Practice my calligraphy
2. Make an omamori

Kwanzaa Day 7 and New Year's Day

Today is the first day of a new year in my part of the world. I celebrate many beginnings throughout my year, but January 1 has emotional importance because it’s the New Year of my childhood.

The seventh and final day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to the principle of Imani (ee-MAH-nee), which is faith. On this first day of the New Year, I have faith in my ability to find unity and peace, and live with love and integrity. I also have faith that my people will do the best we can, and we will succeed in our struggle to create a just and beautiful world. And I have faith in the Spirit, that it will be open for me, and will sustain and guide me.

Agenda for today:
1. Journal queries

2. Kwanzaa ceremony
3. Set the tone for the New Year
4. Eat Hoppin' John