My Year of Gestation

Each year I pick a theme for the entire year. Last year it was Living in Virtue and this year it's Gestation.

The dictionary definition of gestation is far too passive: It doesn't just involve carrying something around and letting it develop! (Some man must have written that.) Holding and carrying is part of the work, but gestation also involves a lot of creating and building (and nesting), and then finally birthing.

I've set myself some gestational goals for the year- practicing patience, cultivating resilience and social intelligence, creating a clean, safe haven in my yard and home, birthing a new signature style of art, and supporting my daughter and son-in-law as they present me with my very own first grandchild! 

Agenda:
1. Journal queries
2. Study resilience
3. Envision, hold, explore
4. Housework

Chinese New Year and New Holiday Moon

This first day of the Chinese New Year is called Yüan-tan, the "Day of Origin". This one day determines the luck for the entire year, so Chinese people are careful to use their best manners and to remain honest and peaceful. 

They spend the first days of the year making visits to friends and relatives: Parents and grandparents receive the first visits, and so on, until by the fourth day very casual friends may drop in. The fifth day is reserved for visits to people who live further away.

Visitors greet each other with kind words to help encourage a year of prosperity. The most common greeting is:

Gung hay fat choy 

(Pronounced "Goong Heyy Faat Choy")

Congratulations, may you be prosperous!

2020 is the year of the Water Rat. People born this year are optimistic, energetic, reliable, kind, and easy to like. They are sensitive to other’s emotions but are stubborn with your opinion. A Water Rat's super power is to turn unlucky events into fortune.

Agenda for today:

1. Journal queries
2. Eat jai for breakfast
3. Give gifts
4. Make and give hóngbāo (money packets)

Chinese New Year's Eve

Tonight is Chinese New Year's Eve. In China, New Year's evening is called Ch’u-yeh, the "evening of discarding", because we can finally be done with the old year, and with winter. 

This last day of the year is busy, because it’s the last chance to complete preparations and be ready to start the year fresh. When the running around is done, the family spends the rest of the day at home together-- family connections are the big theme for this holiday.

Agenda:
1. Thanksgiving ceremony
2. Welcoming ceremony
3. Have a family feast

Babinden

The Slavic holiday Babinden (bah-bean-den) happens each year on January 21.

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)

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

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

Plow Monday

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. Journal queries
2. Tool blessing ceremony
3. Sort seeds
4. Daily garden visits
5. Make plough pudding

Full Wolf Moon

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.

Agenda for today:
1. Journal queries
2. January altar
3. Practice Stillness
4. Mountain Pose

Distaff Day

Distaff Day (January7) 

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

is the day, historically, when women returned to work after the Christmas holidays.

Distaff Day is named for the distaff, a stick-like tool that held fibers while a woman used a drop spindle to spin thread. 

Spinning and weaving were never-ending chores. Most women and girls would spin thread while also cooking, caring for children, or minding the sheep. Because women were seen always with a distaff in hand, it became the symbol of “women’s work”. 

But during the Christmas season women took a break from spinning. January 7th was the traditional day for women to start back to work, and so was called Distaff Day.

Agenda for today & this week: 

1. Spindle Meditation
2. Journal queries
3. Housework
4. 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.

Today I taught a New Year's class, and we celebrated epiphany and also Kakizome Day (January 2) and Distaff Day (January 7).

Kakizome means "first writing". On this day 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 for today:
1. Journal queries
2. Bake a King's cake
3. Celebrate Kakizome Day
4. Make an Omamori