Maidyoshahem

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.

Maidyoshahem (may-eed-YO-sha-hem) is the second Gahambar, the Midsummer Rain feast, and it takes place each year from June 29 to July 3. This Gahambar celebrates the creation of water on our earth, and the last day is called Tirgan (pronounced Teer-gone), in honor of Tir, the angel of rain. Iranians celebrate Tirgan with dancing, singing, and by swimming and splashing water on each other.

Agenda this week:
1. Recite a Prayer
2. Make a Persian Salad
3. Get wet!

Summer Solstice and New Dragon Moon

The season is turning. Today the sun exerts its maximum energy on our part of the earth; the powers of outward expression are at their greatest, and the powers of inner contemplation are at their lowest.

And of course, just as we reach the point of maximum yang energy, yin energy is reborn and begins to gain strength: The next days will each be a little shorter again, until the winter solstice in December.

This transition from spring to summer is a big deal: If I celebrate the start of summer with enthusiasm, the rest of the summer will become richer and more wonderful, and I will reconnect myself to the great cycle of the seasons and the rhythms of nature.

And tonight is the new moon; The Chinese call the fifth new moon the Dragon Moon. Chinese dragons are a symbol of cosmic Chi, good fortune, and new beginnings, but the time around the Dragon Moon is strongly yang, with bright sunlight and moist heat. The Chinese consider this to be a dangerous and unhealthy season.  

Agenda for the Solstice:
1. Journal query

2. New Moon Meditation

3. Plan a fun first week of summer
4. Make a New Solar Disk

5. Make Kanelbuller (Swedish Cinnamon buns)

6. Make flower crowns

7. Build a Solstice Fire

Juneteenth

Juneteenth is an African-American holiday that occurs each year on June 19th. It began as a celebration of the end of slavery: On June 19, 1865, the last slaves in America were freed. The name Juneteenth is a combination of June + nineteenth.

African Americans celebrate their freedom and their heritage today, with music, dances, speeches, stories, games, and fun. They have picnics with traditional foods and make traditional crafts.

But more than 150 years after emancipation, the nation is still struggling with the issues of systemic racism and injustice, and this year the Juneteenth festivities may have a more serious and determined feel, given the widespread protests across the U.S. after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers on May 25.

We are having another national debate (does it really feel more hopeful this time?) and massive Black Lives Matter protests all around the country.

AND we are also in the midst of a pandemic!

Juneteenth is a reminder to enjoy the freedoms we have, and work for justice and freedom for all people everywhere. Today I celebrate Juneteenth as an apology, and a prayer. 

Agenda:

1. Talk about the violence that black people are enduring

2. Make fried catfish, biscuits, and greens

Full Strawberry Moon

Tonight is the full moon called the Strawberry Moon. Sweet, ripe strawberries are a gift from Mother Earth that remind me of the springtime renewal of life, and the creative power I have to make my dreams real and visible. 

This is a highly yang time of movement and strength, the season of completion, abundance, and fulfillment. I have hope that I will reach my full flowering, begin to enjoy the fruits of my visions, and relax in the richness of success.

Agenda for today:
1. Update my altar
2. Journal queries
3. Abundance practises
4. Take action