3rd Day of Christmas

This is the third day of the twelve-day festal tide - a sacred, festive season. It gets harder on the third day to maintain a Sabbath mentality, and today we will returned to our regular grandchild-care duties, so my retreat will take on a different flavor. But maintaining a peaceful and joyful attitude in the midst of 2-year-old chaos is a valuable practice!

Agenda:

1. Christmas retreat

2. Kwanzaa principles

3. Creativity reading

4. Creativity goals for 2023

5. Prayer candle ceremony

6. Seed charms for the New Year

1. Christmas retreat:

I am again making the 12 Days of Christmas into a mini-retreat for myself, and using the Soyal Way of Being as a guide for my days; that is, I'm keeping Mother Earth in my thoughts as I move quietly and respectfully about my days, in order to establish the right mood for the coming year, and reach a unity of everything in the universe. 

I'm also doing some reading and writing every day, focusing on my priorities and what I'm called to do (or not do) next in my life. My plan is to contemplate, honor, and practice a different one of my life priorities on each of the 12 days, and set some goals and resolutions for 2023, based on guidance from God.

Today I am honoring Creativity-

What creative ideas do I have to improve my house, my relationships, my faith community, my neighborhood, and my community?

How can I use my art and writing to enlighten and project my creative vision into the world? What themes are calling out to me to express this year?

How can I use craftivism to spread a message of peace, social justice, and environmental responsibility into the world? 

How can I develop and expand my playful, joyful, spontaneous, creative qualities and share these with my grandson?

 

2. Kwanzaa principles:

The second day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to the principle of kujichagulia (koo-jee-cha-goo-LEE-ah), which is self-determination: Thinking for yourself, and deciding what you will say and do with your life.

3. Creativity reading:

Today I'm reading from an old favorite of mine, "Freeing the Creative Spirit: Drawing on the Power of Art to Tap the Magic and Wisdom Within," by Adriana Diaz (1992). Today I read from Chapter One, Reviving the Ancestral Self:

 

"The creation of images is part of an ancient priesthood handed to us through time from the ancient ones who first drew the bison, and the archetypal images of the ancestors continue to be the expression of our most essential selves. ... Creativity is our species' natural response to the challenges of human experience. As our primary power, it remains the mediator between the human soul and the forces beyond our control". 

 

4. Creativity goals for 2023:

My theme for today is creativity and self-expression. Creativity is a way of thinking and being: A creative mind is relaxed, expansive, and spontaneous. When I am open to creativity and inspiration, I can see original answers to any question. 

The childlike qualities of joy and curiosity support my innovative, creative spirit. I use my creativity to make things, and express myself, and also to solve problems. Creativity goals might be to increase my curiosity and wonder, to explore and develop my playful qualities, or to express my deepest messages.

My ideas for creativity and self-expression goals for next year so far are:

• Continue to develop my Medicine Art process, in order to heal my connection to the earth.
• Collect pre-school art ideas, and remind myself to play when we make art together. Write about kid art and post weekly.
• Use craftivism to spread a message of peace, social justice, and environmental responsibility into the world; figure out ways to use art to educate my Meeting.
• Continue to explore mixed-media and modern color theory with my painting class, and incorporate some Medicine Art practices.

5. Prayer candle ceremony:

I'm enjoying a daily prayer candle ceremony throughout my extended Christmas retreat, using small candles and candle ends, and will choose a new candle to add each day.

Today I light a yellow candle for creativity, and ask the Spirits to bring the rain of loving care down upon the whole world.

6. Seed charms for the New Year:

I've been designing a Medicine Art practice that will open the doors of creative healing, to heal our connection to the earth. (You can find more about it here.)

This week I'm working on seed charms, small fabric tokens that contain actual seeds, images, and words - one for myself and one for my sister. My intention is to create a beautiful piece of art that gives us each a New Year blessing, and connects us to nature and to each other, because being rooted in earth and family will make me invincible.

The first step in any Medicine Art process is to define the project: I've been visualizing these charms for a week already and they are getting clearer-

For me - A sunflower seed, with a sunflower image, and the words "Turn to the Light" and "Joy". 

For my sister - Apple seeds, with an apple image, and the words "For Love & Good Health".

 

My next step is to gather supplies - seeds, fabric, embroidery floss, stamps, and ink - and begin to experiment with images and size. You can see some of the experiments here.