Ayathrem

Ayathrem is the fourth Gahambar celebrated by the Zoroastrian community, who honor the six seasons of the year with 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.

Ayathrem celebrates the creation of plants, the time to sow winter crops, and the season when the herds come home from pasture. It takes place each year from October 12th through the 16th.

Agenda:

1. Ongo journal
2. Recite prayers
3. Renewal plans
4. Plant garlic
5. Start native iris seeds

6. Autumn awareness walk

1. Ongo Journal:

I'm taking a 12-week non-violent communication class. Week three is about Self-Empathy, something I've always felt ambiguous about. "Self-empathy is a practice of bringing awareness and compassion to the thoughts, feelings, needs, and requests that arise with us everyday."

The practice is to start a journal to record situations that stimulate reactions in me, and give myself some empathy.

1. Describe the situation: W says "I told you when I was getting home and the soup isn't thawed yet. It will take hours."
2. List the stimulus to a reaction: He contradicts what I know is true, putting doubt on my intelligence.
3. List the thoughts: It's not fair that he got home 30 minutes early and expects soup ready; he is wrong and I am right; I'm not stupid.
4. List the feelings that correlate: Tense, anxious, angry, frustrated, resentful.
5. Needs: Peace, respect, patience, order, love and friendship.(Take some time to reflect on these needs or at least one or two of them)
6. Insights: I know that he is tired when he gets home from work and he has a habit of lashing out as soon as he is in the door, seeing whatever is wrong, and nothing that is right. I could do better at being prepared for that - but disrespectful language is always hurtful. I don't have to let it land on me
7. Action request: Schedule transition time when I've been sitting in a peaceful home, prepare a welcoming scenario, put on my teflon raincoat, and stay calm.

2. Recite Prayers:
The first four days of Ayathrem are devoted to services, and reciting prayers. Zoroastrians turn towards a flame while praying, which symbolizes the fire of creation and the spiritual flame within each of us-- and so I stand before a candle flame to recite the Ashem Vohu (invocation of Asha) from the Avesta (Zoroastrian Book of Common Prayer).

The Ashem Vohu is a prayer with universal appeal. The word Ashem has many meanings: Law, Order, Beauty, Truth, Righteousness, Purity, Freedom. This one word expresses Divine truth, purity of body and mind, and all the beauty of nature. It's a central idea in Zoroastrianism.

This prayer is like a mantra, to be chanted slowly. To hear it recited, go to this link.

ashem vohû vahishtem astî

Truth is the best good. 

ushtâ astî 

It is happiness. 

ushtâ ahmâi hyat ashâi vahishtâi ashem. 

Happiness is to one whose truth (represents) best truth.

3. Renewal Plans:

Every week on Sunday I check in to see if I'm taking care of my self. The self-renewal process must include balanced renewal in all four dimensions of my life. 

 Am I spending about one hour a day on a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual activities?

 Am I working daily to improve my social skills?

 Am I making gradual changes from day to day to maintain and improve the things that help me to accomplish my work and other desires?

Plan this week: 

• Body & Discipline: Chair yoga (or at least one stitch) everyday + Walk - set some destination plans.
• Spirit & Ethics: Set a daily intention for growth, expansion, wisdom.
• Heart and Passion: Practice self-empathy and serenity.

4. Plant garlic:

The gahambars are seasonal festivals that originally provided an opportunity for the whole village to get together to share the labor required to finish the tasks of the season; for Ayathrem that is planting the winter crops, so this is the day that I plant my winter garlic.

Garlic (Allium sativum L) is one of the world’s oldest cultivated crops. Scientists debate its origin: It's a native of central or South Asia, or perhaps southwestern Siberia. Garlic lovers carried the pungent herb into Egypt, Pakistan, India and China. The crusaders brought it back to Europe.

Besides being used in almost every cuisine of cooking, garlic also repels pests, so it makes an excellent companion plant to many annual vegetables, and is often planted along the dripline of fruit trees.

Garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow and store to provide a year-round supply. Planting garlic in the fall gives it a head start in establishing its roots so that it is well-anchored in spring, and you can enjoy an early harvest in the summer.

Growing it yourself means you’ll have access to a wider variety of garlic flavors. You can plant organic garlic from the grocery store, but at a nursery you'll find more variety options. I have I planted Elephant garlic, and Northern White, and last year I chose Shandong, a reddish variety from China's Shandong province.

Break your garlic bulbs up into single cloves; each clove will grown into a new bulb. Choose large cloves that are firm to the touch, free of blemishes, plump and have a healthy sheen. Make holes in loose soil 2-inches deep and 6-inches apart. Place your garlic cloves pointy side up into the holes and cover with soil and then a layer of mulch. (I'm going to plant my garlic near to my baby bok choy plants).

5. Start native iris seeds:

I'm also going to get my Oregon Iris seeds started:

1. Today: To help soften the hard seed coat, soak the seeds overnight in warm water before planting. 
2. To germinate, these seeds need a period of warmth, followed by cold, so planting early in fall is best. I'm going to plant in two seed beds, with fine sandy soil and fencing to protect them: One in the Hawthorn bed, and one in the patio bed.
3. Growing: Seedlings will need occasional watering until they become established. Mature plants are adaptable, tolerating either moist or dry soil. Blooming usually begins in the second year after planting. These native plants flourish with little attention, and soon form dense colonies that often crowd out other plants. When fully grown, the plants can easily be divided in late fall.
4. Seed Saving: Very soon after blooming, this plant will produce large green pods that quickly turn brown and drop their seed. Gather the pods as soon as the seeds inside have turned brown; spread the pods out to dry completely, then separate the seeds from the husks. Store the cleaned seed in a cool, dry place.

6. Autumn Awareness Walk:

Walking in the fall is an abundance of miracles: So many seeds, nuts, grasses, leaves, colors, sensations, beauty, scents, and textures. But I have to open my eyes to see it. When I relax and allow myself to appreciate and feel the wonders of the season, an awareness of the harmony of life emerges.

This week I plan to enjoy an Awareness Walk practice, for the purpose of being present to the autumn and to Creation:

1. Physical Awareness: Concentrate on my feet as they touch the ground, the feel of my muscles, my breathing, the beauty of nature around me, the breeze, the sky. Continue this for 1-2 blocks. 

2. Heart Awareness: Turn a corner, and focus on my tender heart. Feel it soften and open. Send loving thoughts to my neighbors as I walk by their homes, to my family, to my community, to the earth and all creation. Continue this for 1-2 blocks. 

3. Mindfulness: Turn another corner, and pay attention to my thoughts. Allow my mind to open to the ambiguity of the moment, and my life. Practice being the Inner Me, beyond thought. Continue this for 1-2 blocks. 

4. Spiritual Awareness: Turn the last corner, and (holding on to the awareness I've raised) speak a prayer out loud as I’m moving; feel the power and energy move through me. Say, “Spirit of Love and Light and Creation, I am awake. Amen.”