Winter Solstice and Fourth Sunday of Advent

Photo by Alan Gillespie

The winter solstice occurs this morning at 7:02 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. In the Northern Hemisphere, the December solstice happens during the coldest season of the year, when the sun is at its lowest angle and is seen for its shortest period. This is the turning point, the moment of new beginnings - the darkest time, with the brightest hope.

The Winter Solstice was never a one day festival - three days seems to be the minimum. The sun appears to stand still for three days, then days begin to noticeably increase in length (and we all sigh in relief). 

We need to believe in these little myths - that the sun is returning and hope is reborn - so that we can continue to believe in the Big Myths, like justice, mercy, democracy, freedom - "That sort of thing".

“Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.” ~Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

 

Also, the fourth and final part of advent begins today, and I have already begun an intentional period of introspection: A Winter Retreat Brainstorm for the Next Year, and today I am looking at my Spiritual self. In one of my favorite books, "It's a Meaningful Life; It Just Takes Practice," by Bo Lozoff (2000), Bo describes why to create a personal spiritual practice - because "We must be willing to do the spiritual work that gradually brings us into communion with what is eternal and divine within us". 

Bo says that daily spiritual practice is how we clear the slate so that bad habits can't as easily flourish, and also to become more aware of the depths of our being. We practice so that our default mode becomes generally more spiritual than worldly, and we develop an equanimity that helps us breeze through life.

Agenda:

1. Read a novena

2

. Plan ways to give attention to God

3. 

Light a candle for integrity

4. Read "The Earth Keeper's Handbook"

5. Soyal retreat practices for spirit

6. Spiritual practices brainstorm

7. Make candles for solstice

8. Advent wreath ceremony

9. Solstice dinner

Mothers Night

Tonight is known as Modraniht, or Mothers Night, by Saxon Pagans - the start of Yule. My ancestors were predominantly Anglo-Saxon, that is, of English and Germanic descent, and I've done some research into modern Saxon Paganism in an attempt to reclaim some of my heritage and better connect me to my ancestral roots.

When Anglo-Saxons first began to settle in England they brought Yule with them. We don’t know too many details about what this festival entailed: They cut a Yule Log to provide fuel and gradually pushed it into the fire as it burned. They decorated homes and halls with evergreen leaves and branches. They feasted. Some records say it lasted 12 nights.

Modern Pagans celebrate the start of Yule on either December 20th or 21st. On the first night of Yule they pay tribute to the ancestral mothers who protected and watched over the family, helped with childbirth, and healed illnesses.

Agenda today:

1. Read a Novena

2. Light a candle for Purpose

3. Read "The Book of Doing and Being"

4. Soyal retreat practices for Self

5. Purpose brainstorm

6. Bake Melting Moments cookies

7. Mothers Night Fire and Prayer

8. Hang our stockings with care

New White Moon and Start of Soyal

Tonight is the new moon. The Chinese call the eleventh new moon the White Moon, perhaps because it brings the snow, or perhaps because it's a yin time of year.

And today is the start of Soyal, a Hopi ceremonial period that begins 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 for the new growing season.

Agenda Today:

1

. Read a novena

2. Settle into the Soyal Way of Being

3. Choose a month theme

4. Set intentions

5. Retreat to review the Divine Laws

6. Prayer candle ceremony

Family Creativity!

This week of advent my theme is "family love and joy". My role in the family is still Art Teacher Grandma, and advent is one of my favorite times to share the joy of making things. Yesterday we made a gingerbread house; we made piñata last week and today we will decorate it. And I continue to finish up gifts.

Agenda:

1. Read a novena

2. Read "The Creativity Book"

3. Make a gingerbread house

4. Preschool and Advent plans

5. Do the smallest thing

Family Love and Joy

During this week of Advent my theme is "family love and joy". Of course, the joy of the season is spontaneous and un-planable, but I do these three things to create the right conditions:

My children painted these plaster houses when they were young.

• Take the time to consider what my friends and family will want most this season. In other words, I become less self-focused and more generous in all ways. 
• Be respectful, flexible, patient, and kind (no matter how stressed I feel).
• Take care of myself so I can be calm and present for the spontaneous joy when it arises.

These are obviously year-round aspirations, but I need a daily reminder now, because, somehow, everything seems more important: I have expectations (both of myself and others) about how things should go. (Those expectations are loosening as I age and I find it easier and easier to let them go.) 

Agenda this week:

1. Read a novena

2. Read "Perspective"

3. New narrative for the week

4. Card-writing practice

5. Proaction and reciprocity plans

Las Posadas

Tonight is the start of Las Posadas, a nine-day Mexican celebration that begins on December 16 each year. Posadas is Spanish for "lodging", and the nine days represent the nine months of Mary's pregnancy. In Mexico, people gather tonight and carry candles and clay figures of Mary and Joseph from house to house, reenacting Mary and Joseph’s search for a room at an inn. They are turned away again and again with a rude “No!” Finally, one house allows them to enter, and everyone celebrates with food and a piñata. The procession is repeated each night through Christmas Eve, ending with a party at a different house.

Tonight is also the start of the Christmas Novena in Italy. A Novena is a Catholic ritual, a prayer repeated daily for nine days. It can take place at any time of the year, but one of the most observed is the Christmas Novena, recited or sung during the nine days leading up to Christmas day. Las Posadas comes from that same tradition.

Agenda:

1. Read a novena

2. Read "Present Moment Awareness"

3. Set out our crèche

4. Plan a piñata party!

Hanukkah

Hanukkah 2021

Tonight is the first night of the eight day Jewish holiday known as the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah is observed beginning 3 days before the new moon closest to the winter solstice, at the darkest part of the moon phase and the darkest part of the sun phase.

At the new moon I will move to a new theme focus - from grace to stillness, a perfect theme for this next phase of my life. 

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health, home, holiday, and prepare for Grandson fun. Today I'm also making a few transition-to-stillness plans for the week:

• Clear in-basket and one box of stuff in the office
• A big end-of-year journal brainstorm
• Finish some books (Sweet Spot? Present Moment?) so I can start new books

Agenda:

1. Read "The Sweet Spot"

2. Advent school plans

3. Fall Order and Home projects

4. Prepare for Hanukkah

5. Make potato latkes

6. Hanukia Ceremony

Third Sunday of Advent

We made it through the second week of advent. It was a pretty calm and enjoyable time with the grandkids: We made fudge, set up the snow scene, and made a piñata together. This next week will be more of the same - cookie making, a gingerbread house, and building excitement for a piñata party! (A-1 is really liking the wooden calendar with doors - he finally understands the count down of days.) 

Agenda:

1. Read "The Art of Simple Living"

2. Ducks in a Row calendar

3. Plan activities for family fun

4. Advent wreath ceremony

Retreat for Hope

Today I have some time alone, and I want to give attention to what it means to have hope. I woke up with new ideas or my book project, and at the top was a section on hope for our earth.

We all know in our hearts that we are living on borrowed time - the worst is yet to come. But none of us know what the future holds - what movements might rise up; what a big corporation may suddenly decide to do; what planetary shifts might still occur.

In "Hope in the Dark; Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities" (2016), Rebecca Solnit writes, "Hope is a gift you don't have to surrender, a power you don't have to throw away. And though hope can be an act of defiance, defiance isn't enough reason to hope."

She writes about the realities of economic inequality, attacks on civil liberties, cyber-surveillance, and climate change. "Hope doesn't mean denying these realities. It means facing them and addressing them by remembering what else the twenty-first century has brought ...This has been a truly remarkable decade for movement building, social change, and deep, profound shifts in ideas, perspective, and frameworks..."

So one part of building hope is to remember the good stuff that has happened. Another part is to shift your perspective - open your mind to the possibility that things can get better. Life is full of uncertainties- why not hope for the best? Broad perspectives and possibilities invite an opening to action. 

"Hope locates itself in the premises that we don't know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act. ... It's the belief that what we do matters even though how or when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can know beforehand."

Agenda:

1. Read "Perspective"

2. Make hope plans

3. Make peanut brittle

Lussi Night and Luciadagen

Tonight is Lussi Night in Norway and in Sweden, and tomorrow is Luciadagen (pronounced LOO-sha-da-gen), or St. Lucia’s Day, or St. Lucy’s Day.

It's hard to sort out all the Lucys: We have St. Lucia, a Sicilian woman in the reign of Diocletian who became a Christian martyr. Because her name means light, she was appointed to be the patron saint for the eyes.

We also have the older Roman goddess Lucina, also the goddess of light, and of childbirth- bringing children to light.

And in Scandinavia, we have Lussi, a female demon or witch accompanied by an entourage of gnomes and spirits called Lussiferda.

Agenda:

1. Full effort for gift-making

2. Preschool plans

3. Set out more candles

4. Make Lussekatt (St. Lucia buns)

5. Lusse-vigil

Third Quarter Moon of Advent, for Inner Peace

Today is the third Quarter moon. This waning moon energy is yin - quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness. At this phase we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work, renewal, and self-care. This isn’t a moment for starting new projects but for finishing up old ones, making peace with the past, and preparing for a fresh start at the next new moon.

This week of advent my theme is "Striving to find unity and peace with all the people of the world". One way I do that is to create and retain inner peace. Right about now, as the holiday energy builds and social demands increase, I need to review practices that help me to maintain an even-temper, patience, and grounded-ness.

Agenda:

1. Prayer for the light

2. Read "Perspective" 

3. Inner peace practice

4. Ritual for Release and Realignment

5. Meditation and Evaluation Journal

6. Monthly journal brainstorm

Human Rights Day

Today is Human Rights Day: The United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on this day in 1948.

This year’s Human Rights Day Theme – Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials: "In this period of turbulence and unpredictability, where many feel a growing sense of insecurity, disaffection and alienation, the theme of Human Rights Day is to reaffirm the values of human rights and show that they remain a winning proposition for humanity."

"When we protect the most vulnerable, when we refuse to look away, when we speak up for the institutions that speak up for us, we keep human rights alive." ~António Guterres

Agenda:

1. Journal queries

2. Choose next steps

3. Proaction and reciprocity plans

4. Take the human rights pledge

Christmas in Bethlehem

My theme for this week of Advent is "Striving to find unity and peace with all the people of the world".

One way I love to do that is by learning about the traditions and beliefs of people throughout the world. In years past I've studied Ireland, Germany and Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy, and Mexico.

This year I've decided to look at Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus.

Agenda:

1- Read "Present Moment Awareness"

2- Research Bethlehem

3- A Prayer for Peace and Forgiveness

5- Make soft Irish ginger cookies
6- Make a piñata for Las Posadas

Unity with All People

This week of advent my theme is "Striving to find unity and peace with all the people of the world". The first step is always to remember to be peaceful within myself, and find harmony with the people I interact with.

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health, home, holiday, and prepare for Grandson fun. Today I'll also make plans for inner peace, generosity, and daily harmony.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Sweet Spot"

2. Generosity practice

3. Holiday Mindset

4. Advent school plans

5. Fall Order and Home projects

Second Sunday of Advent

Today starts the second week of advent. Advent is a time of vigilant waiting; I wait for something mysterious and unscheduled, with quiet excitement, and expectation. If I fall asleep to this awareness I risk missing the moment of joy, courage, or insight; the gift of grace that has the potential to feed me in ways I need.

Agenda Today:

1. Love Meditation

2. Read "It's a Meaningful Life"

3. Grace notes

4. Plan activities for unity and peace

5. Advent wreath ceremony

St. Nicholas Day

My grandson's first St. Nicholas Day, 2020!

Today is St. Nicholas Day, and we are nearing the end of the first week of advent. My theme this first week is to "Cherish and care for the earth". I aim to celebrate simply, and consume less, so that I have a gentle impact on the planet.

The modern way of observing the winter holidays supports an increase in waste; one statistic says that Americans throw away 25% more trash – an additional 5 million tons – between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. A fun holiday season doesn't have to be a wasteful one!

Agenda Today:
1. Advent Prayer
2. Love meditation

3. Journal queries
4. Read "Perspective" 
5. Decorate our outdoor tree

St. Nicholas Eve

Tonight is the eve of St. Nicholas Day. Nicholas was born in Lycia, which is now part of Turkey. Legend says he was a kind and generous man, who protected the poor and did many great deeds.

In Holland St. Nicholas is called Sinter Klaas (he is the original Santa Claus). Children in Holland leave their shoes by the fireplace on this night, and in the morning they are filled with marzipan and small toys. The Dutch give simple gifts tonight, but they are often accompanied with riddles, or wrapped in deceiving ways, such as a small box nested inside larger boxes, or something hollowed out with a gift inside.

Agenda today:

1. Joy of Giving meditation

2. Journal queries

3. Days of passion

4. Donate to Toys for Tots

5. Make small gifts

6. Make pfeffernüsse

7. Deliver gifts

Full Cold Moon

photo by Alan Gillespie

Tonight is the Full Moon of December, sometimes called the Cold Moon (for obvious reasons), but it is also called the "Not Bad Weather Moon" by the Kalapuya of my area, and that's generally pretty accurate. We are now at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, and will soon begin the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon. But today it's time to CELEBRATE!

Agenda:

1. Take a vision walk

2. Celebrate Grace

3. Read "The Creativity Book"

4. Craftivism plans

5. Full effort for gift-making

6. Preschool plans

7. Do the smallest thing

Advent Earth Care

My theme for this first week of advent is to cherish and care for the earth. I have further refined it to add: Creating sanctuary for nature because nature is our sanctuary. 

My goal this week is to reaffirm my unity with nature, and continue to create a welcoming yard.

Agenda Today:

1. Read "The Earth Keeper's Handbook"

2. Journal queries
3. Redefine my work for earth care

4. Proaction and reciprocity plans

5. Make bird feeder pine cones