Holi

Today is Holi, a Hindu holiday that falls on the day after the full moon in March each year. It marks the end of winter in India. Holi is sometimes called the Festival of Color, because on Holi everyone in India throws paint at each other!

To prepare, folks buy gulal, which are powdered paints in rich colors of pink, magenta, red, yellow and green. Three days before Holi, families get together to sprinkle a little of the gulal powders on each other, to share love and blessings.

On the day of Holi the whole country goes wild with people laughing and running in the streets; they smear each other with powder, drench each other with buckets of paint, and spray paint with long pistons (like super-soakers). They also fill water balloons with paint! People often show respect for elders by sprinkling dry powder on their feet. 

By the end of the day everyone is covered with color- old people, children, men, women, rich and poor. Holi creates a feeling of equality in a country with strong disparity.

Agenda Today:

1. Read "Revolutionary Witchcraft"

2. Beingness 

3. Earth Action

4. Ongo journal

5. Proaction and reciprocity plans

6. Make Malpua
7. Have a color celebration

1. Read "Revolutionary Witchcraft":

I'm reading this sweet little book by Sarah Lyons (2019) that I got from my daughter for Christmas. The subtitle is A Guide to Magical Activism.

Chapter 2 is Shaking Off the Dirt, about letting go of lethargy so we can change the world.

The next section is about cleansing, as with burning sage, to clear away bad vibes. But she suggests it's also a transformational process, a way to convert negativity into something positive. "Just as death nourishes new life and power is never wasted in nature, let's not try to simply get rid of the bad, but transform it for good." 

Start with a mental exercise: Whenever I screw up and make a mistake in how I act towards the earth or my human family, think about where that action came from - within me and within the world. Use a cleansing spell then to try to heal the place that action came from, and promise to do better. "We aren't going to make the world better unless we commit to making ourselves better, so dedicating ourselves to transforming our own negative patterns, instead of just acting like they aren't there, is a powerful first step."

 

2. Beingness:

For Lent I am finding creative ways to make space for Being in Nature. Today: A walk with my grandson to look for early signs of spring and admire the flowers.

3. Earth Action:

Each day I am taking an action for the Earth - Today I'm finishing a report and minutes.

4. Ongo journal:

I'm going back through this book by Catherine Madden and Jesse Weiss Chu (2022), focussing on the solo practices. I'm on week 8, and Day 3 is Turning Towards Shenpa, which is that sticky feeling of anxiety or tension, withdrawal, or reactivity.

Practice: Continue to pay attention to moments when I feel a sense of being in a reactive state. In one of those moments, make a conscious choice to wholeheartedly turn towards the experience of the moment rather than react (fight, flight, freeze).

This could be allowing myself to think about something troubling and really embrace the Needs I'm experiencing; or really listening to someone who is making me uncomfortable and connect to the Needs they are expressing; or just bringing my attention to the resent moment in nature rather than being in my mind, planning. 

5. Proaction and reciprocity plans:

On Wednesdays I often journal a bit about the future, and my dreams and goals: What GREAT things do I want to accomplish? How will I serve people? How will I use my talents? How will I stretch myself? How can I become an “island of excellence”? What is essential?

Then I try to define achievable, meaningful goals and prioritize the goals and tasks with the greatest long-term impact.

In the next week I hope to:

• Finish a poster with a QR code, and publicize a discussion of the Clean Water bill. Become more well-versed and educated in the facts.
• Update the Interfaith Earthkeeper calendar, and communicate with faith groups to advertise it.
• Next steps for the Little Plant Library: Make signage and web info; collect pots. 
• Send out the EC action news, with information about the Clean Water bill discussion.
• Begin to visualize next steps I want to take this spring to advocate against the climate and biodiversity loss crisis: Focus on forests?

6. Make Malpua:

Malpua is an addictive treat from North India, especially prepared during the Holi festival. It's a like a fried donut with a slightly spicy flavor. 

We like to start these before the celebration so they are ready to fry and eat (with hot tea) while we are warming up. 

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 c. coarsely ground whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 10 crushed peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder.
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3/4-c. water
• 1/4-c. yogurt
• oil for frying

Yield: 12 pancakes-

 
1- Combine the flour, fennel seeds, peppercorns, and baking powder.

2- Dissolve sugar in water. Add yogurt and mix into the flour mixture to form a thick batter. Set aside for 45 minutes.


3- Heat 1" of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Pour a spoonful of the batter into oil, spread into a thin round shape, and fry until golden brown.

4- Drain on paper. Serve hot.

7. Have a color celebration:

My art class kids loved to celebrate Holi! We began with a ritual sprinkling of dry powder- one at a time we dip a finger in our powder and smear it on each person, to honor our friendship. Then we began to spray and throw the colored water and dry powder at each other! It’s a blast!