Cusp of Autumn

 We are on the cusp of Autumn, and I want to take time to prepare myself - body, mind, and spirit. I'm taking this whole week to bring my attention to the shift we are undergoing - attempting to slow down, simplify my schedule where possible, and celebrate.

Agenda:

1. Read "Earth Walks"

2. Fall possibilities

3. Practice a Reverent Way of Being

4. Nature culture practices for fall

5. Fall vignettes

September Transitions

September is a transition month - the last weeks of the sun-baked summer, and the beginning of autumn. September's element is earth, which grounds and gives strength. And I need grounding, because Autumn is a wild and energizing time, when seeds ripen, and the everything is at its peak of unruliness. 

Even though I am feeling the urge to draw inward, now is not the time to completely retreat. September is a time to be open, and to respond to whatever life brings me; I am looking under rocks and turning things upside down. I am sorting out the ideas that come to me, holding each up to the light to see if it’s a keeper, looking and listening for crazy wisdom. I am maintaining an unruly kind of discipline. I am celebrating each new day and the Truth it brings.

This is the season to awaken the wild woman within and break some rules! I ask the important questions and misbehave (with integrity). But I am happily aware that I will never have an orderly shelf-full of the Truth. Truth is a mystery- it shifts and twists out of my grasp, and hides in the shadows. I am comforted to know this, because it releases me from the need to have all the answers. My real work is to ask all the questions.

Agenda:

1. Journal query

2. Read "Step into Nature"

3. Proaction
4. Reciprocity plans

5. Pockets

Days of Grandsons

Our days are defined right now by our grandsons; we plan all else around them, and they make us who we are.

They are with us on most days of the week, rain or shine and in sickness and health. Our house is filled with toys and kid-friendly furniture. We schedule around them and for them. We are exhausted by them and miss them terribly when they are gone.

On Grandson Days we prepare for field trips, library visits, collection walks, and art projects. I think about how I will include them in my garden work and in my cooking. And I remember to be flexible, because I never know when they will be interested and when they will not. 

1. Read "The Creativity Book"

2. Teaching art

3. Collection walks

4. Acorn and pinecone rolly-polly painting

5. Seed medallion

Cusp of Autumn

We are on the cusp of Autumn, and I want to take time to prepare myself - body, mind, and spirit. I'm taking this whole week to bring my attention to the shift we are undergoing - attempting to slow down, simplify my schedule where possible, and celebrate.

Agenda:

1. Fall possibilities

2. Practice a Reverent Way of Being

3. Nature culture practices for fall

4. Fall art themes

5. Make bread

6. Fall vignettes

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. Recite prayers
2. Make Ghormeh sabzi (beef & herb stew)
3. Sow fava beans and plant garlic

Mehregan

Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), is an ancient Persian festival, older even than Zoroastrianism, that began as a feast for the sun god/dess, Mehr.

Mehr (also known as Mithra) is responsible for knowledge, love, friendship, promises, and the light. The word "mehr" in Farsi means kindness.

When Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia, in around 1400 BCE, Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained. Now Iranians celebrate it usually on October 1st or 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving and the start of the second half of the year (Noruz, in March, is the start of the first half). People decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

Agenda Today:
1. October thoughts

2. Journal queries

3. Read "Root and Ritual"

4. Make Aash-e-jo (barley soup) with lamb
5. Set the table
6. Fire

Fall Equinox and September First Quarter Moon

The autumn equinox occurs tonight at 11:50 p.m. in the Pacific Northwest. Summer is over and darkness will again catch up to the light.

The rains will begin soon (hallelujah!), Canadian geese are on the move south, the leaves are turning and beginning to drop, and night temperatures are cooler. Everything in nature is paring down, and moving energy to the roots and into the earth.

Tonight is also the first quarter moon; we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - growing in light and energy, creating a time for decisive action. I use this August quarter moon's energy to help me to discern my path, and then act on it; this requires clarity.

Mark the Start of Autumn:

1. Journal queries

2. Fall possibilities list

3. Make a full effort plan

4. Write a mission haiku

5. Sustainable straw collecting

6. Make a straw doll

House of Belief

A house of belief reflects the family that lives in it. I want to fine tune my interior spaces and my garden to better express my beliefs; specifically - simplicity, love, and unity with nature.

I'm working towards clean rooms (clean floors, windows, dust-free surfaces); a comfortable amount of clutter (and a place to put each useful thing away); spaces that welcome and embrace all the ages of people who live or visit here; and visual interest - things to look at that spark the imagination, and communicate our love of nature.

Agenda:

1. Read "House of Belief"

2. Deep living room cleaning

3. Hands-on projects

4. Autumn vignettes

Full Squirrel Moon and Sukkot

Tonight is the full moon called the Squirrel Moon, because now the squirrels are busily gathering nuts for the winter. This moon is also called Atchalankuaik, the "start getting sagittair roots" moon, by the Kalapuya of our area (sagittair is a potato like tuber). 

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.

Sukkot 2014

Tonight is also the start of Sukkot, a 7-day Jewish harvest festival that begins at the full moon in late September or early October.

The word Sukkot means “Booths”; Jews all over the world build outdoor booths for Sukkot, like the simple huts that farmers in ancient Israel lived in during harvest time. The roof is always made of leafy branches, open to the sky so that you see the stars through the leaves. Each family decorates their hut, makes it comfortable, and eats at least two meals there; they invite guests, light candles, and say prayers of thanksgiving for the harvest.

Agenda:

1. Take a vision walk
2. Celebrate balance

3. Autumn awareness walk

4. Fall cleaning
5. Build a sukkah and eat outside

My condition

I'm reading a Pendle Hill pamphlet called Marking the Quaker Path: Seven Key Words Plus One,by Robert Griswold. This speaks to the condition of many Friends in my Meeting, who are ready to go deeper on this journey, and a large group of us are studying this booklet together this year.

Griswold says, "The question I wish to consider here is: How do Friends become aware of this Quaker path and the need to keep growing?  ... Our meetings may be open and welcoming, but a large task still faces us. How do we let seekers know that they are at the start of a spiritual journey, and how do we guide them on that journey?"

It's true that we need to be better guides, and it sometimes feels like the blind leading the blind. I hope that this class and group reflection will help us to be clearer, even wiser.

Griswold uses seven key words that come to us from our Quaker history, that were developed to help us sense where we are on the Quaker path, and where we are going. He says these words will help us all to see how the Quaker path unfolds - but only if we "bring them into our experience so they are sealed in our hearts ... Friends from George Fox on have sought to avoid a faith that is notional, that is, just based on imagined or abstract thinking. So it is vital that we come to own these words through experiencing them in our lives".

We should consider these words more as growth markers than as concepts, as part of a sequence.

1. Word #1 - Condition

2. My path

3. Autumn plain living

4. Simple pleasures

Third Quarter Moon of October

Today's waning third quarter moon energy is yin - quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness. The focus for the next few days is on renewal, cleansing, and self-care.

Agenda:

1. Renewal plan

2. Self-care routine

3. Cleansing

4. Prepare for Halloween

Ayathrem

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.

Ayathrem is the fourth Gahambar, celebrating 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. Recite prayers
2. Make Aash-e-Reshte (noodle soup)
3. Sow fava beans

New Chrysanthemum Moon

Endurance- acrylic and collage on canvas.

Tonight is the night of the new moon. The Chinese call this ninth new moon the Chrysanthemum Moon. The chrysanthemum is a symbol of long life and endurance because of its ability to withstand colder temperatures. According to Chinese scholars, it shows the virtues of one who can endure temptations and maintain grace.

The new moon is the start of the lunar cycle, a time of high energy and clear thinking. Historically, the new moon is when women took time to be alone; it's a time to retreat, set intentions, and initiate something new.

Agenda for today:
1. Journal queries

2. Retreat Day

3. Pick a theme

4. Set goals and intentions

5. New moon altar and meditation

6. Fall cleaning

Navratri, Part 3, and September First Quarter Moon

 Navratri continues for three more nights, with the arrival of Saraswati. 

The word navratri means nine nights; on each set of three nights we meditate on a different aspect of Shakti, the universal principle of energy and creativity, Mother Earth, and the feminine power in each of us. For these final three nights we honor and thank the Divine Mother as Saraswati, who is "the essence of self".

And this is the First Quarter Moon; we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - getting larger - until it's full again. Now is the time to remain flexible, use my obstacles as fuel for growth, and show full effort for priorities.

Agenda Today:
1. Morning meditation on wisdom

2. Journal queries

3. Make a full effort plan

4. Add to my altar
5. Evening visualization and prayer
6. Lakshmi mantra

New Chrysanthemum Moon

Endurance- acrylic and collage on canvas.

Tonight is the night of the new moon. The Chinese call this ninth new moon the Chrysanthemum Moon. The chrysanthemum is a symbol of long life and endurance because of its ability to withstand colder temperatures. According to Chinese scholars, it shows the virtues of one who can endure temptations and maintain grace.

Agenda:
1. Journal queries
2. New moon meditation
3. Set intentions

Ayathrem

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.

Ayathrem is the fourth Gahambar, celebrating 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. Recite prayers
2. Make Aash-e-Reshte (noodle soup)
3. Sow fava beans

4. Fall cleaning

Mehregan, Chung Ch’iu, and Full Squirrel Moon

Today is Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), an ancient Persian festival, older even than Zoroastrianism, that began as a feast for the sun god/dess, Mehr. When Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia, in around 1400 BCE, Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained. Now Iranians celebrate it usually on October 1st or 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving and the start of the second half of the year (Noruz, in March, is the start of the first half). People decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

The squirrels are creating great entertainment these days for my dog Sadie!

Today is also the start of Chung Ch’iu, the 3-day Mid-Autumn Moon Festival - a happy and beautiful Asian family celebration that comes each year at the time of the full moon in September or October.

And tonight is the full moon called the Squirrel Moon, because now the squirrels are busily gathering nuts for the winter.

I'm celebrating a hybrid Mehegran/Chung Ch'iu/Sukkot this year -- for more art and recipes for Chung Ch'iu see my 2018 post.

Agenda for today:

1. Update my altar
2. Journal queries
3. Practice at my theme of balance
4. Fall cleaning

5. Make soup

6. Set the festival table

7. Have a Moon Viewing Party

Navratri, Part 3

 Navratri continues for three more nights, with the arrival of Saraswati. 

The word navratri means nine nights; on each set of three nights we meditate on a different aspect of Shakti, the universal principle of energy and creativity, Mother Earth, and the feminine power in each of us. For these final three nights we honor and thank the Divine Mother as Saraswati, who is "the essence of self".

Agenda Today:
1- Add to my altar
2- Morning meditation on wisdom
3- Make moong dal (yellow lentil) sundal
5- Evening visualization and prayer
6- Lakshmi mantra

Navratri Continues

 Navratri continues tonight with the visit of Lakshmi. 

The word navratri means nine nights; on each set of three nights we meditate on a different aspect of Shakti, the universal principle of energy and creativity, Mother Earth, and the feminine power in each of us. Tonight we honor and thank the Divine Mother as Lakshmi, the Goddess of success. 

Agenda Today:
1- Make a new rangoli design
2- Add to my altar
3- Morning meditation on creative growth 
4- Make sweet corn sundal
5- Evening visualization and prayer
6- Lakshmi mantra

Full Harvest Moon and Hungry Ghost Festival

The full Harvest Moon rises this evening-- obliquely, close to the horizon-- and remains big and bright for a long time, giving extra light to harvesters.

Today is also the date of the Hungry Ghost Festival. The ghosts have been wandering the land since the beginning of Hungry Ghost Month, 14 days ago, at the new moon; by now they must be very hungry. In China both Taoists and Buddhists perform rituals to soothe the sufferings of the dead. The Taoist name for the Hungry Ghost Festival is the Zhong Yuan Festival, and Buddhists call it the Yulanpen Festival. Think of it as a summertime Halloween celebration!

Agenda for today:
1. Update my altar
2. Journal queries
3. Practice Stillness

4. Prepare offerings
5. Family feast
6. Hungry ghost ceremony
7. Make a floating lantern