Hungry Ghost Festival

My hungry ghost altar

Today is 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, so it's a good idea to offer them food.

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:
1. Prepare offerings
2. Family feast
3. Hungry ghost ceremony
4. Make a floating lantern

Hungry Ghost New Moon, or Ghost Gate

The Chinese call the seventh new moon the Hungry Ghost Moon, or "Ghost Gate". This whole month is called Ghost Month, and special ceremonies take place today, and on the full moon, and again on the last day of the month. 

The Hungry Ghosts are depicted with huge, round bellies, large mouths, and very thin necks. This day is called Ghost Gate because today the Hungry Ghosts are let out of hell to roam the earth, looking for entertainment and seeking out their enemies.

Hungry Ghosts have two manifestations- they are the spirits of unhappy, homeless souls, but also we have our inner Hungry Ghosts, our unhealthy cravings and insatiable greeds, that are always hungry and never satisfied.

Agenda for Today:

1. Journal queries
2. New Moon meditation
3. Ghost Gate ceremony
4. Plan small steps

Lughnasa

Lughnasa (loo-na-sa) is a Celtic festival celebrated in early August, usually August 1st. It's called a cross-quarter day because it falls approximately midway between summer solstice and autumn equinox, marking the end of summer in the Celtic tradition, and the beginning of the harvesting season.
The name Lughnasa comes from Lugh, the Celtic God of harvests, crafts, and the lightening flash, and nasad, which was an assembly or gathering. Lughnasad was a gathering to honor and appease Lugh, so he would hopefully not throw a summer storm temper-tantrum, and ruin the harvest. 

Lugh is a master of all crafts, and is known for sharing his knowledge with humans. I feel a connection to Lugh-- he is the image of God as an Arts and Crafts Teacher! 

But he is also the trickster face of God-- chaotic, disorderly, operating outside the framework of right and wrong-- sending lightning at inconvenient moments. This isn't a comfortable image, but I have to face the fact that my spiritual life isn't always comfortable; sometimes what I harvest is tough to chew.

Agenda Today:
1. Journal Queries
2. Harvest and eat new potatoes
3. Make bread
4. Start a craft project

Full Thunder Moon

Tonight is the full moon called the Thunder Moon. 

July days have the humming energy of a summer storm. The sun is at the peak of it's power, lighting all corners with its radiance, and burning away all non-essentials. It's a month of passion and activity: I'm challenged to stretch, and try new, uncomfortable things. My life expands; my thoughts become clear. I am primed for success.

Agenda for today:
1. Update my altar
2. Journal queries
3. Integrity practices

New Lotus Moon

Detail from "Connect", acrylic

The Chinese call the sixth new moon the Lotus Moon. The lotus is the "flower of open-heartedness", an emblem of purity, fruitfulness (because of its many seeds) and creative power. And since lotus leaves protect the goldfish under them, the lotus also symbolizes abundance year after year. 

A lotus flower grows out of the mud, and blossoms above the muddy water surface; Buddhists teach that, like a lotus, we can rise above the suffering and conflicts of life.

The Lotus Moon, then, is the natural time to sink into the mud of my life, and seek out the best ways to grow above the fray.

Agenda for today:
1. Play in the Mud
2. Make a shiny mud ball
3. Journal Queries
4. Lotus Meditation
5. Plan small steps to take

Tanabata

Tanabata is a Japanese summer festival, observed on the evening of July 7th. Tanabata means literally "Evening of the seventh", but it is also known as the Star Festival, because it celebrates the story of two heavenly lovers.

The story goes that Shokujo the Weaver (Vega), and Kengyu the Cowherd (Altair) were two young star people who worked for the gods, making cloth and milking the heavenly cows. They fell so much in love that they forgot to do their chores. The gods became angry when they found they had run out of cloth and milk, and put the two lovers on separate sides of the Milky Way.

The lovers were so sad to be separated that the gods eventually took pity on them and agreed that they could meet once a year on the night of Tanabata, if the sky was clear. It is said that the birds fly up to make a bridge so that the lovers may cross.

Agenda Today:
1. Shinto prayer
2. Hang Paper Streamers
3. Make a tanzaku wish
4. Kigan-sai (Wishes Ceremony)
5. Make Hiyashi Somen (Cold Noodles)