Little New Year

Kitchen God I drew a few years ago.

Today is called Little New Year- it falls on the day of the waning half moon one week before the new moon in late January or early February- one week before Chinese New Year! 

It's also known as the Kitchen God Festival because this is the day that the Kitchen God, Tsao-wang, and his wife, Wang Bo-jia, leave to report to heaven. In a Chinese home, a picture of these two gods hangs in a niche just above the stove. The picture is printed or drawn on rice paper. 

Tsao-wang and Wang Bo-jia watch the daily life of the household and keep a written record of everything that goes on- whether the family is tidy or messy, honest or sneaky, thrifty or wasteful... it’s a little like having Santa watching all year, to see if you’ve been good or bad!

Agenda today:
1. Housecleaning
2. Make window flowers
3. Make nian-gao (new year's cake)
4. Kitchen God Good-bye Ceremony

Prepare for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is in two weeks, on February 5th this year- so it's time to prepare.

In China a whole month is spent in preparations- cleaning, cooking, and decorating the house. All of the things displayed at Chinese New Year are symbols of the ideal life- tokens and reminders of the good things we hope for: Luck, wealth, long life, and happiness.

Agenda this week:
1. Housework
2. Nian-hua and good-luck calligraphy
3. Forced Blossoms
4. Make Jiao-zi dumplings 

Babinden

The Slavic holiday Babinden (bah-bean-den) happened already on January 21, but I am celebrating it today instead.


Baba is "grandmother", and the in is possessive; den is "day", so the meaning is "Grandmother’s Day". It’s also called Midwives Day.

Babinden is an ancient festival, still celebrated in Bulgaria, to give thanks and show respect to the women (or men) who have helped in the child-birthing process, and for all the other skills and knowledge the grandmothers have: Growing food, cooking, herb lore, looking after their grandchildren, and teaching folklore and traditions. 

The roots of this festival, however, are in fertility rites. In Bulgaria, a house full of healthy and beautiful children is a basic value, and this is the underlying focus of the rituals on Babinden.

Agenda today:
1. Journal queries

2. Hand-washing ceremony
3. Plan gifts for my grandmothers
4. House cleaning and blessing
5. Make pitka (Bulgarian bread)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today I am reminded again that I need to honor the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality, and dignity for all people, and share in the efforts.

Agenda today:
1. Journal queries
2. Study
3. Make a new banner
4. March
5. Index to MLK Day projects

Full Wolf Moon and Tu B'Shevat

Tonight is the full moon. The full moon of January is called the Wolf Moon because of the hungry packs of wolves that used to roam for prey at this time of deep winter.

Tonight is also Tu B’Shevat (too b’sch VAHT), the Jewish New Year for Trees. It begins at sunset on the evening of the full moon of late January or early February. This is the season in Israel when the earliest-blooming trees begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. In contemporary Israel it’s celebrated with tree planting ceremonies and a focus on ecological awareness. Many also share a seder (ceremonial meal) of tree fruits.

Agenda: 
1. Journal queries
2. Altar
3. Practice receptivity
4. Blessings Walk
5. Tree of Life visualization
6. Plant a tree
7. Share a seder meal

My Year of Virtue

Virtue is ethical behavior. It encompasses a wide array of very nice things like honesty, compassion, temperance, and so on. I think I'm mostly a good person, but I'd like to be better... I disappoint myself all the time. I decided to give attention to virtue this year, and see how I might improve my virtuousness.

I ran across Ben Franklin's system for virtue improvement. Ben devised a small chart that he carried with himself, to record his behavior day-to-day in 13 areas. If you do a Google search you will see that MANY people are interested in Ben's system! You can buy journals and download charts if you want, but I know I won't be happy unless I personalize mine.

Agenda:
1. Create a virtue chart
2. Make visual reminders
3. Daily review