Importance of Recognizing and Celebrating the Holidays

November is a month rich in beautiful ritual. Yet it seems that the commercializing of the holiday season has spawned a generation of curmudgeons that often choose to stay home, opt out of social interactions and avoid family gatherings. We've assimilated into the fast-paced, plugged in society that celebrates independents. Is it any wonder our society is losing its relationship with ritual?

Today's youth clamor that our society has no culture yet it is their non-participation in family traditions that is causing this culture riff. A major portion of childhood memories are based around our individual holiday experiences. Participation in holiday celebrations helps us feel connected to our place in society. Through ritual we connect to generations, past and future.

Barbara Fiese writes in the Journal of Family that families that celebrate holidays are more likely to raise kids who have a strong sense of identity, are healthy, have close ties to family members and succeed in school. Dr. Steven J. Wolin, a clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University Medical School, cites that the power of ritual comes from heritage, tradition and most of all something being emblazoned in your brain over time. And that family rituals protect the individual against a sense of loneliness and uncertainty in daily living as it transmits shared beliefs of the family group across generations.

Carl Jung wrote, "Without meaningful ritual, people suffer. Ritual and ceremony can bridge our past and our present elegantly, making it possible for folks like you and me to travel through life, honoring the good and bad times we’ve been through. They can help us become human “well-beings,” ready to take on more life and liberty and ready to pursue our happiness.”

Recognizing and celebrating holidays and interacting with your family, friends and community are all ways to acknowledge seasonal changes. By celebrating these ancient rituals we attune with the magical tides and acknowledge the rhythms of life, death and rebirth, to harmonize with the world and to recognize that we are a part of it.

Dr. William Dorherty, director of the marriage and family therapy program at the University of Minnesota, has identified two kinds of rituals in our society. The first is the traditional secular and religious rituals surrounding holidays, weddings or funerals; the second involve ritual a family or individual has created to celebrate their life. As children our lives were sprinkled with these small, magical rituals from nightly prayers to singing skipping songs, blowing dandelions to blowing out birthday candles. As adults practicing daily ritual allows us to experience a more magical life. Through ritual we can reprogram the unconscious mind so we have a different set of expectations about how the world will respond to us. Through ritual we can find our way to the places in our lives that exist in between the tick-tock of everyday living and the luscious places of dreaming, the magical places that connect us to the Divine.

There are many simple ways to incorporate ritual into your life: practicing meditation, keeping an alter, lighting a morning candle, whispering a prayer, silently focusing only on your breathing as you visualize what you want to accomplish during the day… all of these are examples of simple morning rituals and all of these work to pull your awareness from the mundane and shift it to the sacred. Through daily rituals we are able to recalibrate our energy and connect with the Divine.

Ritual doesn't have to stop at home. Look at your workspace. What does it hold to remind you that you are a human being, not a robitron but a person, a human being living a tender, ecstatic, gorgeous life? I have a peacock feather and a bright red rock shaped like a heart and before I start my workday, I put the rock in my palm and whisper Namaste. This is called ritual. It is a small ritual but never the less it serves to remind me that I not a robot, and that I am so much more than just flesh and blood, but that I am also spirit as are all those I work with.

Taking a few moments everyday to engage in ritual allows you to become the spiritual being you really are and creating a personal ritual is easy. The important thing is to take something that is significant to you and to honor it. The gesture could include lighting a candle, practicing a daily meditation, honoring a specific place either inside or out, burning incense, or incorporate icons obtained in faraway places. Nothing is, unless you make it so with intention.

So make your life sacred. Take time out to see your world. Don't let the hurry and worry of life take the magic out of your existence. We as a nation have forgotten the art of conscious living. Unplug and take a conscious breath. This is your life you are missing. Put down that cell phone when you are out on your walk. Be present in the here and now, and stop multitasking! If you are eating, then push away that paper, book, phone and take a conscious bite. Be present and enjoy the flavor and texture of your food. Allow yourself to revel in the rich taste, to savor the decadent scent. Give your spouse your full attention during your conversations and be there in that moment when you send your child off for school or play. When we shift our awareness back to the things that matter, it honors and allows them to regain their importance in our lives and makes a way for the magical moments to exist, the moments that make life worth living.

Experience the Magic of the Season

October is surely one of the most enchanting months of the year. Energy crackles in the air. The air turns crisps and blustery. Leaves fall from the trees to twirl at our feet before whirling off down the street. Nights grow cold. Morning meet us with a chilly nip. This is the time for celebration, a time of gratitude for life's abundance as we go from a season of plenty into a season of want.

So turn off that television, step away from your computer, put down your cell. Unplug yourself and step outside. Look at the beauty right outside your window. Most of humanity has experienced their most moving spiritual experience in nature. How inspiring is a thunderstorm or the sight of a brilliant sunset? What emotions were elicited last time you caught the scent of an unexpected rainstorm or stood ankle deep in lapping ocean as the tide rose of fell? Did you feel the first cold nip in the morning as the seasons changed? Stepping out into natural world is a way of connecting with the Divine. The act of becoming aware of the glory of the natural world, of reconnecting with nature allows us to move within the slower, more harmonious rhythms of life. And It allows us to escape our hectic schedules and experience the magic: in the beauty of the setting sun, in the glory of the full moon, in the wonder of a hummingbird sipping nectar from a blossom.

Seasonal awareness, awareness of the solstices and equinoxes and reflecting seasonal changes in our own person practices, allows us to attune our own personal energy to the energy of the natural world. Eating seasonal, recognizing and celebrating holidays and interacting with your family, friends and community are all ways to acknowledge seasonal changes. By celebrating these ancient rituals we attune with the magical tides and acknowledge the rhythms of life, death and rebirth, to harmonize with the world and to recognize that we are a part of it. As children our lives were sprinkled with small, magical rituals from nightly prayers to singing skipping songs, blowing dandelions to blowing out birthday candles. As adults practicing daily ritual allows us to experience a more magical life. Through ritual we can reprogram the unconscious mind so we have a different set of expectations about how the world will respond to us. Through ritual we can find our way to the places in our lives that exist in between the tick-tock of everyday living and the luscious places of dreaming, the magical places that connect us to the Divine.

There are many simple ways to incorporate ritual into your life: practicing meditation, keeping an alter, lighting a morning candle, whispering a prayer, silently focusing only on your breathing as you visualize what you want to accomplish during the day… all of these are examples of simple morning rituals and all of these work to pull your awareness from the mundane and shift it to the sacred. Through daily rituals we are able to recalibrate our energy and connect with the Divine.

Ritual doesn't have to stop at home. Look at your workspace. What does it hold to remind you that you are a human being, not a robitron but a person, a human being living a tender, ecstatic, gorgeous life? I have a peacock feather and a bright red rock shaped like a heart and before I start my workday, I put the rock in my palm and whisper Nameste.. This is called ritual. It is a small ritual but never the less it serves to remind me that I not a robot, and that I am so much more than just flesh and blood, but that I am also spirit as are all those I work with.

Taking a few moments everyday to engage in ritual allows you to become the spiritual being you really are and creating a personal ritual is easy. The important thing is to take something that is significant to you and to honor it. The gesture could include lighting a candle, practicing a daily meditation, honoring a specific place either inside or out, burning incense, or incorporate icons obtained in faraway places. Nothing is, unless you make it so with intention.

So make your life sacred. Take time out to see your world. Don't let the hurry and worry of life take the magic out of your existence. We as a nation have forgotten the art of conscious living. Unplug and take a conscious breath. This is your life you are missing. Put down that cell phone when you are out on your walk. Be present in the here and now, and stop multitasking! If you are eating, then push away that paper, book, phone and take a conscious bite. Be present and enjoy the flavor and texture of your food. Allow yourself to revel in the rich taste, to savor the decadent scent. Give your spouse your full attention during your conversations and be there in that moment when you send your child off for school or play. When we shift our awareness back to the things that matter, it honors and allows them to regain their importance in our lives and makes a way for the magical moments to exist, the moments that make life worth living.

Meditation for the day:

I just spent a year living in Portland, Oregon, isolated from my friends, daughter and husband. An entire year, working an exhausting, depreciating job I hate. I kept asking, "What am I doing here?"  I had spent all my savings to move my kids, pets and vast accumulation of possessions up here. I seemed stuck.

I knew I was waiting to learn a lesson and finally I learned two.

First: Lose the ego.

Why do you scorn others?
Can it be that you are that proud?
No matter how accomplished you are,
There are people ahead of you and behind you.
All beings on the path,
All victims of the same existence,
All with body, mind and spirit
No one is better than the next person.
Help others for all the times that you have been ignored.

Be kind to others, for all the times that you have been scorned.
The journey of humanity is the journey form ignorance to enlightenment.
There is injustice in the world, yes. but there is no need to add to it. When you see someone less fortunate, express compassion. When you see someone more advanced, try to learn from them. Any other feelings are superfluous.

 From Deng Ming-Dao
365 Tao

Second: Lose the junk.
Shifting importance and priorities from material possessions to relationships, I decided not to worry about my things but to instead "lose all the junk" and as soon as I adopted this approach, the door opened. Next month I am leaving Portland and moving to LA. I get take my dogs and all the stuff I can cram into one small car... I'm very excited.

My March Om

March is a Time for Renewal

 "Life on Earth has been a history
of interaction between living
things and their surroundings."
-Rachel Carson

 When early man settled an area that allowed plant life to flourish, agricultural societies prospered allowing for the pursuit of higher ideas. In areas where grain could thrive, civilizations grew, cultivating religion with man's evolving ability to sense the changing seasons and note the motions of the celestial bodies.

To the ancients, bountiful grain fields were a sign of health and harmony. A Sumerian tablet from 260 B.C. lists the crops as rice, soy, wheat, barley and millet and from the cultivation of these five sacred grains, a rich culture was established as deities of local power sprang up with symbols central to the agricultural cycles.

The agriculture year falls into four quarters based on the movements of the sun at the solstices and equinoxes. The ancients marked these days heralding the seasons beginning with feast days naming them: Imbolc or Candlemas, the return of light in the longer days and lactating ewes. Beltane or May Day, coinciding with the sprouting of the first crops and the birth of farm animals. Lammas the first fruits festival and Samhain or Summers end the final harvest of the crops before the time of cold and want. Under the growing pressures of the Catholic Church, the old feast days became Ember Days; or days for fasting and self-denial but paganism persisted until many of the old gods were canonized into Saints and the pagan symbols and rituals over-laid the new celebrations especially apparent in Christmas, Easter and Halloween.

Easter or Ostara is a celebration of the arrival of spring or Vernal Equinox on March 21. This is the time when light and darkness are in balance, yet the light is growing stronger by the day. This is a time of renewal. A time to celebrate fertility as life re-awakens. Also known as Oestara or Eostre's Day, Rite of Eostre, Alban Eilir, Festival of the Trees and Lady Day, this ancient holiday precedes the Christian holiday Easter. The name for this Sabbat actually comes from that of the Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre and her chief symbols are the bunny and the egg.

This is a time of renewal, a time when life reawakens and all is new. This month is the perfect time for you to become an all new, better and improved, you. Look in the mirror and decide what is important to you. Write your goals for this year down and post it where you can see it every day. Take time to sort out what is important to you and put your energy toward its realization.

 It is the small changes we make today that fosters big changes later on. A healthy lifestyle which includes moderation in all things: eating right, daily exercise and a normal sleeping pattern is key to balanced energy. One trick to healthy living is making small changes. Make wise choices (skip the chips choose raw fruit or vegetables) Eating healthy snacks will make you feel awake and alive. Free yourself from a bad diet in simple steps: add fruit to your cereal, have an extra glass of water instead of soda, limit your alcohol and caffeine consumption. It is possible to ease into a healthier lifestyle just by making conscious choices.

The practice of yoga and daily meditation are also wonderful vehicles to a healthier life. Our bodies are so much more than meets the eye. Of course we are flesh, blood and bone but we are also Spirit and within our body lies and an amazing network of energy centers or chakras.

This energy system ensures that our organs, cells, and tissues stay strong and healthy. When there is a block in an energy pathway, the organ system that the pathway corresponds with will also become blocked. Through meditation we can move energy through the body and heal it. Not only can we eliminate stress but we can heal and balance our own bodies by drawing energy to the energy center or chakra point that is not functioning to its fullest potential.

The practice of meditation is a large part of psychic development and spiritual work. Meditation is the practice of focusing and quieting your mind to achieve a heightened awareness of your inner spirit and release your inner wisdom whereby you are attempting to merge the desires of the subconscious mind with the desires of the conscious mind in order to work toward a common goal.

When you shift your attention to each breath slowly and deeply drawn and released, you shift your mind into a quiet mode, releasing your mind clutter and silencing the “monkey mind" that constantly tries to invade our thoughts and emotions. The result of this shift is peace, serenity, calmness and inspiration. Through Meditation we are able to recalibrate our energy and connect with the divine. Your world is what you make it. Take time to make a conscious change. You have the power to create the happy, peaceful, fulfilling (you choose the adjective) life you always wanted. It is in your power to simply choose to worry and let life drag you down or let go of the distraction, switch you attention to the wonder of the here and now and live the harmonious life you were intended to live.

Only you can make your life better. You can make your life into the life you desire. Indeed You have the power to change the world.

I choose easy world.

The universe speaks to me through signs, omens and synchronicities that I welcome and look for but sometimes miss as I ramble by. Three times this week a reference made its way to me.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.                   -Philippians 4:8"

But it wasn't until the fourth encounter that I sat up and took notice. I mean how often is it that an obscure passage in a letter written by a guy who's been dead over a thousand years stands up to make its self known? Ok so the first encounter was in church, but in the lunchroom at work? Really? And I know, why did it take four times? And was it really only 4 times or have my guides been blindsiding me with this a dozen times more before I noticed? I really need to sharpen my communication skills with all that is Spirit. 

Was this an admonishment warning me that if I didn't move my mind back to easy world* (my alternate reality where life has no worries) my path was going to become more difficult? Or was this an attempt to move me along and facilitate my climb to the next level? Considering where my mind has been these past few days, I suspect it is the latter. The universe is like that offering brief exchanges that often seem vague and obscure yet it offers boundless, positive, creative energy to us. Just ask and it will be given, however I caution you, be absolutely sure your really want what it is you are asking for. 

You are the creator of your own reality. Sure there are many external influences that we have no control over but there is no reason to stew over them.  Nothing was ever solved by worrying about it. Instead worry about nothing. Beginning today I resolve to meditate on the good aspects of my life, to lift my vibration as I shift my reality to spirit and dwell in easy world. I have purified my body. I eat healthy and (groan) even gave up coffee in my quest to find peace and exist in harmony with the flow Of All that Is. Have I been under attack these past days? Have I cause harm to others? This week I am going to make a conscious effort to live in spirit and keep the darkness that is this world at bay. 

* Choosing Easy World by Julia Rogers Hamrick a spiritual guide for the suburbanite.

February marks the return of light and life to the world.

I always longed to live in a place marked by the season, a place where life was slower and nature was outside the front door. I got my wish last year and found that the reality of winter is harsh, dark and depressing. The sun was winking out mid-afternoon and the rain seemed to never stop. The Solstice came and went and with it the hours of light grew. By February hints of spring's approach were emerging in the buds on bushes and sprouting bulbs.

For the ancients, February marked the return of light and life to the world. With food supplies running low, the birth of the first lambs brought a reprieve from hunger providing milk and fresh meat. Our ancestors celebrated February as a time of renewal, a time to honor the returning light, as the cold and darkness of winter withdrew. The birthing of lambs and the lengthening days fostered the early fertility festivals that became our modern Valentine's Day.

Indeed February is time of romance, a time to be kind to your loved ones, a time to be kind to yourself. Make this month a time of renewal as you turn away from habits that are holding you back and foster habits to heal your body, mind and spirit. This is the time to take your life back.

Simple Steps to a New You

Honestly look at your life and look at yourself. In your heart you know what is keeping you from being a better person. Take an honest look and decide what habit is keeping you from your goal. The first step to changing your life is to identify what it is that you want to change and have a desire to do the work to change it. Through awareness and ambition you can turn your energy to becoming the person you want to be.

Let’s begin with your body:
Your body is a machine. To improve this machine, you must control the input and output by refining your diet and getting exercise. This doesn't mean stop eating and join a gym. Start small, don't make it hard. Take out one unproductive thing and add one positive thing and by the end of the month you will be a new you. Substitute water for soda. Trade an hour walk, for an hour of watching TV. Eliminate fast food and processed snacks. Instead eat fresh fruits and lots of green leafy vegetables and by changing the small things, you will change your lifestyle. Remember a small step today will result in big changes in your future.

Your mind:
Change is a process. Today take the first step to a better you. Take an honest look at your attitude. Begin by counting your blessings. Look at your life and decide to become mindful. Be being aware, you will be able to make conscious choices and change the way you respond to people. By being aware of your reaction to others, and responding mindfully with positive words, you will avoid habitual traps. When someone rubs you wrong, don't become angry, don't hold grudges. Instead of becoming resentful and wasting all your energy, learn to forgive. When you harbor animosity against a person or group of people, you become stuck in a nonproductive cycle of anger. Learning to forgive fosters positive emotions and lends to a healthy lifestyle. The simple act of changing your attitude gives you the ability to avoid the counterproductive emotions of anxiety and depression and instead find happiness.

By choosing to react with a positive or peaceful response, we choose to be happy. Happiness is at your fingertips. Through conscious choices you will reap huge rewards. When reacting to those around choose to smile more. Praise yourself and others. Dream of success. Be enthusiastic. The shift of your energy to these positive responses will allow you to be happy, joyous, healthy and successful.

Your spirit:
The best medicine to heal the spirit is meditation. Meditation is the practice of focusing and quieting your mind to achieve a heightened awareness of your inner spirit. When you shift your attention to each breath slowly and deeply drawn and released, you shift your mind into a quiet mode, releasing your mind clutter. The result of this shift is calmness and inspiration.

Incorporating a morning meditation into your daily routine will allow you to fill a well of peace at your center. It will give your strength and fortitude to be able to stick with and accomplish the goals you’ve set. The practice of meditation will allow you to improve mental functioning and attain greater intuition as you are granted access to unconscious resources and abilities.

This month be kind to yourself. Take time for yourself. Incorporate into your schedule activities you've wished to do. If you've been meaning to take a yoga class, now is the time. Don't make excuses, don't put it off. If you've been toying with the idea of learning a new skill or working on a hobby, now is the time. Don't let life pass you by. Your life belongs to you. You have the power to make it the life you want to live. It is up to you and you alone to become the person you want to be.

Two Uplifitng Stories

http://www.thegrotto.org/index.php/liturgies/st-peregrine-devotions-the-cancer-saint/

St. Peregrine, The Cancer Saint

St. Peregrine

Patron saint of victims of cancer, AIDS,
and other life-threatening diseases.

St. Peregrine Mass is celebrated at The Grotto on the first Saturday of each month at 12 Noon in the Chapel of Mary.

The Story of St. Peregrine
Peregrine labored for years as a brother in the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites). At age 60 he was diagnosed with cancer of the leg brought on by many years of disciplined prayer while standing, resulting in varicose veins which became ulcerous. On the night before the scheduled amputation of his leg, Peregrine dragged himself to the foot of the cross in the community chapter room and fell into a deep trance-like sleep. Upon waking, he discovered that his leg was completely cured.

Because of the miracle wrought by prayer, the Church canonized him in 1726. He is the patron of those battling cancer and other diseases, including AIDS. His Feast Day is May 4. Here he is depicted in mosaic tiles set in natural stone. In his honor, at The Grotto we have a St. Peregrine ministry for those who suffer from cancer, AIDS, or any life-threatening illness.

The lesson of Peregrine’s life is not only that God worked a miracle, but that a faithful, trustful servant placed himself, unconditionally, in the hands of our Lord. Peregrine’s trust in God can be a model for us in dealing with the pain, sickness and crosses of our lives.

and

http://wicca.com/celtic/wicca/christian.htm

A Christian Speaks of Wicca and Witchcraft
by James Clement Taylor

---

I am a Christian and not a Wiccan. A Christian is one who has been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and who has made a personal, free-will decision to commit himself and all his or her life to our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Both of these things are true of me. I am a member of St. Mary's Eastern Orthodox Church, Calhan, Colorado. In this paper, I am not speaking as agent for any church, but I am, entirely on my own responsibility, speaking the truth in love, as we Christians are supposed to do.

A Situation of Strife and Shame:

There are many Christians today who believe that anyone who is not a Christian is doomed to an eternity of suffering in hell. Any decent person, believing this, would be compelled to try to save as many people from this fate as possible. But is this belief correct? Jesus Christ, having noted the faith and righteousness of a Roman centurion, a Pagan, proclaimed:

"Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:10-12)

If we accept these words as true, and surely we should, then it is clear that heaven will contain many who are not Christians, and hell will contain many who are! Clearly, throughout the Gospels, Jesus Christ sets forth the criteria for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, and those criteria include love, kindness, forgiveness, and a refusal to judge others:

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)

"For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matthew 7:2)

"But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'" (Matthew 9:13)

"Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." (Luke 6:36-38)

Is it not clear? Anyone who fails in these things, will calling himself a Christian save him? Anyone who obeys God in these things, will being unbaptized condemn him? Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

Yet it is not by good works that we earn our way into heaven, because there is no way we can earn the free gift of God's mercy and grace, which alone can save us. But it is clear that it is not by faith, in the sense of sharing the Christian faith, that we are saved, either. The faith which saves us is not faith in the goodness of our works, nor faith that we have the right theology and/or belong to the right church. Rather, it is faith in God, and in His mercy:

"So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy." (Romans 9:16)

But the Wiccans, you will say, do not have faith in God. Yet by their own theology, they certainly do. Those who call them Satan-worshippers are entirely wrong. They do not worship Satan, or even believe that Satan exists. Instead, they worship a Goddess and a God whom they understand as manifestations of a higher and unknown Deity.

Now if you are a Christian, this will sound familiar to you, and it should. In the Bible we find the following:

"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, `Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, The One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you" (Acts 17:22-23)

The Wiccans worship the Unknown God, as manifested to them in the form of a Goddess and a God. Therefore, our Bible tells us they worship the same God we do; and if they do not know this, we should know it!

For those of us who are unable to simply stand on God's Word, and must prove to themselves the truth of what it proclaims the holy Apostle John has given us the method for doing this. You have only to attend any public Wiccan ceremony, and test the spirits which are there, to see "whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1). You will find that, while the power manifested there may be less than what you have experienced as a Christian, that power is clearly the power of God.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, these people of Wicca have been terribly slandered by us. They have lost jobs, and homes, and places of business because we have assured others that they worship Satan, which they do not. We have persecuted them, and God will hold us accountable for this, you may be sure, for He has said, "Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." (Matthew 25:40)

Let us, from this point onward, repent of our misdeeds and declare that henceforth we shall obey Christ our God, and not judge others or condemn them, so that He will not have to judge and condemn us for our sins.