Wolf Moon

“The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand.” - Frederic Lawrence Knowles 

an awesome frolicking group
last night we howled at the moon
strangers in a loose camaraderie

From the website techjackal.net :
Wolf Moon Makes Amateur Astronomers Howl with Delight
Saturday, 30 Jan 2010

High above our planet on Friday night, shown an amazing, full moon. This moon, said to be the brightest full moon of the entire year, was a true sight to behold, even with the naked eye. Such a full moon in January is often called a “wolf moon,” legend saying that native wolf packs come out in force to howl at this bright ball in the sky. In areas where the sky was clear the night of January 29th, the moon shown as brightly as the dawning day, illuminating everything beneath it.

In cities experiencing cloud cover, the moon was lightly covered by a row of clouds, giving it an ethereal look, evoking visions of Halloween goblins dancing beneath.


For amateur astronomers, Friday night was the perfect night to pull out their telescope, to see up close the craters that mar the moon’s surface.

 “My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon” - Chinese proverb

May you enjoy the phases of our life and those of the the moon

small tasks successfully done
gifted with a sacred reunion
a splendid, fruitful day

Poem for day 16 of the Winter Feast from book The Bridge of Stars

LITANY

By George Campbell

I hold the splendid daylight

in my hands

Inwardly grateful for a

lovely day.

Thank you life.

Daylight like a fine fan

spread from my hands

Daylight like scarlet poinsettia

Daylight like yellow

cassia flowers

Daylight like clean water

Daylight like green cacti

Daylight like sea sparkling

with white horses

Daylight like sunstrained

blue sky

Daylight like tropic hills

Daylight like a sacrament

in my hands.

Amen.

May we enjoy the magnificent daylight

Tu B'Shevat - The New Years for Trees

The New Years for Trees

Part of an article I enjoyed reading on hanefesh.com:

On the 15th day of the Hebrew month Shvat, we celebrate Tu B'Shevat the "The New Years for Trees." It is the time of the year when we remember our unique connection between Judaism and nature. It is a reminder that spring and the fresh fruits of the harvest are not too far off.

In Jewish tradition, people have a special relationship with nature and that we should guard the sanctity of the trees and the environment as part of our natural world. The Bible teaches us that the children of Israel were commanded to plant trees and other foliage as they conquered the holy land of Israel "for the tree of the fields is man's life". (Deuteronomy 20:19)

The popular custom today is to eat from all the seven types of fruit with which the land of Israel is praised and blessed (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives & dates - Deuteronomy 8:8-9).

May you enjoy the beauty of the trees

sounds of sizzling oil
wafting smells of bacon
memories of mom cooking

"Children are unpredictable.  You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next."- Franklin P. Jones

From the site alohabible.net:

If there is righteousness in the heart,
There will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
There will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
So let it be.Scottish Blessing --Submitted by Billy, Hawaii

May there be righteousness in our hearts

celebratory feast
global conversation
Denny's temple of reunion

The quotes below were found on a new site I just visted favorite-famous-quotes.com:

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!
Barbara Hoffman

The thing about performance, even if it’s only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain
within ourselves infinite possibilities.
Sydney Smith

May you celebrate each sacred day

Acknowledgement

waiting expectantly
greeted only with silence
my heart feels hungry

I was in a good mood having done some excellent work saving clients a great deal of money this past week. As I went beyond my required duties, I was hoping for some acknowledgement from management. Several emails from clients came back as thank you to our department. I was glad they acknowledged the help they received.

No acknowledgement from management from me. Ok, a job well done should be it's own reward. I was very pleased with myself and completed some additional work outside what is required me. I received kudos from 2 co-workers for my awesome work. Management nothing.

Yesterday, I followed up on some important work that co-workers left undone. One said she didn't like working as she was feeling tired. The other people in situation two had already gone home earlier leaving things undone. I was a little horrified as a not completing the work in a timely manner could be extremely costly for our clients. I put my work aside got it done, was pleased to see thanks to our department from our clients addressing issues so quickly.

Finally, a comment from management. Only one that sent me fuming. . . I may have left a hyphen out of a word.

I just saved our clients a considerable amount of money this week. I really like not to care whether I get credit or acknowledgement. I would like to believe that I just do right thing because it's a better way to live. But I was sitting (rather stewing) there thinking how I wanted some credit.

I said to a co-worker, "When am I getting stop getting upset over things like this, I know she's not good at giving credit to anyone!"

My co-worker replied immediately, with more wisdom than most, "When are you going to wake up not being Lynn?"

"You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins." Jim Stovall


I have done an excellent job this week. Well done, Lynn.

May you acknowledge yourself and others

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe." - Joseph Rudyard Kipling

toasty marshmallows
fire lights our faces
not our sticky fingers

Found on the website poetseers.org:

A Celtic Blessing

May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work that you do
with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light
and renewal to those who work with you
and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of
refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in bland absences.
May the day never burden.
May dawn find you awake and alert,
approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.

I lift these hands, dear God, to You,
in praise and thanks for all you do.
You light the path through all my days
and bless me with your loving ways...
I lift these hands dear God, to You,
in troubled hours when joys are few.
You bear me up on eagles'wings and see
me through each test life brings.
I lift these hands, dear God, to You,
please grant me wisdom, patience, too.
Then fill my heart with love and caring,
precious gifts you've made for sharing.

- Emily Matthews

moving high speed towards tomorrow
i pause a few times to remember yesterday
not noticing what has happened to today

May we be patient with ourselves and others

An Offering of Time By Michel Quoist

Lord, I have time,
I have plenty of time,
All the time that you give me,
The years of my life,
The days of my years,
The hours of my days,
They are all mine.
Mine to fill, quietly, calmly,
But to fill completely up to the brim,
To offer them to you.

May you enjoy the hours of your life

waking with intention
a soft inward turning
my soul is fed

I am enjoying the 10th day Winterfeast with opportunity to add the beauty of solitude in new ways. I am grateful for this external commitment to encourage and support my becoming.





“To take time to be apart…is not a luxury, it is essential. The gift of space for myself seems so simple, and in a way it is: but it is also surprisingly difficult to do without some form of external encouragement." - From “Lost in Wonder” by Esther De Waal

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."  - Luciano Pavarotti

Meal Quartet

fragrant blooming
steady hands
a warm entrance

to the inside sea
widening sky view
gentle ambiance

invisible piano
gracious confidence
fluid movements

wood smoked prime rib
warm brie, warm bread
lingering tastes of elegance

May you savor food and surroundings as you dine

"Traveler, your footprints
are the only road, nothing else.
Traveler, there is no road;
you make your own path as you walk.
As you walk, you make your own road,
and when you look back
you see the path
you will never travel again.
Traveler, there is no road;
only a ship's wake in the sea."

Antonio Machado

grateful for luxury
arriving after the midday sun
my morning pleases me

The Sun Never Says by Hafiz - 14th century Sufi poet

Even
After
All this time
The sun never says to the earth,

"You owe
Me."

Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the
Whole Sky.

Hafiz - 14th century Sufi poet

May you enjoy the sky

metal to glass
flicker of hands
serving

This wonderful poem below I found on spiritualityandpractice.com:

I read about a woman
Who chose cleaning
As her path
To enlightenment.

Rather than beads,
A toilet brush and broom,
From door to door
And train station, too,
Like a servant
Who had been given an example.

What if . . .
Instead of sitting with 'om'
In my inner-city monastery
I asked my neighbor's permission
And cleaned the sidewalks
Each morning, raking
Leaves, sweeping litter.

Only one block . . .
One block at a time."
— Mary Lou Kownacki

May we follow our own paths

an errand done

a meal savored

tis a fruitful day

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and
Demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life,
Beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and
Its purpose in the service of your people.

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
Even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and
Bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and
For the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks,
The fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing,
For abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision."

Chief Tecumseh

May your day be fruitful

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

open-hearted collaboration
smiling at the loving bond
deeper reward than the goal

"I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity... to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that." - Paul McCartney

some belong to each other
some belong to the earth
i belong to the sky

“All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we have been waiting for.” - Message from the Hopi Elders

May we appreciate the sacred in all

3 lines a place
to meet the world
at the edge of me

"I am not what happened to me I am what I choose to become." Carl Jung

the edge of water
neither rough nor smooth
it is infinite

May you enjoy the flow and interconnections

Winterfeast For the Soul Day One

eyes open to the light of prayer
heart open to the truth of soul
mind open to the possibilities

From the website winterfeastforthesoul.com:

DAY ONE

Be silent,
Still,
Aware.
For there
In your own heart,
The Spirit is at prayer,
Listen and learn,
Open and find
Heart wisdom.

Anonymous

Winterfeast for the Soul offers in Inspiritual Quotes for the first 10 days in their Jan 12 online newsletter as well as links to online guided meditations.

As I participate in this 40 day spiritual communion, I am including chanting, prayer, meditation and reading from from spiritually oriented texts. Along with the offerings from the winterfeast site, I am reading from The Bridge of Stars: 365 prayers, blessings and meditations from around the world edited by Marcus Braybrooke.

The first poem in this book is by Rumi:

"Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and scared.
Don't open the door to the study and begin reading;
Take down the dulcimer.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."

May you enjoy the music of the soul

Winter Feast for the Soul

under the same sky together
yet oceans and worlds apart
hearts softly beating

 In a few minutes it will be January 15. I will be participating in the Winter Feast for the Soul for the next 40 days. Below is a portion of information from the site www.winterfeastforthesoul.com:

Sunshine for the Soul

2010 Winter Feast for the Soul

by Valerie Skonie

On January 15, 2010 thousands of people around the world will come together to form a virtual community. They will be joined by their desire to establish a daily spiritual practice in their lives, along with a commitment to personal and planetary peace. They will come together through an event known as

A Winter Feast for the Soul:
a worldwide 40-day
spiritual practice period

Held each year from January 15 – February 23, the event started as a local event in Sun Valley Idaho in 2008, inspired by a three-line poem by the 13th century poet and mystic Jelaluddin Rumi.

“What nine months does for the embryo
Forty early mornings
Will do for your growing awareness.”

The first Winter Feast for the Soul was held in January of 2008, primarily as a local event in Sun Valley Idaho where a handful of people participated. By 2009 the event had drawn nearly 10,000 people from 29 different countries through its growing internet outreach. People practiced in groups in their local communities or alone in their own homes. They joined with others from their own homes in prayer and meditation daily through guided online sessions on the Winter Feast web site,
`There is no prescribed spiritual practice for this event. People are encouraged to use a spiritual practice that brings them peace and stillness. Although most of those who have participated in the past have used some form of meditation, the Feast also embraces other forms of contemplative prayer, reading sacred texts, yoga, journaling and expressive arts. The idea is to set aside 40 minutes each day to still and focus the mind and to dedicate that time to communion with Spirit.

 May you enjoy some time in contemplation and prayer

"Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots."  Frank A. Clark

listening to the timbre
aware calling it rain misses
contact with each drop

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." Rabindranath Tagore

a perfect morning
an indrawn breathe
the eternal rising sun

From the website 1stholistic.com:

Prayer At Time Of Adversity
 An Inuit Indian Prayer

I think over again my small adventures

My fears,
Those small ones that seemed so big,
For all the vital things
I had to get and reach.
And yet there is only one great thing,
The only thing,
To live to see the great day that dawns
And the light that fills the world.

May you enjoy the dawning of your day

"I take nothing for granted. I now have only good days, or great days."
Lance Armstrong

grateful for the blessings she wished me

may you have an unturbulent evening

settling into the status quo perfect

prayer for tolerance - voltaire - 18th century

Found on the website Worldprayers.org:

O! Thou God of all beings, of all worlds, and of all times,
We pray, that the little differences in our clothes,
in our inadequate languages,
in our ridiculous customs,
in our imperfect laws,
in our illogical opinions,
in our ranks and conditions which
are so disproportionately important to us
and so meaningless to you,
that these small variations
that distinguish those atoms that we call men,
one from another,
may not be signals of hatred and persecution!

prayer for tolerance - voltaire - 18th century

splishy sloshy walkways
small riverlets to circumvent
urban trekkers shudder

Isabel Allende

from the silence ideas slide in
tittering on consciousness
riding down ink to paper

The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor on NPR today had the wonderful piece below on Isabel Allende, the author of next month's Book Club book Zorro:

Today, writer Isabel Allende (books by this author) is starting a new book, just as she has been doing every single January 8th for the past 29 years. On January 8, 1981, when Chilean-born Allende was living in Venezuela and working as a school administrator and freelance journalist, she got a phone call that her beloved grandfather, at 99 years old, was dying. She started writing him a letter, and that letter turned into her very first novel, The House of the Spirits. She said, "It was such a lucky book from the very beginning, that I kept that lucky date to start."

Today is a sacred day for her, and she treats it in a ceremonial, ritualistic way. She gets up early this morning and goes alone to her office, where she lights candles "for the spirits and the muses." She surrounds herself with fresh flowers and incense, and she meditates.

She sits down at the computer, turns it on, and begins to write. She says: "I try to write the first sentence in a state of trance, as if somebody else was writing it through me. That first sentence usually determines the whole book. It's a door that opens into an unknown territory that I have to explore with my characters. And slowly as I write, the story seems to unfold itself, in spite of me."

She said, "When I start I am in a total limbo. I don't have any idea where the story is going or what is going to happen or why I am writing it." She doesn't use an outline, and she doesn't talk to anybody about what she's writing. She doesn't look back at what she's written until she's completed a whole first draft — which she then prints out, reads for the first time, and goes about the task of revising, where she really focuses on heightening and perfecting tension in the story and the tone and rhythm of the language.

She said that she take notes all the time and carries a notebook in her purse so that she can jot down interesting things she sees or hears. She clips articles out of newspapers, and when people tell her a story, she writes down that story. And then, when she is in the beginning stages of working on a book, she looks through all these things that she's collected and finds inspiration in them.

She writes in a room alone for 10 or 12 hours a day, usually Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. During this time, she says, "I don't talk to anybody; I don't answer the telephone. I'm just a medium or an instrument of something that is happening beyond me."

May we learn to go with the flow

Prayers & Condolences For Carol

 with open arms he held me up
a seat in lap put me up high
strong rough hands my fortress

I was very sorry to hear our friend Carol Brown's father died. I wanted to offer this poem/prayer/blessing written by John O'Donohue called Beannacht (Blessing):

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,

may there come across the waters

a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak

to mind your life.

May we be held by the tenderness of love

Merry Christmas & Christmas To Those Celebrate Today

"Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you… T. A. Barron

foods gathered from fields
the family rounds the table
the joyous meal shared

 


Part of an informative article from the website Russian-crafts.com:

Russian Christmas

Thirteen days after Western Christmas, on January 7th, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates its Christmas, in accordance with the old Julian calendar. It's a day of both solemn ritual and joyous celebration

After the 1917 Revolution, Christmas was banned throughout Russia, along with other religious celebrations. It wasn't until 75 years later, in 1992, that the holiday was openly observed. Today, it's once again celebrated in grand fashion, with the faithful participating in an all-night Mass in incense-filled Cathedrals amidst the company of the painted icons of Saints.

Christmas is one of the most joyous traditions for the celebration of Eve comes from the Russian tradition. On the Eve of Christmas, it is traditional for all family members to gather to share a special meal. The various foods and customs surrounding this meal differed in Holy Russia from village to village and from family to family, but certain aspects remained the same.

An old Russian tradition, whose roots are in the Orthodox faith, is the Christmas Eve fast and meal. The fast, typically, lasts until after the evening worship service or until the first star appears. The dinner that follows is very much a celebration, although, meat is not permitted. Kutya (kutia), a type of porridge, is the primary dish. It is very symbolic with its ingredients being various grains for hope and honey and poppy seed for happiness and peace.

Once the first star has appeared in the sky, the festivities begin. Although all of the food served is strictly Lenten, it is served in an unusually festive and anticipatory manner and style. The Russians call this meal: "The Holy Supper." The family gathers around the table to honor the coming Christ Child. A white table-cloth, symbolic of Christ's swaddling clothes, covers the Table. Hay is brought forth as a reminder of the poverty of the Cave where Jesus was born. A tall white candle is place in the center of the Table, symbolic of Christ "the Light of the World." A large round loaf of Lenten bread, "pagach," symbolic of Christ the Bread of Life, is placed next to the Candle.

The "Holy Supper"

Christmas Eve dinner is meatless but festive. The most important ingredient is a special porridge called kutya. It is made of wheatberries or other grains which symbolize hope and immortality, and honey and poppy seeds which ensure happiness, success, and untroubled rest. A ceremony involving the blessing of the home is frequently observed. The kutya is eaten from a common dish to symbolize unity. Some families used to throw a spoonful of kutya up to the ceiling. According to tradition, if the kutya stuck, there would be a plentiful honey harvest.
Traditionally, the "Holy Supper" consists of 12 different foods, symbolic of the 12 Apostles. Although there was also some variation in the foods from place to place and village to village, the following is a good summary of what was typically served. The twelve foods are:

1) Mushroom soup with zaprashka; this is often replaced with Sauerkraut soup
2) Lenten bread ("pagach")
3) Grated garlic
4) Bowl of honey
5) Baked cod
6) Fresh Apricots, Oranges, Figs and Dates
7) Nuts
8) Kidney beans (slow cooked all day) seasoned with shredded potatoes, lots of garlic, salt and pepper to taste
9) Peas
10) Parsley Potatoes (boiled new potatoes with chopped parsley and margarine)
11) Bobal'ki (small biscuits combined with sauerkraut or poppyseed with honey)
12) Red Wine

It was once common practice, on Christmas Eve, for groups of people masquerading as manger animals to travel from house to house, having themselves a rousing good time, and singing songs known as kolyadki . Some kolyadki were pastoral carols to the baby Jesus, while others were homages to the ancient solar goddess Kolyada, who brings the lengthening days of sunlight through the winter. In return for their songs, the singers were offered food and coins, which they gladly accepted, moving on to the next home.

May we all be blessed and enjoy each sacred meal

“Some chant in meditation, some practice deep, austere meditation; some worship Him in adoration, some practice daily rituals. Some live the life of a wanderer." - Artharva Veda

roughly rounded wooden beads
gently fingered marking rounds
of comforting semi-foreign sounds

“To the poet, to the philosopher, to the saint, all things are friendly and sacred, all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

pausing to gaze at the misty sky
sounds of the urban waterfall echos
as the dark iron grate swallows the rain

I am thinking of Jean Daley as she will shortly go into knee surgery this morning. I know she surrounded by a loving family. And if you wander by and see this, please feel free to say a blessing or a healing word for jean.

May the One who blessed our ancestors --

bless and heal the one who is having healing surgery today:

 Jean daughter of Maxine.

May the Holy Blessed One

overflow with compassion upon her,

to restore her,

to heal her,

to strengthen her,

to enliven her.

The One will send her, speedily,

a complete healing --

healing of the soul and healing of the body --

along with all the ill,

among the people of all humankind,

soon,

speedily,

without delay,

and let us all say:  Amen!

(Modified version of a Hebrew Healing prayer Mi Sheberakh)

May we all be blessed with healing

"I take nothing for granted. I now have only good days, or great days."
Lance Armstrong, famous cyclist

hairs fall slowly brushing my face
slightly tossing my head relaxing
reading my soft new poetic book

May you have an enjoyable moment

a Sunday flow would include biscuits & hot tea
gently arising savoring the weekend paper
yes, slow, comfy with a touch of literature

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."- Mother Teresa

May you enjoy yourself and those around you

Lily Yeh Healing Through Art & Beauty

 "Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired." - Mother Teresa

her heart heard the calling
she stretched beyond the fear
inner light spread transformation

I heard Lily Yeh on an NPR program yesterday. I so impressed to hear how this woman is using art to heal communities. She quoted Mother Teresa. "Let my heart be broken so the whole world can fall in."

Then I found an artilce about her on Gather.com Losing Your Religion: Lily Yeh's Mandala Journey (December 18, 2009) By Ann M. Part of this article is below:

As an example, consider the life of artist-activist Lily Yeh. In her own words, "I got in touch with my inner light.  Now I use it to ignite other people's pilot lights.  Making art in a destitute place is like lighting a fire in the dead of night."

Lily Yeh began her outreach in inner-city Philadelphia, creating mosaics (often in mandala or tree of life patterns) in abandoned lots. Her helpers included children, homeless persons, and drug addicts.  Says Lily "We are all broken in one way or another. We put our heads together like broken pieces of tile."

Lily formed a bond with a homeless drug addict, Joseph Williams, who eventually became sober and also became her spiritual guide.

Later, with the help of another guide, Lily felt called to heal the wounds of genocide in a Rwandan village. She helped the community construct an elaborate monument containing the bones of their loved ones, providing a sense of closure to their mourning. During this process, the people of the village learned how to build mosaic and pour concrete, both marketable skills.

Lily then asked the Rwandan children to create paintings of things they hoped to see in their future, such as cows and computers. Thanks to Lily's catalysis, the village eventually became profitable by African standards, acquiring livestock, sewing machines, and solar panels.

May appreciate how much beauty heals and honors

First Books of My Year

"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands." - Robert M. Persig

 sale sale a call to spend today
glimmer in my eye wallet in hand
specials volumes find new home

I made my first book purchases for the new year yesterday at third place books.


Haiku - the sacred art - A Spiritual Practice in Three Lines by Margaret D. McGee

It has been fun and interesting to make daily three line poem or synopsis of my day or my thoughts. What a concise way to journal my daily life. I am open to learning a bit of the actual craft. Yes, it feels like a daily spiritual practice.

Chakra Mantras by Thomas Ashley-Farrand - namadeva

After making a commitment at the request of Sri Amarananda Bhairavan after a very special Savitri® Group Ritual, I have been doing my meditation practice twice a day. This includes using mantras, special chants. I saw this book by Thomas and thought it would male a nice edition to my library and perhaps my spiritual practice. He studied with one of my earliest spiritual teachers Sadguru Sant Keshavadas.

I have them nicely added to my Library Thing collection on online. Now, I can just sit admire and touch their covers.

May you enjoy your books

What Are Your Five Words For 2010?

From Rhonda Britten's twitter:

2010! What five words are you hoping will describe 2010? Name them. When you have an intention, its easier to stay focused and true to you:)

And my personal answer (without pondering deeply):

beauty
health
kindness
home
prosperity

And selecting card from Ted Andrews Animal Wise tarot, my year will watched over by otter - keywords from the deck - creativity and skill.

"There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in your heart." - Chandogya Upanishad

gently wrested from my warm cave
to pay for the honor of living within
gifted with a blustery northwest night

Beginning A Sacred Journey - Happy Gregorian New Year 2010

A piece of an interesting and information article From the website infoplease.com:

The Curious History of the Gregorian Calendar
Eleven days that never were
by Ben Snowden

September 2, 1752, was a great day in the history of sleep.

That Wednesday evening, millions of British subjects in England and the colonies went peacefully to sleep and did not wake up until twelve days later. Behind this feat of narcoleptic prowess was not some revolutionary hypnotic technique or miraculous pharmaceutical discovered in the West Indies. It was, rather, the British Calendar Act of 1751, which declared the day after Wednesday the second to be Thursday the fourteenth.

Prior to that cataleptic September evening, the official British calendar differed from that of continental Europe by eleven days—that is, September 2 in London was September 13 in Paris, Lisbon, and Berlin. The discrepancy had sprung from Britain's continued use of the Julian calendar, which had been the official calendar of Europe since its invention by Julius Caesar (after whom it was named) in 45 B.C.

Caesar's calendar, which consisted of eleven months of 30 or 31 days and a 28-day February (extended to 29 days every fourth year), was actually quite accurate: it erred from the real solar calendar by only 11½ minutes a year. After centuries, though, even a small inaccuracy like this adds up. By the sixteenth century, it had put the Julian calendar behind the solar one by 10 days.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the advancement of the calendar by 10 days and introduced a new corrective device to curb further error: century years such as 1700 or 1800 would no longer be counted as leap years, unless they were (like 1600 or 2000) divisible by 400.

If somewhat inelegant, this system is undeniably effective, and is still in official use in the United States. The Gregorian calendar year differs from the solar year by only 26 seconds—accurate enough for most mortals, since this only adds up to one day's difference every 3,323 years.

Despite the prudence of Pope Gregory's correction, many Protestant countries, including England, ignored the papal bull. Germany and the Netherlands agreed to adopt the Gregorian calendar in 1698; Russia only accepted it after the revolution of 1918, and Greece waited until 1923 to follow suit. And currently many Orthodox churches still follow the Julian calendar, which now lags 13 days behind the Gregorian.

May you enjoy the measurement of time