The very end of October and very beginning of November is my favorite holiday time. So full of mystery, magic and hope. This time of year is steeped full of traditions, history, honoring our Ancestors and all of those that have come before us and of course, focusing on our own personal responsibility and Spirituality. How could anyone not be enamored with this week of the year?!!
In just 5 days you have Halloween, New Years, Samhain, Dia de Muertos, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, Diwali, and New Years [again]! And, those are just the ones I listed off the top of my head. (If you have anything that you celebrate that I've missed, please contact me here so that I can include them next year.)
Here's your homework:
Find a new holiday to learn about. Pick something between October 31st-November 4th. And, with the Internet, this should be a snap. Make sure you choose something that resonates with you, your current belief system and that can fit nicely into your already planned celebrations.
1. Read about the history of the holiday you picked. Be sure to search more than one website and/or go to the library and check out a few books, stories and even craft and cookbooks.
2. Experiment with some of the rituals [on that holiday's date]. This can be anything from setting up an alter, letting candles burn throughout the night or even meditating, singing and dancing ~ it's whatever tickles your fancy.
3. Craft something; you can make a wreath, mask or a doll, light a row of candles, make a dish from/for that holiday, or even make your own New Year's list. You must CRAFT it. The crafting is important because it's you getting physically involved in what you've just learned about. (You may already have something planned for the ritual of that day.) This section of your homework is about you letting your creativity flow! Enjoy the Holidays!!!
4. Document and journal your effort, experience and rituals. Take pictures of what you did and write about it in your journal. Don't have a journal? No problem! Go get one. Journals and notebooks are everywhere. Find one that fits who you are or, more appropriately, who you want to be. (Still not sure where you should look? Try this online store In the Section Products that Inspire.)
So, why don't I just explain and teach you about all of the holidays mentioned above [here]? Well, for one thing I just listed at least 8 different religious celebrations, and to be quite honest, there are bound to be multitude of people who are offended and complain about what I'd write. How do I know? Because I get that all the time.
(If you'd like more information, Living Lightly Newsletter is sending out a variety of holiday emails that explain a few of the holidays and give you ideas and exercises to do at home. You can sign up for those here.)
But more importantly... I want you to listen to your intuition and find what resonates with you. That's what makes learning about yourself and Spirit fun. That's what makes it exciting. It's not the force feeding that teaches and inspires you, it's the inner promptings. It's the learning to pay attention to yourself and the training to notice your inner thoughts and feelings. It's the amazing ways that Spirit works through you and brings you the guidance and messages that you crave. It's all the synchronicities and the coincidences that happen so frequently that a coincidence just doesn't mean the same thing anymore. It simply, means much, much more than it ever has before.
Yes, I write this blog to teach you. Yes, I give you 'real' information. But nothing, no thing and no person can ever replace that Ah-Ha moment when you get something yourself or when your whole world makes sense or when you sit back and watch everything in your life fall into place. That is magic. That is Divine. That is what I strive to help you uncover in your life. It's already happening all of the time within and around you... My job, well, my job is to help you tune into the subtleties so that you see it, feel it, know it and move with it, every moment of everyday.
