The Magic of the Season

Well, that was a delicious day! I hope that everyone had as nice a meal and time spent with loved ones as I have been having...Life can't get better then the week of Solstice and an old fashioned Yule time. For me, it's always the food that does it, but there are other things too.

I never realized it until a couple of years after my oldest child was born, but each Christmas that rolls around on the calendar adds another layer of memories. Of course they are mostly associated within those precious boxes that only see the light of day a few days before the season.

At least at our house anyway. A few days before Solstice, the Christmas boxes with all our seasonal memories come out. It's as if I am opening up a time capsule of some sort - there are decorations we made each year - marking the stages and phases of the children's growth but also so much more...

Each year I buy one or two items to add to these boxes - not just anything either - something that really appeals to me in some way and adds meaning to where we are for that year. For instance I have lovely blue glass stars from Galway and a book from my very first Christmas in Ireland with the cut out shapes we still use every year. 

And there are homemade snowflakes, coloured chains, hand made Solstice bells - some are quite wrinkled now and won't be around much longer. However, they will be replaced with the same types of art and crafts. 

What does all of this mean? Perhaps it means the energy of each Christmas is contained in those boxes. Each year with ceremony and in sacred space, they are opened up, carefully placed around the house and another year of love, peace and fun is added.

This year I have considered long and hard what sort of energy we are generating and what might the 2012 energy layer look or feel like. From where I am right now, it looks bright, gentle and kind - and at the end of this season, when all is said and done - those decorations will return to the boxes while the energy 'matures'.

I think we are only beginning to touch on the magic of this season...and I hope you are finding joy in yours,

April

Each seasonal touch adds to the magic!

Happy Solstice - Welcome to the Flip Side!

Happy Solstice to everyone out there - it's a special day all around and of course it was lovely to wake up on the flip side - to see that we are all still here. I mean, like really, where else would we go? Unless, it was to other realms...

But that would be some kind of feat wouldn't it. To disappear millions of people into thin air - away with the fairies - wouldn't it then be way too crowded in the fairy tree? No, that certainly was not going to happen. Besides, you would have to be of a fairy vibration in order to even get an invitation to their massive parties...

So - it seems we are stuck here. At least for the time being anyway until someone comes up with something better. Like an open door in time where we might be able to walk through (or fall) down a worm hole into other dimensions.

As far as the world still being here - now that is where the change has taken place. The people are here, but the world we used to know and live in, has dissolved and things are now quite different. With everyone around the planet (well, you know, lots of us) focused on change, shift and energy - we did create something....

Some little bit of the evil that has invaded and taken up space in our lives has now been lifted, along with the dark world it inhabited. That darkness is no longer a part of our reality - it is finally passed and we have come through to the other side.

Perhaps now the goodness that resides in the hearts and minds of humankind can take new roots and grow to even greater heights then ever before. In the meantime, wickedness, evil and those on the naughty list you have been put on notice - Father Christmas knows all about you!

April

Solstice Sunrise in Leap West Cork 12/21/12 

Getting Ready to Party with the Fairies!

Today is day 14 and I am nearly there - just a couple more days to go and I will have reached my goal for this month. Right now I have a sore throat, my voice is nearly gone and I am feeling quite achy -- it might be the cold that the kids had (I'm still in denial however).....

So, today is a new day and I do love Mondays - it's nice to feel like you have a fresh start each and every week. This week is the one we have been waiting for all year - our Solstice celebration is the biggest event at our house - and we are preparing for it moment by moment.

It's not difficult to become a little child like during this time of the year - everything is so exciting. Even the energy in the air is charged with greater good, love and kindness - from the Universe or the Earth herself? 

Or perhaps from some distant star further afield where they might also celebrate something special at the same time of year. I often wonder if all the other dimensions and earth elementals also celebrate in the same or similar ways as us.

The sun's Solstice will occur in exactly the same way for them, and of course it is marked in some special way. Today this was our topic of discussion - as we make our decorations and festive art - Do the fairies, gnomes and earth energies have a tree and decorate?

We like to think so...perhaps their party will be far more elaborate then ours with preparations, carried out in sacred space. We have lost the reverence of this season and disconnected from it's real meaning of the return of the light so vital to all of nature (and us).

What we have forgotten is perhaps our roles in the bigger picture, become lost in the shuffle to and from the shops buying things we don't want or need. Instead it might be far more important for our spirits to spend some time with our loved ones walking and connecting to nature or bringing it inside....

After all, we have a party to attend! 

April

Hawthorne berries bringing in the sacred energy of the earth 

Breaking Through the Negative Holiday Vibes...

Well, something that I have neglected mentioning all week - mostly because I was keeping a low profile and working through lots of dark Christmas energy - is the fact that this is day 4 of my December cleanse.

I am back detoxing (and I feel pretty good about it) working through negativity around Solstice and the general holiday season. I happen to absolutely love this time of year - so all of this heavy stuff that I am walking through is not even mine!!

But, picked up along the way throughout the course of my life....

Perhaps you were fortunate enough to grow up with people who loved this time of year and went out of their way to make it an enjoyable time for everyone. The sad fact is that there are many who do not like it for one reason or another - and some of them are determined to pull everyone down with them.

That sum's up the house I grew up in and needless to say, I have worked very hard to create my own holiday spirit. 

Every year I finish this season thinking the same thought - that was the best Solstice, holiday season ever and next year it will be better again. I spend my time baking, cooking (and eating!) but also thinking up new ways to create traditions for our family or deepen the ones we already have. 

Yet, more often then not, I encounter people who are so negative about this time of year and are determined to spread that gloom around. I have even had to fend off a conversation that went something like this;

"I hate Christmas. You always seem to have so much fun - I'm coming to your house so I can soak up that energy". NOT! (This was from a family member just after my first child was born - and I made it quite clear they were not welcome to spoil my family time)

So, what am I trying to say here? It's actually quite simple - this is a precious time of the year, some would even call it holy. It certainly is all about close ties, love, good food and nice feelings. I for one protect my little space throughout the holidays and keep the energy free and clear.

It's not difficult to do, just a little planning and you can break through any negativity that has invaded your space....this detox is going great!

April

Homemade pickles - ready for the Holidays!