Greetings
to all Full Circle members and friends,
In this edition of the newsletter we have:
*
The Pagan Bookshelf * Director Chosen
for The Witches Ball * Fighting Fair * Beeswax lip balm * Imbolc * Nutrition
& Health * Events of Interest * Pagan Unity Campaign * The Year of the
Horse
A special note: Our
family was hit very hard recently by the flu bug over period of 5 weeks. As a
result, this January 2002 newsletter is very late in going out. I’ve decided to let it serve as
both the January and the February newsletter.
My thanks to all of you for your patience.
This month’s newsletter also has a far greater
number of books referenced throughout then is usual. I honestly can’t tell you
why that is. Sometimes these things
just write themselves. When that
happens, I get out of the way and let the information go where it’s supposed to
go. Enjoy….
-----------------------------------------------------------
THE PAGAN BOOKSHELF:
In
February, the birds begin to choose their mates and build their nests. At that time, our own thoughts may turn to
the subject of love. (If you’ve ever wondered why Valentine's Day occurs during
the month of February, now you know.)
For
those of you who are planning a wedding or handfasting ceremony this year there
is a new book titled “Magical
Weddings: Pagan Handfasting Traditions for Your Sacred Union” by Joy
Ferguson. Visit http://www.ecwpress.com for more
information.
For
those of you who have partners (whether you are married or not or whether you
have more then one partner) I would recommend this book: “Now that I’m
Married, Why Isn’t Everything Perfect?
The 8 Essential Habits of Couples Who Thrive” by Susan Page. I would also recommend: “Don’t Sweat The
Small Stuff in Love: Simple Ways to Nurture and Strengthen Your Relationships
While Avoiding the Habits That Break Down Your Loving Connection" by
Richard Carlson and Kristin Carlson.
And
as every adult knows, even the most perfect love can be challenged by the
subject of money. I would recommend the following books on this subject: “Money
Demons: Keep them From Sabotaging Your Relationship and Your Life” by Susan
Forward. This is a good book for those
of you trying to combine and negotiate finances with a loved one.
For
you Pagan Parents who are attempting to teach your children good habits around
money and finances, I would recommend these titles: “Money Doesn’t Grow on
Trees: A Parents Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children” by Neal
S. Godfrey and Carolina Edwards. Also, “A
Penny Saved: Teaching Your Children the Values and Lifeskills They Will Need To
Live in the Real World”, this is by Neal S. Godfrey and Ted Richards.
DIRECTOR
CHOSEN FOR THE 2002 WITCHES BALL:
I am pleased and happy to announce that the Full Circle Council has offered the position of Director for the 2002 Witches Ball to Marie Buhtz and that she has accepted.
Those
of you who attend our Black Light Pagan Bowling Night will know Marie. She and her charming partner Greg often
attend this function and the dinner that follows it.
Marie
comes to us with a stellar list of qualifications. She has years of experience as a Manager and she has excellent
communication, organizational and people skills. She is very creative herself, as well as practical, and she is
good at working with other creative folks.
She has handled budgets, managed employees, and overseen a number of
complex projects before coming to us.
She is a costumer in her own right and an accomplished gamer, as
well. She is a prodigious reader of
fiction and non-fiction and she has a wealth of information on art, history,
costume, decoration and culture both in her head and in her personal library. Marie is responsible, graceful under
pressure and a lot of fun to be with.
We are delighted to be working with her this year.
Welcome,
Marie!
FIGHTING FAIR:
Many
people have written in to our office since the last newsletter and asked for
information on the subject of “fighting fair”; a topic I mentioned in my
December essay. To those of you who are
interested, I would recommend an
audiocassette by John Bradshaw titled “Fighting Fair” which is available
at http://www.amazon.com. (Unfortunately, this valuable information is
not available from JB in book form).
Other
titles of interest are: “Difficult Conversations: “How to Discuss What
Matters Most” by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, et al and “Thank You For
Being Such a Pain: Spiritual Guidance for Dealing with Difficult People” by
Mark I Rosen. I also keep this on my
desk at work: “201 Ways for Dealing
with Difficult People: A Quick Tip Survival Guide” by Alan Axelrod, Jim
Holtje and James Holtje.
This
next title will be of great help to anyone leading a Circle, Coven or
Group. It is “Antagonists in the
Church: How To Identify and Deal With Destructive Conflict” by Kenneth
Haugh. While the focus is Christian,
the information this book contains is useful to anyone who provides spiritual
guidance, training or leadership in our community. I first heard about this book from Isaac Bonwitz and I have
found it very useful in my own work.
Finally,
for those of you who are wondering how your partner, lover, boss, best friend,
or self ever got to be the way they are, I would suggest you read this
wonderful book: titled “John Bradshaw on The Family". Bradshaw focuses on the dynamics of the family and
he explains how the dysfunctional rules and attitudes we learned while growing
up can continue to haunt us into adulthood if they are not addressed. He offers
practical solutions to help people move from unconscious, dysfunctional
behavior to happier, more conscious ways of being. This book has been out for
some time, but it has just been updated and re-released. It
is a “must read” for anyone attempting to move beyond the lessons they learned
growing up in a dysfunctional family or for that matter, in a dysfunctional
culture. It comes in both cassette and book form.
Here
is a website that gives tips on fighting fair about money issues:
http://www.womoney.com/FightFair.html
Here
is a quiz you can take to see whether you really fight fair or not:
http://www.lifetimetv.com/relationships/quiz/fightfair.html
and
here are some tips for fighting fair on-line:
http://www.windweaver.com/email.htm
Most
of us would prefer never to fight with our loved ones. This is understandable. But if you interact with another
person, you are eventually going to be in conflict with them. There is nothing wrong with conflict, per
se, the trick is to do it with honesty and integrity. Those who don’t fight fair or who can’t express their anger in
healthy ways tend to build up resentments over time. When people build up too much unspoken resentment, they may
eventually come to a point where taking about the problem can no longer heal
it.
Avoiding
conflict may seem easier in the long run, but people often find that they come
away from broken relationships with regrets that can haunt them for years
afterward. Some people learn nothing
from past relationships and they tend to make the same mistakes over and over
again. Not learning from our mistakes and repeating them constantly can be it’s
own kind of hell. In fact, it’s the
only kind of hell that I, as a Pagan, believe in.
Unspoken
anger can also lead us to drink too much, eat unhealthy food, work to excess,
worry ourselves sick or spend too much money.
All these unhealthy behaviors are a way of masking and avoiding our
problems and they only make the situation worse. Also, the anger we feel towards ourselves or the resentments we
feel towards others but don’t express can often turn inward and develop into
depression. Depression can keep us
from making the changes we need to make in our
lives. Therefore, learning how to
express our anger and using it to fight fair can be very liberating, and
deeply healing.
Learning
how to fight fair (like learning how to grieve) is one of those essential tools
that most people don’t get in their toolbox. (If I had my way, they would teach
these skills to kids in elementary school).
Learning how to fight fair involves having the courage to make mistakes
and to say “I’m sorry” when you do. It
means you set your own boundaries about how you choose to be treated. It means that you care enough about someone
to be honest with them about how you feel.
Finally, it means that you are more interested in doing good then in
looking good. Tricky, as the man once
said…very tricky.
Anger,
as I’ve said, can be helpful. It is
usually our best clue that some part of our self is in danger or that our
boundaries are being pushed in ways we aren’t comfortable with. It can also help us understand some of our
own issues and character defects more fully.
Have you ever noticed how people who have our very same character flaws
enrage us? It’s like looking into a
mirror and it can make us very uncomfortable.
Seen in this way, anger can be viewed as a difficult gift, as well as a
source of great personal insight.
It
might help us to think of anger in the same way we view the four
elements. Anger is like earth, fire,
water or air in that it is real and very powerful. Anger has it’s own laws and
properties and it has to be understood in order for us to use it’s
energy most effectively. If being a
Pagan means that we try to live our lives as fully as we can then dealing with
anger and learning to fight fair can be seen as an important part of our
spiritual path.
I’ll
let you know a secret I’ve learned about anger. It’s this: The universe will set things up so that you can
practice fighting fair on people who don’t matter all that much to you in the
greater scheme of things. If we learn
how to express our anger towards these people in ways that are respectful,
effective and healthy, then we have a much easier time of it when we have to
set a boundary with a loved one, a friend, or the boss. But I give you Fair
Warning: If we skip these initial lessons because we are too afraid even to
try, then we will find that the lessons we are sent as we travel further down
the road much, much harder to deal with.
Therefore, I have found it helps to take a moment and let that rude
salesperson know how I feel (calmly, firmly and politely). Then I silently bless them for giving me the
opportunity to practice fighting fair.
Of course, I also take the time to compliment people when they do a good
job. That kind of thing has to go both
ways to be truly fair.
Like
any other skill, learning how to fight fair and learning how to express your
anger in healthy ways gets better with practice. So hang in there. You’ll be glad you did and so will your
loved ones.
The
cold season is challenging for our skin and hair. For you Crafty Pagans, here is a recipe for Beeswax Lip Balm to
help keep your lips from becoming chapped in winter weather. Most health food or high-end vitamin stores
will have these ingredients.
Remember:
Do not to share lip balm as this can transmit germs. Do not use petroleum oil in this recipe as petroleum oil makes
chapped lips even worse.
IMBOLC:
Feb. 2nd is Imbolc for many of us (also know as Candlemas, Imbolg, Imbolc, Brigantia, Lupercus, St. Brigid’s Day, and Disting). The Witches Voice has a nice series of articles on this holiday: http://www.witchvox.com/holidays/imbolc.html. Those of you with a Wiccan bent might like a new book just out by Amber K titled “Candlemas: Feast of Flames – Bridgit’s Festival of Light and Life”.
NUTRITION AND HEALTH FOR 2002:
A
lot of us have made the decision to be healthier this year. If you trying to find a food & vitamin
plan that works for you, consider this website: http://web.realcities.com/content/rc/health/healthnutrition/bayarea/.
They
have up-to-date information on nutrition and health in a format that is easy to
read.
Creating
a Food Plan can be fun, as well as enlightening. I spent some time recently with one girlfriend who is trying to
do just that. She has asthma, is
hypoglycemic, is lactose intolerant
(like most of us) and just now entering perimenopause. I found her at her house the other day
surrounded by stacks of 3x5 cards and different nutrition books. Each book had different diet recommendations
for all of her different conditions.
She told me that she was making huge lists of what foods she could and
could not eat. Some of the foods
recommended for women in her age group were not good for people with asthma and
vice versa – you can see the challenge here.
Like her, you may have to do some homework to find the foods that not
only keep you healthy but that will improve your moods and your mental
state. Each person’s needs are different. You’ll find that it really is worth the
effort and trouble when you have improved mental clarify, are able to avoid
those mood swings and have greater reserves of energy. Finding a food plan, like traveling a
spiritual path, can be a lifelong process and a very rewarding endeavor.
To
help you along, here is some information on the Food & Mood Project at http://www.foodandmood.org/ and an
interesting article on the link between food and depression at http://depression.about.com/library/weekly/aa110700.htm. Lastly, here is some helpful information
from the people who bring you the book “Nutrition for Dummies” and
“Vitamins for Dummies” at http://www.dummies.com/Health/Nutrition/.
When I need medical information
from a book, I go first to Dr. Weil.
Andrew Weil has spent the last 25 years studying alternative healing
methods. He is the founder of the
National Integrative Medicine Council.
He also has an MD from Harvard Medical School and is a Clinical
Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona. As a result, he is in a unique position to evaluate the
(sometimes outlandish) claims of both the alternative healing community and of
the mainstream medical establishment.
For more information by and from Dr. Weil, check out his website at http://www.drweil.com/app/cda/drw_cda.php. He is the author of many books, including
two of my favorites: “Eight Weeks to Optimum Health” and “Spontaneous
Healing”.
And for those of you who were
wondering what my friend was reading, I include her current reading list
below. My thanks to her for sharing
this:
Eating Well for Optimum Health:
The Essential Guide to Bringing Health and Pleasure Back to Eating” by Andrew
Weil, M.D.
“Perimenopause: Changes in Women’s
Health After 35” by James E. Houston & Dralene Lanka.
The Low Blood Suger Handbook” and “The
Low Blood Sugar Cookbook” by Patricia and Edward Krimmel.
“The Menopause Diet” & “The
Menopause Diet Mini Meal Cookbook” by Larrian Gillespie. She is also the
author of “The Goddess Diet” for women (a good book for women between the
ages of 21 – 35) and “The Gladiator Diet” for men. It is a shame
that these are sold as diet books, because all of Gillespie’s books emphasize
nutrition, health, longevity, and strength, more then they emphasize loosing
weight, which is as it should be.
The Nutritional Health Bible” by Linda
Lazarides.
“Woman: An Intimate Geography” by
Natalie Angier.
EVENTS OF INTEREST:
Jan
24th - Benefit Concert for the First-ever Berkeley Pagan Pride
Parade - The Starry Plough in Berkeley
Tickets $6 - $10, sliding scale. Jeff Stott of "Stella Mara" 9:30 -
10
Leigh Ann Hussey and Band 10:15 – 11 & Avalon Rising 11:30 - 12:15
Visit:
http://www.avalonrising.com for more
information.
Jan
25th – Bridget Ritual – Women Only – San Jose
Contact:
lunacirca@yahoo.com for more info.
Jan.
27th – Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential – Mountain
View
Caroline
Myss (author of “Anatomy of the Spirit” & “Why People Don’t Heal”) will
discuss her new book and explain how to identify your spiritual energies and
higher purpose.
For
more information visit http://www.eastwest.com.
Jan.
28th Your Last diet: The Sugar Addict’s Weight Loss Plan – Mountain
View
Visit
http://www.eastwest.com for more
information.
Feb.
9th- Love and Justice benefit for RAWA – Sebastopol
2
pm - 12 pm, Sebastopol Community Center, featuring Bhakti with Suzanne
Sterling.
Feb
15th – 18th – PantheaCon – San Jose
Their
flyer says: A convention filled with many wondrous rituals, workshops and
performances. Early registration form is on line. Discount ends January
15. Featured Guests to date: -
Robert Anton Wilson, RJ Stewart, Diana Paxson, Z Budapest, Mary
Greer, Reclaiming, Raven Grimassi, Lon
Du Quette, Daniel Schulke, M. Macha Nightmare, Darryl Cherney, Amber K, Donald
Kraig and more. Takes place at the DoubleTree Hotel, San Jose (408 / 453-4000,
2050 Gateway Pl., San Jose, CA) As always, if you have any other questions that
aren't answered by http://www.ancientways.com/html/convention.html,
please email
programming@ancientways.com.
As
of this writing, all of the Dealers Tables were sold out.
Feb
23rd – Celtic Workshop – Santa Cruz
For
more information contact (831) 427-6695,
maza@ucsc-extension.edu, or visit http://www.ecsc-extension.edu.
The course number for this class is EDP 013W63.
Feb.
23rd – User Friendly Tarot Playshop – Felton
The
flyer says: 11am-6 pm @ Gendron Studios, Felton, Space limited; Secure yours in
advance. $75 includes extensive manual; to register or inquire: (831) 335-9064.
The flyer says: Sats, Mar. 2, 9 & 16, 1-5:30 pm, $45 + $10 materials fee per class, $120 + $30 materials for series. Your Totem Shield:3/2; Symbolic Art & Tarot: 3/9; Mythic Maskmaking:3/16, Class sizes limited; to register or inquire: (831)335-9064.
March
5th – Meditation Class – Mountain View
Visit:
http://www.sophianic.org or contact
Argante Comyn (argantecomyn@yahoo.com)
to find out more.
March
23rd – Return of the Snakes Parade - Berkeley
Their flyer says: The Saturday following Patrick's day, we honor our native ancestors by bringing together brothers and sisters of ALL native spiritual practices in pride and harmony, as well as those who support our community. In doing so, we unite in our message to the world that Pagans, or "the people of the earth, " are alive within modern society, and that we must live together in love and tolerance, as opposed to fear and misunderstanding, as voices in the great choir of Spirit. Come reclaim your spiritual heritage and participate in this historic pride event! We encourage diversity, tolerance, safety, and respect for all participants and audience members. This is a family-friendly event, and children are encouraged to participate. Contact Micha at (510) 843-0333 or snakeparade@yahoo.com, or see http://www.geocities.com/snakeparade for more info.
Note: These good people seem to be having some
trouble with the format of their website (the problem takes the form of
overlapping colored words, on top of the black and white text.) I can see this
problem on my browser but the owner of the website can’t see it on her
website. Would some of you nice
techno-pagans please visit their website and give them some tips to fix this
problem? Thank you!
May
11 – 8th – Workshop for Women in Costa Rica:
An
ecstatic music and healing retreat with daily sessions of singing,
chanting, ritual. Visit http://www.edgeofwonder.com/
for more information.
ON-GOING
EVENTS:
Ritual,
potluck and social for families with young children
Their
flyer says: In the east bay beginning at 11 AM. These are regular gatherings
held on the second Sunday of every month. Call Mary at 510-526-1008 for more
information.
Attendance
is by invitation only. Contact Dj at info@fullcircleevents.org for more
information.
Visit
http://www.fullcircleevents.org
for more information. (Please note:
There will be no bowling night in February due to PantheaCon. The next bowling night will be in March).
Women's
Spiritual Journeys: A Safe Place to Explore - Monterey – Every 3rd Friday
The
flyer says: This is a unique opportunity for women of various
faith perspectives, lifestyles, ages, and stages to come together for
meaningful dialogue, shared ritual, and the Goddess within. Together we will
share our stories, celebrate our lives, and explore our spiritual journeys.
For more information, contact Sheree at 831-899-3565, or Phyllis
831-659-4585. Free.
For
more information, please contact Kathryn at: Shadowdancers369@cs.com
or (415) 469-0858.
Contact
Beverly & Doug: (707) 865-9263.
Contact:
Brighde at (530) 756-6339 or via e-mail at pkallen@ucdavis.edu.
Visit
http://www.tempestmusic.com for more
information.
Women’s
Circles at Dragon Dream in San Francisco
For
registration and information call (415) 339-7888 or e-mail:
lilith@dragondream.com.
Their
flyer says: Celebrate the seasons with the Lodge of Herne
Contact
Blackthorne at blackthorne6@hotmail.com
for more information, or see
http://members.tripod.com/~deanjones/paganplace.html.
Their
flyer says: Celebrate the seasons with like-minded parents and children.
Group is new and working toward establishing a format. We welcome
all families!!! Contact blackthorne at blackthornea6@hotmail.com.
More information on these and
other events, please visit:
Bay Area Pagan Assemblies: http://www.batnet.com/bapagan/bapa.html
Full Circle Events: http://www.fullcircleevents.org
The Index: http://www.cyprian.org/Index/
The Witches Voice: http://www.witchvox.com
(Go to their California
Events Page)
PAGAN UNITY CAMPAIGN:
This just came in from the Pagan Unity Campaign:
In accordance with Pagan Unity campaign's
ongoing goal to keep Pagans
on the minds of the government representatives in Washington, and to
assure them that we are everywhere, and we will no longer be ignored,
mistreated or under represented, PUC is staging the 'Multifaceted
campaign' on Feb. 1st, 2001.
We are asking all Pagans to email,
fax, and telephone their government
officials, all day long on Feb 1st. In these correspondences we are
asking the representatives, senators, and White House officials to
'please support religious diversity, tolerance and freedom.' We are
asking that these requests be signed by the sender, and that
'Paganunitycampaign.org' be noted under their personal signature.
The multifaceted campaign is meant
to extend the 'Iam' post card
campaign of last Summer Solstice, and set the stage for the 'Iam2'
repeat post card campaign to be held this summer solstice.
On Feb. 1st we ask that Witches,
Wiccans, and all Pagan tradition
followers, invoke their own magical power as a voter, and a citizen by
contacting their elected officials. Emails, faxes, and telephone calls
from Pagans all over the country, pouring into offices at the senate,
the house of representatives, and the White House, will show these
officials in no uncertain terms that Pagans are indeed a voting block
to be recognized, respected, and paid attention to. It will assure them
we will no longer remain silent and unseen in the politics of our
country. Pagans will indeed be loud and proud and actively demand our
rights and respect as an ancient and honorable religion.
For
more information, go to http://www.paganunitycampaign.org
THE
YEAR OF THE HORSE:
Many
of the books I’ve just mentioned in this newsletter fall under the category of
“Self Help”. This category is something
some people like to laugh at. Perhaps
it’s because they lack the courage to try and improve their lives.
I
believe it was Socrates who said, “The unexamined life is not worth
living”. He liked to sit with his young
student, Plato, and their other friends and discuss the nature of truth and
reality. They tried to live in the ways
that seemed best to them and to follow the precepts of their teacher who also
advised them to “Be what it is that you wish to seem”. These men were citizens and soldiers as well
as philosophers and their ideas were based on the hard realities they saw
around them.
But
to know yourself, as the Greeks tried to do, and to tell the truth takes
courage. Socrates was executed by the state for his beliefs and Plato risked
death several times for telling the truth to tyrants. So let’s not worry about those few folks who snigger at
books. We know that it takes a great
deal of courage to take an honest look at our lives and make the changes we
might need to make. When people choose
hope over illusion they are choosing to be self-actualized human beings: http://www.uwec.edu/admin/counsel/pubs/chars.htm.
And
this can be a source of great blessing in their lives.
Having said that, I know that most people don’t tend to get a lot of support when they choose to change. I believe that this is because their personal changes mess with the status quo, something the other people in their lives might be greatly invested in.
I still
remember all the flak that Gloria Steinem took several years ago when she
choose to write a book titled “Revolution from Within”. http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/ND95/gorney.html
“Revolution
from Within” focused on self actualization rather then her usual and “more
serious” subject matter: politics. That just goes to show that people weren’t
paying attention when feminists made the (still relevant) statement in 1972
that “The personal is political.” So
this newsletter for you crazy radicals out there who think that your personal
lives have an impact on the greater good.
Pagans
know that wisdom brings us closer to a connection with the earth and her
creatures and that the changes our practice brings within us effect the world
around us. In his book, “Towards
Wisdom”, Copthorne Macdonald writes:
Wise people live their
daily lives in accord with wise perspectives and wise values. As a result,
their actions make the world around them a better place. They help others to
grow. They live compassionately. They resolve conflicts and in other ways
maximize harmony and general well-being. If their own growth in wisdom is
carried to the point where identification with Being takes place, they stop
differentiating between themselves, the universe, and what needs to be done. At
that point they see themselves and the rest of humanity as Being itself —
evolving, and living progressively higher values.
We could say, for example,
that wisdom involves:
·
seeing things
clearly; seeing things as they are
·
acting in prudent
and effective ways
·
acting with the
well-being of the whole in mind
·
deeply
understanding the human/cosmic situation
·
knowing when to
act and when not to act
·
being able to
handle whatever arises with peace of mind and an effective, compassionate,
holistic response
·
being able to
anticipate potential problems and avoid them
Each statement helps
clarify some aspect of wisdom, but none tells the whole story……
And
later he writes:
"Why do my
relationships fall apart?" "Why do I keep getting myself into this
kind of mess?" "What is reality telling me?" "What is the
lesson in this?" "Is there a general rule of the Game that I've
missed up to now?" Wise people ask themselves these kinds of questions,
and when they do, the answers come. Wise people are attentive people, and their
attention to what is not working well eventually leads to greater harmony. They
know that the solution to a problem almost always lies in a clear understanding
of the problem itself.
Staying open is often
uncomfortable. The pain of uncertainty, of growing, comes with the territory of
human existence. A certain directivity toward perfection may well be built into
the cosmic process and, as Maslow's research indicated, into each person. But
the means to actualize perfection are not ideal. Some degree of discomfort
appears to be the price of continual transcendence, continual replacement of
old ways of seeing with new ways.
For
more information on this Santa Cruz writer and his work visit: http://www.cop.com/.
I
hope this month’s newsletter will support your efforts to make this year a
better one, both for you and for your families, in whatever way is wise and
right for you.
And
while we’re on the subject of this year, I would like to remind everyone that
Feb. 11th marks the ending of the Year of the Snake (thank
goodness!) and begins the Year of the Horse.
I plan to pay attention to that totem and I am using it in my
meditations and in my journal work to see what it has to say to me. Each person’s experience with this symbol
will be a bit different and yet there are things about the horse that speak to
all of us, as well.
I have
a feeling that this is going to be a very powerful year. Something tells me that the people who focus
on their goals and on their boundaries this year will have a great year, especially
if they get their boundaries in place in January and February and keep them in
place throughout the year. My own work
tells me that if these things are not attended to, consciously and with
integrity, then I could easily end up battling some of the same demons I
battled last year. I don’t know about
you folks, but I’m not about to go through another year like 2001. In the words of my idol, Granny Weatherwax,
“I’m not having it.”
So
I’ve given myself homework for 2002, which is to set my goals and boundaries
as clearly as I can. I am writing
these, speaking these and using these in ritual. It’s the Year of the Horse, I tell myself; ride it or be ridden
by it.
Here
is some of what my WeMoon calendar http://www.wemoon.ws
says about this year:
…”Powerful
Horse has magical qualities, including the ability to fly. A white celestial cloud Horse was sacred to
the compassionate Goddess Kwan Yin.
Kwan Yin’s white Horse flies through the heavens, bringing peace and
blessings.
Horse year is a time of victory,
adventure, exciting activities, surprising romances and fun. Decisive action, not procrastination, brings
success. Energy is high and production is rewarded.” (by Susan Levitt)
I
leave you with three thoughts to take with you into the Chinese New Year:
“It is not because things are difficult that
we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult" – Seneca
“Let
the beauty we love be what we do” - Rumi
And my personal favorite:
“Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for
they shall never cease to be amused.”
Wishing
you laughter, beauty and courage in 2002.
Sia
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