holiday
Shine Your Heart Light This Holiday Season
Times have been tough this year. The alignment of the stars have not been overly kind to most of us. Public health crises, economy, politics, mayhem. And in this atmosphere relationships are even tougher than ever to navigate, especially with Venus and Pluto aligning in Scorpio.
My beloved dad, who passed twelve years ago, often said, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Situations or people may appear hopeless and dark in these times, but it is important to remember that even the smallest flicker of just one tiny candle can shine a light for others to hold on to. Astrologer Pam Gregory, reminds us to breath into our heart centers, to raise our vibrations. In doing so, each one of us can be that tiny candle, flickering in the dark.
The holidays will bring families together. But holidays can either be celebratory occasion of merriment and cheer… or a war zone of toxic viewpoints and unwelcome meddling. It can often be an unresolved issues ‘free-for-all.’ A nosy sibling might tell you what they think, while you did not ask their opinion! Or, Uncle Bob may dip a little too frequently into the spiked eggnog, drowning all the fa-la-la in his wake.
It occurs to me now that the happy Bing Crosby tune Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive I heard on the radio earlier was no accident.
You’ve got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between
You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
Bittersweet Is The Fall
Bittersweet is the fall in Maine. Literally. We have a vine here known as the ‘asiatic bittersweet’ (celastrus orbiculatus) that produces attractive red berries. They are yellow at first, but as they mature the outer shell cracks open to expose a magnificent crimson berry with a yellow coat.
Crafters here in New England traditionally use this vine to make holiday wreaths and decorate their homes. It also adorns the roads of Maine with the combination of fall leaves and green of pine trees.
But the bittersweet vine does its name justice in both sweet beauty and bitterness, life and death, because it is not only adored for its versatility as autumn décor this time of year, but it is also widespread, severely invasive and destructive. It suffocatingly twines high up around trees and sprawls over lower plants and vegetation.
It is not a native plant to the region and was originally brought here as an ornamental plant. As the vine begins to spread and grow to the top of trees it becomes the vine of death for the tree as it covers it completely. A bitter vine.
The fall is indeed a bittersweet time of the year. The natural cycle of life and death. The bittersweet time of year is the time to harvest food for the long winter ahead. Get our homes ready for the snow, darkness, and ice of winter.
In Maine the old timers say ‘button up the house’ for winter. The sweet part is people are thinking of the holidays ahead and gatherings with family and friends. There are traditional recipes. Who will make the best pie? Everyone has a favorite. Whose gravy is the most delicious? It’s a time of gratitude for everything that is good in life.
Astrology Forecast October 25 – 31, 2021
Happy Samhain and Halloween! This final week of October culminating in the sacred Celtic holiday should run quite smoothly. A Gemini Moon today, followed by tomorrow and Wednesday’s Cancer Moon, will put us in the mood to embrace the spiritual tones of the season.
Two favorable aspects join forces today to inspire personal power and achievement in our lives. The Gemini Moon trine Mars in Libra will boost our willpower and resourcefulness to get some practical things done, while the Gemini Moon trine Jupiter in Aquarius will have us feeling positive, optimistic and popular.
We often present different facades and keep up appearance for the different people in our lives and this is a great time to examine why we do this and how well it is working for us. There will be an energy in the air this week to express ourselves more authentically or to show more of our true nature to the world, especially as the Moon travels through Leo on Thursday and Friday.
There’s a tendency to overthink things as the Moon moves through Virgo on Saturday and Sunday, so try to avoid those mental gymnastics and be sure to watch for critical thinking or high idealism, as these two mental activities can only get you into hot water this weekend!
Mars will move into Scorpio on Saturday, where it will spend the next two months shifting our actions and movements in subtle spiritual ways. Though our journey may not make sense or could change direction at a moment’s notice before the end of the year, we can trust that spirit is in charge now and directing the traffic.
The Pagan Origins Of Valentine’s Day
Did you know that the Valentine’s Day that many people all over the world will be celebrating today, has its origins in pagan rituals of the past? This is in fact true of many of our modern holidays. But how did we get our modern day cards, cupids, and hearts?
In ancient Rome, the Festival of Lupercalia was annually celebrated on February 15th. As with similar Roman holidays, such as Ostara (Easter), this was a time to celebrate fertility and love. The deities honored were Lupercus, Patron of Shepherds; Juno, Goddess of Marriage; as well as Pan, a pastoral god who came to be regarded in Roman times as the representative of paganism and the personification of all nature.
In a festival custom that survives to this day in the form of valentine’s cards, young men would randomly draw the names of eligible women from a jar or urn. In the Middle Ages, Emperor Claudius II believed single men made better soldiers so he declared marriage illegal. As a concession, he encouraged temporary romances.
Drawing the name of a lady during the festival determined who a soldier’s partner would be for that coming year. He would then wear her name on his sleeve for the rest of the festival. This gave rise to the saying “wearing your heart on your sleeve.” Whether or not they also exchanged flowers, candy or gifts is uncertain.
It is also interesting to note that Cupid, the son of the love goddess Venus, was not originally linked specifically with this festival, even though he is associated with it today.Venus, it turns out, was particularly fond of red roses and this custom still survives after 2,000 years. As for the symbolism of the heart, this is also an ancient image found across many cultures, including Greco-Roman, Indian, and Meso-American. Instead of romantic love, it was often used to represent rebirth, purity, and spiritual love.
Astrological Forecast January 11 – 17, 2021
You will be up and running early this morning under the diligent Capricorn Moon, plowing through projects at record speed! There’s an additional boost coming tomorrow, as we welcome in a Capricorn New Moon with open arms.
Get done what you can though, as the Moon moves into Aquarius on Wednesday and casts an unpredictable tone to the remainder of the workweek.
Uranus turns retrograde on Thursday, reminding us to be diligent with our new year resolutions, especially those that involve getting healthier, losing weight, and improving our finances.
After a busy busy week, we’ll get to step back and relax under this weekend’s Pisces Moon, as it encourages us to go inward and tend to our spiritual selves.
Meditating, journaling, and venturing out into nature are all great ways to embrace the soulful vibes of this weekend.
Astrological Forecast January 4 – 10, 2021
Back to the grindstone! It could be a bit difficult to get back up and running after all the holiday cheer, but duty calls. Make today all about details, gathering information and making a plan under the Virgo Moon, and then spend tomorrow restoring balance to all aspects of your world, as the Moon dances into Libra.
Wednesday we’ll finally be ready to move as Mars moves into grounded Taurus, making it easy to catch up and start addressing everything that piled up over the holidays.
The trend continues on Thursday, but we may experience a few ups and downs on Friday when Mercury moves into unpredictable Aquarius, and Venus moves into steadfast Capricorn. This could make for a lot of stop and go motion, so practice patience and when one door closes, look for an open window.
The weekend flows along joyfully under the Sagittarius Moon, allowing us a little downtime to regroup, reflect and prepare for the next busy week ahead.
Astrological Forecast December 28, 2020 – January 3, 2021
It’s time to tie up those loose ends and prepare for new beginning as we move into 2021 this week!
Information gathering will be a theme under Monday’s Gemini Moon, as we ground ourselves with the facts and figures we need.
The Cancer full Moon on Tuesday (also known as the Cold Moon) will remind us that putting our family, friends and security first is the way to go as we prepare to exit 2020 and embrace a new cycle. Full Moons are all about releasing, so let’s put closure to the past, make amends where necessary and create a fresh slate before moving into the future.
The New Year arrives under a Leo Moon, reminding us to take better care of ourselves in 2021 with more physical activity, a healthy diet, and watching our budgets.
We can relax until Saturday, but when the Moon moves into Virgo on Sunday, it will be time to pull out those new calendars, update our day-planners, purge our phones of outdated info and phone numbers, and prepare to greet the coming year with open arms and a fresh outlook! Wishing you a safe, prosperous and joyful year, full of hope and love!