traditions
To The Beat Of My Own Drum
I am in the process of moving home. While going through years of stored stuff in the attic of my old home, I found a Christmas gift that my parents gave me around the age of four. It was a little drum, intact, with sticks to play to the beat of my young heart. I am sure there were many times my parents thoroughly regretted buying a four-year-old a drum to bang on!
To my surprise, throughout the house, I also found a total of eleven more drums. All different sizes and kinds. And it is safe to say I can still make a joyful noise with each one (although my family might consider this debatable).
In the summer we spend a lot of time at Camp Etna, one of the spiritualist camps here in Maine. We have two small cottages here – one that we live in, and another I use as my office. Some of the drums I found are kept in the office cottage, for my clients to enjoy.
Why the obsession with drums, you may ask? Well, drumming has always been a form of great stress relief for me. You can release pent up emotions, by beating the drum as hard or soft as you wish. It feels good to express yourself through the primal beat. Moving to the sound of the beat seems to make doing most tasks easier. Drumming is just plain old-fashioned fun, and people around the world have been moving to the sound of drums since the beginning of time.
Drums are also a very useful spiritual tool. In energy work, for example, I use drums to get in touch with the heartbeat. We also host a drumming circle here, at least once a week. Young and old come out to participate, and everyone in the area is invited. It is a spiritual activity that helps to unite the community. One person sets the intention, and the beat for the circle, and then all join in. It is wonderful to see the smiles and joy the drumbeat brings to faces.
Anyone can learn to play the drum. With people being at home much more these days, if you have always had the desire to learn to play and instrument, it is a good time to try the drums. With all the information technology we have these days, there are many courses and tutorials available online for one to learn drumming techniques in the comfort of your home.
Astrological Forecast November 23 – 29, 2020
The only significant astrological event on the agenda this week is Neptune turning direct on Saturday, after a five month retrograde cycle. Since it’s a subtle aspect, it should pass almost unnoticed! Although Neptune is a karmic planet that tends to move in the background, it has a higher purpose to direct us spiritually, allowing us to connect with our higher self, as well as our magical powers. As it shifts direction, this is a wonderful time to explore our intuitive, psychic and mystical gifts.
It may feel like we’re running in circles under today’s Pisces Moon, but as it grounds itself in Aries tomorrow, we’ll have three days to gather our wits about us, and prepare for Thanksgiving and the holiday weekend. We’ll greet the traditional ‘Black Friday’ shopping rush under a Taurus Moon, which bodes well for finding great bargains or regrouping after over-doing it on Thursday.
Our best bet this weekend is to focus on intellectual and social pursuits, as the Neptune shift on Saturday and the Gemini Moon on Sunday encourages thinking and dreaming big!
Astrological Forecast November 16 – 22, 2020
The Sun will complete its cycle through Scorpio this week, moving into Sagittarius on Saturday, and kicking off the official start of the holiday season. The Moon travels through Sagittarius on Monday, then enters Capricorn on Tuesday, where it will remain until Thursday. This will create one of the most productive weeks we’ve had in a while, and since Thanksgiving is next week in the United States, and the holiday season will kick in right after that, this is the week to get all that unfinished work and overdue projects completed, or at least advanced to a level where it feels manageable through the end of the year.
The Aquarius Moon will take us into the weekend, urging us to prepare for the social activities ahead. If you’re planning a big holiday dinner, double-check to make sure you’ve invited everyone you want there, and if you’re aiming for a more quiet, peaceful and calorie-light day off, this is the time to set that into motion as well. Doing things differently is a theme of Aquarius, so if you’re ready to start a new holiday tradition, or ignore tradition altogether, you can still work an attitude and sense of gratitude into your world.
Venus will move into Scorpio on Saturday, adding to the spiritual tone of the weekend. And with the Moon moving into Pisces on Sunday, it will be easy to hear what your intuition is telling you. Listening to your gut will take you exactly where you want to go!
Once In A Blue Moon
The metaphysics for this month is subject to an astrological rarity. October 2020 features what is known as a Blue Moon, or a second Full Moon in the same calendar month. This month’s second Full Moon will take place next week, on October 31st, and is traditionally known as the Hunter’s Moon. It follows the Harvest Full Moon that took place on October 1st.
As you may have guessed, the phenomenon of the Blue Moon gave rise to the popular saying ‘once in a blue moon.’ It is used to refer to something that is unusual or special, or a rare event that seldom happens.
The origin of the term itself is unclear, but it has nothing to do with the actual color of the Moon. The earliest written record of the term ‘blue moon’ has been found in an 1528 pamphlet composed by two friars, William Roy and Jerome Barlow, in which they state, “Oh church men are wily foxes… If they say the moon is blue, we must believe that it is true.” It has since become part of pop culture and modern folklore, including being the namesake of popular songs and movies.
Astrologically speaking, two full moons in a month only takes place about seven times every nineteen years, due to the way the Moon’s orbital cycle does not line up exactly with calendars on Earth. It’s a rarity, for sure.
So, what can we expect during such a rare event?
Our Healing Circle Of Cats
I belong to a healing meditation group for women. We gather in a circle and discuss the past week’s goings on, and also direct healing energy to anyone who needs it. Many of the members in the group are lightworkers. Some of them may not have been aware of the true extent of their spiritual abilities, when they first joined the group, but as they continued attending they learned many things to open up, expand, and develop their spiritual gifts and talents.
Our most recent gathering was especially interesting to me. As usual, we were passing the ‘talking stick’ around. This custom comes from an ancient Native-American tradition of tribal democracy. The talking stick is passed around in the group, enabling the group members to speak in turn.
The first lady to share was a very wise women, and of the kindest people I have ever met. She talked about rude one of her family members were to her recently, for no reason at all. She also shared how she “about had it” with her brother. He is constantly criticizing her, and looking down his nose at her. Apparently, he feels she doesn’t live a ‘normal life’ and he does not appreciate, among other things, her work as a Reiki practitioner and an energy healer.
A few other women then also shared stories of their unfortunate dealings with family and friends, who were very judgmental and condescending about their spiritual interests and practices.
When it came to be my turn to share, I was very open about how I had decided I was not going to attend an upcoming family wedding, because the father of the relative getting married is a very bigoted and unpleasant man,. He is racist, has no respect for anyone, and is very controlling. Simply put – he is a hater.
The Magical Energy Of The Moon
The Moon has a powerful influence on our lives. Not only does it determine the tides of the ocean and how plants grow, but you may have noticed it also affects our mood! Connecting to the powerful phases of the Moon can bring enlightenment to your life by way of the moon’s cycles and movement. It can shape our lives and the choices we make. Being in tune with the Moon’s powerful energy can bring you greater awareness of body, mind and soul.
Depending how the Sun, Moon and Earth align on a particular day, only a part of the Moon is usually visible to us. The tracking of the Moon’s phases goes back thousands of year in various spiritual traditions and cultural customs. Traditionally, the New Moon is considered to be the start of the month and a good time to start anew. And the Full Moon is seen as a time of celebration, delight, and mystery.
A Full Moon occurs every 29.5 days, when the Earth is situated directly between the Sun and the Moon, making it appear to us on Earth as a complete circle… illuminated and breathtaking! Native Americans relied on the Moon to guide them in daily life. They gave symbolic names for each of the Full Moons, based on the unique events of each particular month of the year.
January – Wolf Moon
The January Moon is thus named due to the cold, snowy winters, when wolves would howl hungrily outside tribal villages, looking for food. January’s Full Moon is also known as ‘Old Moon’ and ‘Ice Moon.’
February – Snow Moon
February’s Full Moon is named for the abundant snow that usually occurs during the month. The snow made it hard to hunt, and food in the winter was scarce. Therefore it is also known as the ‘Hunger Moon.’
My Great Grandmother’s Mysterious ‘Sugar Cookies’
My great grandmother made incredible cookies. She called them “sugar cookies,” but perhaps a more appropriate name for them might have been mysterious mystical magic cookies! Everyone loved them – youngsters like myself, as well as our family’s elders, and every age in-between.
Those cookies still bring back so many wonderful memories. They had a special aroma of freshly-baked delight that wafted all the way outside her kitchen window and down the lane beside her charming little home, where she lived with my great grandfather. As a child I couldn’t wait to get to their house, so that I could partake of those delectable sweet treats.
They were round, but not perfectly round. They had that authentic homemade look, which made them even more exquisite to my childlike enthusiasm. And, there was a rather unique spiciness among the ingredients; it was a spice that I had never tasted before in anything else. Oh, my! I especially loved the barely charred edges they usually had, as a result of leaving them in the oven a bit longer than necessary. Those crisp little edges made them all the tastier to me.
I remember sitting at her kitchen table, watching her scoop up the ingredients, one by one, and adding them to her mixing bowl. I didn’t know how much of each ingredient she was using, because she never used a measuring cup. She just knew how much to add of everything. I believe this style of instinctively cooking from scratch is practically becoming a lost art, with all the digital recipes and modern utensils we use nowadays to cook even the simplest of things. And perhaps some of the true character and originality has also been lost in many of our ancestors’ recipes.