a good night

Noche Buena. Simbang Gabi. Misa de Gallo. All are cherished Filipino Christmas holiday traditions we hold warmly in our hearts. 

Simbang Gabi is the night mass Filipinos attend mass either late at night or in the early morning hours. It is a series of masses held daily for all nine days before Christmas. The belief holds that attending all nine masses will grant ones wish.

@dokmarkus via Instagram

Simbang Gabi can also have a nine-day novena procession that is a reenactment of the nativity of Christ known as the Panunulúyan.

season of resistance

Dissent was my primary mode of operation growing up - at home, in school, with relationships. I believed moving to the United States of America would be less repressive and corrupt than the false democracy of my Philippine homeland. 

Jingle dancers at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, July 2020

I relocated in 2006 and with Barack Obama as US president from 2009 to 2017 was all too easily lulled into the belief that this was truly the land of equal opportunity, freedom and liberty. With the US' reputation abroad and the American economy significantly improved we all had our blinders on. 

 Jingle Dress Project - a healing dream

October 2021

October starts the last quarter and brings the year to a close as the holiday season kicks in. Here are a few significant days we celebrate around the world. 

October is also National Learning and Development Month, ​National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, National Book Month, and many other important occasions to celebrate and honor. 

patriotism vs nationalism

With the recent death of a former decent president back in the Philippines and recent Fourth of July celebrations in the USA, issues regarding beliefs that drive and affect us have come up once more. 

Patriotism is love for or devotion to one's country. The feeling of pride, devotion, and attachment to a homeland, as well as a feeling of attachment to other patriotic citizens. The feelings of attachment may be further bound up in factors like race or ethnicity, culture, religious beliefs, or history.

Nationalism is loyalty and devotion to a nation. Feelings of nationalism are based on a belief that one’s country is superior to all others. It also carries a connotation of distrust or disapproval of other countries, leading to the assumption that other countries are rivals. 

They may have similarities but there's a world of difference between the two - they are not in the least synonymous. Patriotism is the love of one's identity and achievement to better the world and future generations. Nationalism is believing your identity and achievements are better than those of others.

this little light shines bright

Hanukkah is here! For 2020 the official dates are December 10 to 18. The eight-day festival Jewish people celebrate to mark the return of one of their two temples in Jerusalem. Since our eldest converted, we are happy to honor the occasion at our home as well. 

A Hanukkah menorah seen in Kiel, Germany in 1932.

blessed Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday and Passover are major occasions evoking sacred rites, rituals and communal practices among many. 

Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy Week, the last week of the Christian solemn season of Lent that precedes the arrival of Eastertide. The beloved palm frond has become for many a precious symbol of triumph and victory. 

The origins of the Passover festival predate the Exodus. The Passover ritual, prior to Deuteronomy, is widely thought to have its origins in an apotropaic rite, unrelated to the Exodus, to ensure the protection of a family home, a rite conducted wholly within a clan. 

When done properly, their preparation is Sacred Alchemy - balancing mythology with technology and philosophy. 

Ganachakra (a Dakini feast) is a sacramental meal and festive celebration invoking an alchemical transmutation from base to higher vibration. 

In this process, the negative energy of baser emotion or klesha (poison) is transformed into the luminous energy of enlightened awareness or gnosis (jnana). 

Its ingestion is highly intoxicating where the physical digestion leads to spiritual unfolding and God realization. 

decolonizing & deconstructing

October reminded us of our past colonized histories. Starting with the October 12 celebration of 65 years of Philippine-German diplomatic ties. When Martina and Issa had fun dressing up in our national attires and taking photos in our New Jersey neighborhood. 

Followed on October 13 by International Day for Disaster Reduction. Started in 1989 by the United Nations General Assembly as a day to promote the global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction.

hope & promise

As the holiday season kicks off, the need to quiet and soften our hearts grows with each passing day.

It is apt for the first week of Advent to be dedicated to Hope.

That cherished desire of anticipation and expectation.

Of a promise obtained or fulfilled.

If we surrendered

to earth’s intelligence

we could rise up rooted, like trees.

Instead we entangle ourselves

in knots of our own making

and struggle, lonely and confused.

So like children, we begin again...

to fall,

patiently to trust our heaviness.

Even a bird has to do that

before [s]he can fly.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Book of Hours

celebrate!

Regardless of belief, faith, or tradition, Hanukkah is a fascinating heritage that can enrich us all. 

Jesus Christ observed Hanukkah. 

Christians today study a Hebrew book, written by Hebrews, serving a Hebrew Lord who had 

Hebrew disciples. 

season's greetings

Greetings and blessings this holiday season... 

making whoopee!

October 31 is Samhain or Halloween - also known as All Hallows Eve - the celebration of the end of the year and the beginning of the year's last season. Straddling the line between fall and winter, harvest and follow, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition.

Pagan or Christian, ancient or modern, young or old - the world over, we all come together to share and celebrate on this special day. As the wind grows chill and the days shorten, we bundle up around our hearths and get warm and cozy.

Preparations for the holidays are picking up all around - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and the New Year.

Apart from the scares and treats set to happen this Halloween, astrologers are saying that everyone should be aware of the increased possibility of challenges and obstacles getting in our way between Oct 21 and Nov 10 - when Mercury goes retrograde for the third and final time in 2013.

Do what you can to minimize ill effects and increase good luck whenever possible. Stay alert and aware - focusing on you and what is going on for and around you.

Be well all!

Shape your world through your light.

Illuminate your unique path. Don’t live in the

shadow of others’ judgments. They are not

yours - unless you let them be so.

 

— ASCENSION TESTS by Jim PathFinder Ewing

As the dust of Christmas Past settles and we settle into the New Year, hopefully clarity and balance are restored. With the learning that every thought, person and issue is here for the sake of our freedom, may we come to the true realization of limitless and boundless divine source.

post Xmas & pre New Year

How were we affected by events this holiday season?  Leading up to, Xmas day itself and looking towards 2012? 

Did the actual experience match all the anticipated expectations?  Pass or fail?  And how does it then affect what's yet to come? 

Much to reflect on and contemplate indeed!  Pros and Cons?  Highs and Lows?  What worked and what did not? 

What new experiences have we racked up?  Any new relationships?  What was that like?  How did matters go?  What mattered the most? 

Whatever the outcome are our hearts filled with wonder, delight and appreciation?  Do we welcome this new year?