And it frequently gets in the way. Hence the more than year’s silence. Here’s to less silence.
Christmas
There once was a holiday called Yule-ish
The end of the year it did rule-ish.
Romans tried taking it,
Christian holiday making it,
Our pocketbooks say they were foolish.
Copyright © 2005 Lin Daniel
Happy Yule!
Whatever your belief system, y’canna change the laws of physics. This is the day where the sun has reached its southern most point. It’s in the sky in the northern hemisphere the shortest number of hours; in the southern hemisphere, the longest number of hours; and in areas south of the antarctic circle, they have been having “midnight sun” for some time now. North of the arctic circle, people have once again had to put their faith in other people telling them about “sun” because they don’t see it. The people in the middle get to watch the sun wander from one side to the other, and wonder what a “season” is.
Celebrate! The short days will lengthen, or the long days will shorten. The earth moves, rotates, changes, grows, dies, and grows again. Celebrations include food, good friends, remembrances, and plans for the future. Enjoy!
Cats and Winter
Sleeping with cats in the winter
Is comfy and warm, I s’pose.
But try finding a way to turn over
When ‘tween cats and spouse you iz squoze.
When cats and spouse get cozy
And they take all the blankets away,
It’s warmer to move to the sofa
Where my covers are safe from the fray.
Copyright © 2005 Lin Daniel
Halloween – another harvest festival
This is the third and last pagan harvest festival. Halloween as practiced in the United States is an amalgam of practices. The name, Halloween, is derived from Hallow’s Eve/Evening, or the day before All Hallows Day, the day Roman Catholics, and later, other Christian groups, celebrate all saints, specified and unspecified. The Irish added in their Celtic-derived observance of seasonal change and festival of the dead. Pagans celebrate “samhain,” and in true Celtic fashion, it has a pronunciation totally at odds with its current spelling: “sow-een”. It comes from the Gaelic “sam,” which means summer; “fuin” means “end.” So, “Samhain” means “end of the warm season.” Contrary to many web sites, there is and has never been a god of death or a sun god with that name.
Many believe the door between this world and the next is thinner at this time. This has resulted in beliefs ranging from evil spirits roaming the earth in search of bodies to take or souls to steal. Others believe this is the time to contact those who have gone before, looking for guidance or just to pay their respects.
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