Apocalypse... This Year?

It seems unusual that everyone I have spoken to about the upcoming year has had nearly the same sentiment... 'it has to be better than 2011'.... especially considering all of this hullabaloo surrounding the supposed end of the world in oh, say, Decemberish of 2012.  All I can say it that it had better be better than 2011- especially if the whole house is coming down in just under 12 months.  Sometimes I wistfully hope that the Mayans got it right- that the world will change so radically and so soon that we will all be refreshed and renewed by it.  Cleansed by change definitely... cleansed by good change ideally.

Yes- this is me expressing a somewhat ironic hope for the upcoming apocalypse- What's that you say?  Kate?  Happily anticipating the end of the known world?  Who'd a thunk it?

Has 2011 really been that horrid of a year?  I can say definitively yes, absolutely for me.  Probably for many others as well.  But I'm sure there are some people out there that had a banner year of delightful experiences, charming interactions, and happy outcomes.  I'm sure there are people out there who are regretting the end of the year just as there are those of us who are regretting that this 2011 year ever happened at all.

Tonight I am celebrating not the beginning of a new year, but the closure of the previous.  I can't help but think 'it's finally finally over.'  I'm not normally one to wax... at all- profound or otherwise... about the New Year.  In fact, I generally loathe New Years Eve.  In my ever humble and fussy opinion, I think it's a crap holiday and really don't understand the point of it.  This year is both similar and different.  I still think it's a crap holiday- more so this year since I am nursing a lung disease on this most illustrious eve.  But it is a bit more symbolic this of all years.

The end of insanity.  The beginning of transformation.  Again symbolically, but still so significant.  'It's finally finally over.'  And symbolically, profoundly, astoundingly, necessarily- this is the beginning of the cleansing change.  Our spirits, the essences of who we are, the essence of who I am, can be wiped clean.  Tonight I experience a profound amount of introspective anticipation.  I need the symbolism of the ends and beginnings.   They are so important, especially to me, especially now.  It is time to end the year of rotting and desiccating and wraith-like behavior.

So let me begin anew tonight by wishing you all a very happy New Years Eve (if somewhat silly and snarly).  Here's to 2012, my friends.  It could be one helluva year.  I certainly hope it is, BEGINNING TO END.

Merry Christmas to All

And to all a good night...

Okay, okay, just because I merrily embrace witchcraft does not mean I engage in Dickensian, Scroogelike behavior.  I like trees and lights and ornaments as much as anyone else.   So I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very happy holiday no matter what you celebrate.

Cheers, Friends.

Use of the Word 'Celebrate'- A Lot... Ditto for Love

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice- also called Yule.  While it has since been co opted by Christianity and the Christmas season, the heart of the Solstice still rules, I think.  It is the shortest day, the longest night, of the calendar year.  Who cares, right?  And why on earth would we celebrate the longest time of darkness?  Most people find this time stressing, depressing, dark enough as it is, and with the holiday flusters, busy.

Well... let me enlighten you.  We celebrate (and yes, by we I mean the witches, all of us gloriously dualistic gods and goddesses of the natural world) the longest night because the next day will be a little longer.  And the day after that, and the day after that.  The hours of light will lengthen and slowly the world will circle itself into spring.  There will be growth and warmth.  We celebrate the dark to honor its passing into the light.  To look forward to times of fertility and community.

I wish I could explain it a bit better... We celebrate Yule in order to celebrate the difficulties in our lives (as counter-intuitive as that sounds)- because we have, or we can, or we will (hopefully) push through them- and to celebrate them with our loved ones.  Afterall, who knows better than those surrounding us the path on which our hardships have taken us?  Who, indeed?  And who better than to hold our hands and smile into that long night than those who truly understand the meaning of a smile on the darkest, and longest night?

And there lies the heart of Winter Solstice- the heart that beats regardless of how much organization and rigid religiosity is constantly pumped into it.  Day follows night- even the longest night of the year, light follows dark, good times balance the bad and we move on.

We gather.  With those we love.  And we move forward, we move on.  With those we love.

Have a lovely Solstice, Friends.  Enjoy the longest night- and remember that it will eventually be over.

When You Love, You Share

Of course because Christmas draws near I have begun to think about giving and gifting and spirit.  Today I was privy to a brilliant example of giving.  My most amazing and kind, caring, and profound yogi gave her entire class of students small gifts this morning.  A beautiful CD, delicious and restorative teas, a bit of candy for some extra holiday sweetness, and homemade, handcrafted lip balm.  What a perfect lady she is.  She thought about all of her students, all of her friends and loved ones and put together something that made each and every one of us feel so special and so remarkable- and know that to her, we are just that.  

You see, when you love, you share.  You share thoughts, you share feelings, you share your wealth- whether it is economic, spiritual, or intellectual.  Lovely Lisa, the extraordinary yogi, shared with us a simple set of gifts- things that made both her and us happy.  Personally, I like to share baked goods and the fondest aromas that make my nearest and dearest aware that I think about them all the time.  The point is that you share something of importance, of significance.

Even though I am unwell, I feel blessed- and I try to remind my self of it as frequently as possible.  Blessed because I have a network of people who love me surrounding me and sharing with me.  And blessed because I get to share with these people as well.  Some days I don't have very much to share, as I don't have very much of me.  But when I can, I do.

Until next time, Friends, Cheers- and Cheerful Holidays.

What a Small Setback Reads Like

It is a rainy December day.  And I am exhausted.

Apparently all of this work at healing is a bit energy draining.  And, while all of you are probably as exhausted as I am- as exhausted of me as I am, no less- I shall forge ahead.

There are days when I want nothing more than to be outside of myself.  Outside, looking at someone else, acting like someone else, being someone else.  This morning, laying in bed, considering the day and the days events, I felt that.  I felt the desire to be projected into the ether, to exist in the rainy atmosphere, light as air and natural as the same.

I know that we all have these days.  I know that and I will cop up to it.  Some of us have them more frequently than others- some of us have them too frequently.  I am no longer in the 'too frequently' category, which is nice; but I am still in the 'more frequently' category, which is reality.  It sounds a bit odd, but I am hopeful that reality, real things, keep me moving forward.

A small setback in the grand scheme of things.  I will be right as rain- tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Friends.