Beginnings and progress

I tend to think of the winter solstice as my new year. At the time of minimum daylight, it just seems like a great place to set my zero point and start counting from there. So, with that in mind, I think I'm going to share my plans to improve myself in the oncoming year. I'm sure every blogger under the sun is sharing their New Year's resolutions at this time of year, but I'm doing it anyway. So, enjoy.

My plan this year is to try to live more consciously. I'm going to try to avoid doing certain things (like messing around on the internet) just because I don't feel like doing anything else. If I'm going to mess around on the internet, I'm going to make a conscious decision to mess around on the internet, I'm going to do that for a while, and then I'm going to make the conscious decision to stop and do something else. At least that's my plan; we'll see how that goes. If I decide the laundry needs to be done, I'm going to try very hard not to get distracted by other things because I don't really feel like doing the laundry.

Now, I just have to be careful not to let this get out of hand. I do have some very mildly obsessive-compulsive tendencies, so I run the risk of doing something crazy like doing laundry until 3 am because I decided it needed to get done. So I will also try to balance deliberate choices with flexibility.

Do you have any plans to improve yourself or your world this year? I'd love to hear about them!

Ostara 2012

Yay! Ostara has come and gone. Spring is in full swing (... and trying to become Summer). Our family's Ostara feast we well. It was small this year. The Lady made a turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes. I made a pound cake.

We celebrate each of the corners of the year as well as the cross corners. Ostara is, of course, the first days of Spring. We begin our celebration at sundown on the evening before the astronomical event until sundown on the evening the day after.

Prior to this celebration we were also observing a ritual we call Purification. We spent the previous four or five weeks eliminating most fats, all refined sugars and meat from our diet. It is a very difficult ritual, but quite rewarding.

Now, our celebrations and feasts are very low key. We like to stay home, say a few prayers to the Gods and relax with some home brewed mead. And, when we remember (since we're not fanatics or cultists or anything REALLY weird) we try to do something special to worship the season and our patrons. Unfortunately (or maybe well needed), this Ostara was focused on relaxing and adoring one another (the wee-beasties weren't about the house). Maybe we did do something special after all.

Meandering thoughts about the coming season

Oh, man. I'm behind of getting a post out this week. It been pretty hectic. I have lots of things running through my head right now. I've started a couple of jugs of mead fermenting, I've cut some firewood, and I'm thinking about our Ostara feast.

Ostara is one of the feasts I often forget to think about until it is right upon me. I don't really look forward to the weather warming up. But, here it is; March again.

Ostara is a time of renewal. Spring arrives and the flora gods awaken from their slumber. The fauna gods start to perk up too. However, I seem to feel a sense of loss when spring time comes. I miss the blustery days and long nights. The nearly constant overcast that can only happen when the weather is cool brings me such comfort; as though Lady Sky were tucking me in.

The tradition in our home is to have a feast on each of the quarter days and cross quarter days as figured astronomically (as opposed to the fixed dates to which those terms often apply). For each feast My Lady and I take turns either making the meal or desert. This feast I am to make the desert. I had thought to make a fruit based treat called Ambrosia, but I'm leaning toward making a pound cake now.

I'm also trying to figure out what sort of ritual to perform to celebrate the coming of spring. Perhaps something will come to me soon.