Have A Hopi Holiday!
By Diane Tegarden
It is true, much time has passed,
a year has flown away.
The season changes colors,
with red, greens and gold,
the festival of lights hold sway.
Yuletide is upon us, time to think of friends,
to be thankful for all of
our lucky happenstance.
To remember good times
in grateful abundance.
I wish you all a Heartfelt Holiday,
no matter what you are calling it,
anyway!
Be it a Holy Hanukkah,
a Spiritual Soyal,
a Captivating Christmas,
a Kickin’ Kwanzaa, or
the most wondrous
Winter Solstice!
If you live in Australia,
it’s summer solstice,
the longest day of the year.
If you live in the northern climes
the night is longest here.
But no matter where you are,
whether
planetside
or
star……
All I could wish for you
is
peace
(internally),
and a larger worldwide view!
Author’s Notes on Holidays:
Hanukkah is the annual Jewish festival celebrated on eight successive days beginning on the 25th day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar which corresponds approximately to December in the Gregorian calendar. Also known as the “Festival of Lights”, the “Feast of Dedication” and the “Feast of the Maccabees”, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 B.C. (Source:http://www.history./minisites/Hanukkah).
Soyal is the winter solstice ceremony of the Hopitu Shinumu, which means The Peaceful Ones, also known as the Hopi Indians. Soyal is held on December 21st, the shortest day of the year. The main purpose of the ritual is to ceremonially welcome home the Kachinas, or spirit teachers for the first half of the Wheel of the Year, which begins on Dec 21- June 21st when the Kachinas will return to their ancestral home in the mountains. Pahos, or prayer sticks, are made prior to the Soyal ceremony, to bless all the community, including their homes, animals, and plants. Sacred underground ritual chambers, called kivas, are ritually opened to mark the beginning of the Kachina season. Night Dances for Kachinas are held, a great pageant of men and women in ceremonial dress representing the spirit teachers and guides. (Source: Bahti, Tom. “Southwestern Indian Ceremonials”. KC Publications.1970.p36-40.)
Kwanzaa, which begins on December 26th and goes to January 1st , is the African American tradition of family and principles, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga to “introduce and reinforce seven basic values of African culture which contribute to building and reinforcing family, community and culture” according to the official Kwanzaa website at: http://www.officialKwanzaawebsite.org.
Winter Solstice or Yule (Dec 21st -22nd) is celebrated in the northern hemisphere as the longest night of the year, the shortest day of the year, and is the turning point in winter, when the temperatures begin to break from freezing and the earth slowly begins to warm up.
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