I just read about this on another FB group called The Goddess Collective. “A dakini (Sanskrit: ḍākinī; Standard Tibetan: khandroma; Wylie: ‘gro ma; Chinese: 空行母) is a tantric figure representing a female embodiment of enlightened energy. The Tibetan form of dakini, khandroma, translates as ‘she who traverses the sky’ or ‘she who moves in space’ or, more poetically, as ‘sky walker’ or ‘sky dancer’.”
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakini
Share your rare finds with us today!
I ran into this word in an ad for radio show guests, and just couldn’t resist sharing it with you….
Source cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rinpoche
Have a Sprightly Imbolc (Lady Day or Feast of Brigid)….February 2nd
Imbolc, pronounced: EE-Molc, (is an old Celtic name).
Incense: Rosemary, Frankincense, Myrrh, Cinnamon
Decorations: Corn Dolly, Besom, Spring Flowers
Colours: White, Orange, Red
This holiday is also known as Brigid’s (pronounced BREED) Day. One of the 4 Celtic “Fire Festivals. Commemorates the changing of the Goddess from the Crone to the Maiden and celebrates the first signs of Spring.
This is the seasonal change where the first signs of spring and the return of the sun are noted, i.e. the first sprouting of leaves, the sprouting of the Crocus flowers etc. In other words, it is the festival commemorating the successful passing of winter and the beginning of the agricultural year. This Festival also marks the transition point of the threefold Goddess energies from those of Crone to Maiden.
For more information, go to the source:
http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_wheel_of_the_year/imbolc.asp
Wade and I wanted to be married on May 1st, an ancient celebration of love, but that week in 1990 it fell on a Monday, so we were married on Saturday April 29 so that all our guests could attend.
We usually go to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire on May Day to celebrate our nuptials. But this year we couldn’t go because I’ve got some problems with my feet, so we stayed home for our 22nd wedding anniversary (and our 27th year living together!)
Here is some info on Beltane:
Beltane/ May Day/ May 1st
by Gabrielle Diana Laney
In the ‘Wheel of the Year,’ a concept that is becoming a tradition among neo-pagans, much has been written on the ‘cross-quarter’ days. These are the festivals that fall between the solstices and equinoxes. While the solstices and equinoxes mark the sun’s place in the wheel, the cross-quarter days, which were more important to the ancient peoples, are not merely halfway marks in the sun’s progress through the year.
Beltane is celebrated on May first, (in Scotland May 15th) but sometime between May 5th-11th, the goddess Brigit brought in the fire of rebirth, fertility, courtship, and the opening of Summer.
In his book “The Living World of Faery”, R.J. Stuart states: “The rising and setting of the small star group, the Pleiades, is used worldwide to mark the pivot of the year, when they rise in the Northern Hemisphere they are setting in the southern hemisphere and vice versa. The modern dates for this relativistic event are close to May 1st and November 5th, the Celtic feasts of Beltane and Samhain, or May Day and Halloween, the two portal fire-festivals. These pre-Celtic festival dates are not, as is often stated incorrectly, solar events. The Celts did not use a solar calendar but a lunar one. Nor did the pre-Celtic and megalithic people base their time patterns on the seasons and the sun, but upon stellar and planetary patterns linked together.”
To read the whole article go to:
www.avalonvisions.com/beltane.html
Merry Meet and Merry Part and Merry Meet again!
The ancient origins of Easter/ Eastre/Eostre
According to
http://www.care2.com
:
The name Easter comes from Eastre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honor. Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals. Others come from the Passover feast of the Jews, observed in memory of their deliverance from Egypt. The resurrection of Jesus took place during the Passover. In the early days of Christianity Easter and the Passover were closely associated.
Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. They issued the Easter Rule which places Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox (first day of Spring). Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.
The Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny also originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The Goddess, Eastre, was worshiped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.
The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.
The Easter Egg
The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. The egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.
Happy Eostre Egg Hunting All!!
If you’d really like to “see into the future”, try this method. You can do it at home and it doesn’t cost that much.
Have a quiet time and place set aside where you won’t be disturbed. Create a quiet, meditative environment. Set out a candle in the middle of a small table and compose yourself to relax (this may be the hardest part).
You can have on soft music, but hopefully it won’t have words, or your mind will start sending you thousand of annoying, distracting messages again.
Start with a few deep calming breaths, but not too many, the idea isn’t to become light headed, but clear headed.
Next, clear your mind of mundane thoughts and simply look at the candle flames, trying to quiet the incessant mental chatter. Once you can quiet your mind, just sit for a few minutes, allowing your mind to wander in a serene calm, and see what comes to your mind naturally.
This is a kind of meditation, part future seeing (scrying) and partly just to help you gather calm energy for the day ahead. If the candle technique doesn’t work at first, give it time to become part of your weekly routine and you may be surprised what eventually happens.
Alternately, you can use a bowl filled with water, or a mirror as the scrying surface.
Energetically, Diane Tegarden
“How to Escape a Bad Marriage-A Self Help Divorce Book for Women”;
“Light Through Shuttered Window”; “Anti-Vigilante and The Rips in Time” at BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, firewalkerpublications.com
Blessed be this Imbolc Day/Feast of Brigid/Candlemas Day!!
“The First of February belongs to Brigid, (Brighid, Brigit, Bride,) the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian saint. Originally, her festival on February 1 was known as Imbolc or Oimelc, two names which refer to the lactation of the ewes, the flow of milk that heralds the return of the life-giving forces of spring. Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemas Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of Brigid the Light-Bringer incorporates both pagan and Christian celebrations.”
To read more about this fascinating feast day, go to:
http://www.chalicecentre.net/imbolc.htm
BTW, current tradition has changed this feast day into the contemporary holiday, “Ground Hog Day”. As with most ancient holiday traditions, the original meanings have been changed and the original deities co-opted to fit the current faith of contemporary people.
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.
GARDEN ROSE
Lyrics by Diane Tegarden/ Music by Wade Webb
VERSE 1:
OUR MOTHER IS THE EARTH IT SELF
FATHER’S THE SKY ABOVE,
WE HER CHILDREN
HEAR HER CALL,
SHE CRIES FOR HELP
WE KNOW WE’VE GOT TO SAVE HER.
CHORUS:
THE MEAD SHE GIVES IS PURE DELIGHT
THE INCENSE OF HER GARDEN ROSE
IN THE MOON LIGHT………………. SHINE LOVERS FAIR
VERSE 2:
SINCE I’VE KNOWN HER,
SHE HAS ALWAYS HELPED,
WHEN I CRIED OUT,
SHE ANSWERED ME.
IN THIS WORLD
OF STRESS ‘N’ DOUBT,
HER HANDS REACH OUT
FROM DEEP IN THE EARTH
TO COMFORT ME.
CHORUS:
THE MEAD SHE GIVES IS PURE DELIGHT
THE INCENSE OF HER GARDEN ROSE
IN THE MOON LIGHT……………….. SHINE LOVERS FAIR
