Each of us has our our interpretation of the time of year we hold our New Year's Eve celebrations. For some it is in October, for other's it is the month of December, but depending upon where you are located in the world, the dates may vary. Typically though, the majority of the population celebrates New Year's Eve on December 31st, when at midnight, we all marvel at being together in some fashion when the date turns to January 1st.
This year we celebrate not only the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new, but we also will see the ending of a decade. What has the last ten years of life looked like for you? Have you found love? Lost love? Started a family? Changed jobs? It is a time of reflection and resolution most assuredly.
In beautiful fashion, we will have the Full Moon to watch over us and brighten the skies for us if we should be granted a clear and cloudless night. It comes a short 8 days after the Winter Solstice this year, the shortest day of the year. Each passing day we will begin to see more daylight and so the Wheel of the Year continues to turn. It is an excellent time for magick and celebration.
The naming of the Full Moons were given to us by the Native Americans of what is now the northern and eastern United States. It was the Tribes' way of tracking the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year.
As taken from the Farmers Almanac's list of the full Moon names is the Cold Moon:
• The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon - December •
During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.
So no matter how you are celebrating, remember to take your gaze to the sky and receive your blessings from the magick of the moonlight. Happy New Year to you!
Love and light,
SarahFae
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
SpiritFire Mosquito Net Raffle!
It’s the SpiritFire Mosquito Net Raffle!!!!
Many of you are aware that I’ll be taking a group (6 students, a colleague and her partner) to Ghana, West Africa this coming winter, from December 18 – January 12. The students – some of them from my drum ensemble, and some who just want to learn more about Ghana – have worked hard to raise the money to go, each paying about $3300 or more for the trip (not including their visas, immunizations, etc. – it’s a lot of money!)
We’ve successfully raised enough money to cover travel and other expenses, but as you can imagine, it doesn’t leave a lot over for other things for many of them. They are really interested in doing service work while in Ghana, and have come up with a couple ideas, the most effective one being the distribution of mosquito nets. If you don’t know about the plight of people in Africa regarding malaria and a ton of other mosquito-born diseases, you can read about it here:
http://www.mosquito.org/mosquito-information/mosquito-borne.aspx
Personally, throughout my years of visiting Ghana to study music and dance, I’ve known many families who have lost children (who are partiularly vunerable) to malaria. The less expensive anti-malarial drug (chloroquine) is no longer affective against the strain in Ghana, and wasn’t really affordable to the average village resident anyway. Now the only drugs available cost as much as $5 a pill – these folks might make $1 a day, if they are lucky. The only way to really combat malaria is to help people avoid contracting the disease in the first place.
We, as a group, are now trying to gather donations for the trip once more. But not money – we want mosquito nets!
SpiritFire would like to help with this endeavor, and we are hoping you will want to help, too. So to help encourage folks to donate nets, we’re having our first (and hopefully not last) SFF Mosquito Net Raffle!
Here’s the deal: Buy a net, get a chance to win discounts on your SFF registration, or even a free entry. Of course, if you aren’t able to go to SFF this year we’ll gladly accept net donations anyway! But it’s our way of giving something back and adding some spice to the mix.
How does it work?
We need a very particular kind of net – one that will fit two people (doubles), and they need to be the square kind, as opposed to the hanging round/canopy styles (which are hard to transport and don’t work well for multiple people sleeping together). Nets must be new – we cannot distribute used nets.
If you have access to large stores with camping equipment, you can probably purchase these there – but nets can easily be purchased on the web. Here is the kind we’re looking for - campor.com seems to have the best prices:
http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___86663
We’d like you to send us nets, straight to the college address below if possible, so that they arrive BEFORE December 10th.
For every net you send in, you get a chance at a severely reduced or free entry to SpiritFire!
Send in 1 net = 1 entry in drawing for $25 additional off your SFF fee
Send in 2 nets = 2 entries in drawing for $50 off your SFF fee
Send in 3 nets = 3 entries in drawing for $75 off your SFF fee
Send in 4 nets = 4 entries in drawing for $100 off your SFF fee
Send in 5+ nets = equal amount of entries in drawing for FREE 2010 SFF registration!
You can either purchase the nets and have them sent to us directly (at the address below), or ship them yourselves. Please make sure to email me and tell me: how many nets you bought (please include a tracking number or order number, if possible), when they were bought/shipped, and who you would like to enter in the raffle. If it is for yourself, we’ll use your email to notify you if you win. If you’d like someone else to win the discount/entry, you can specify that as well.
ALL DONATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE DECEMBER 10th, so we know how much we have to pack!
Ship to:
SMC in Ghana
c/o Professor Josselyne Price
St. Michael’s College
Box 345
1 Winooski Park
Colchester, VT 05439
Thank you in advance, and an update will be sent out before the trip, and then one after to share how it went.
In Gratitude,
Josselyne/SMC in Ghana
Many of you are aware that I’ll be taking a group (6 students, a colleague and her partner) to Ghana, West Africa this coming winter, from December 18 – January 12. The students – some of them from my drum ensemble, and some who just want to learn more about Ghana – have worked hard to raise the money to go, each paying about $3300 or more for the trip (not including their visas, immunizations, etc. – it’s a lot of money!)
We’ve successfully raised enough money to cover travel and other expenses, but as you can imagine, it doesn’t leave a lot over for other things for many of them. They are really interested in doing service work while in Ghana, and have come up with a couple ideas, the most effective one being the distribution of mosquito nets. If you don’t know about the plight of people in Africa regarding malaria and a ton of other mosquito-born diseases, you can read about it here:
http://www.mosquito.org/mosquito-information/mosquito-borne.aspx
Personally, throughout my years of visiting Ghana to study music and dance, I’ve known many families who have lost children (who are partiularly vunerable) to malaria. The less expensive anti-malarial drug (chloroquine) is no longer affective against the strain in Ghana, and wasn’t really affordable to the average village resident anyway. Now the only drugs available cost as much as $5 a pill – these folks might make $1 a day, if they are lucky. The only way to really combat malaria is to help people avoid contracting the disease in the first place.
We, as a group, are now trying to gather donations for the trip once more. But not money – we want mosquito nets!
SpiritFire would like to help with this endeavor, and we are hoping you will want to help, too. So to help encourage folks to donate nets, we’re having our first (and hopefully not last) SFF Mosquito Net Raffle!
Here’s the deal: Buy a net, get a chance to win discounts on your SFF registration, or even a free entry. Of course, if you aren’t able to go to SFF this year we’ll gladly accept net donations anyway! But it’s our way of giving something back and adding some spice to the mix.
How does it work?
We need a very particular kind of net – one that will fit two people (doubles), and they need to be the square kind, as opposed to the hanging round/canopy styles (which are hard to transport and don’t work well for multiple people sleeping together). Nets must be new – we cannot distribute used nets.
If you have access to large stores with camping equipment, you can probably purchase these there – but nets can easily be purchased on the web. Here is the kind we’re looking for - campor.com seems to have the best prices:
http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___86663
We’d like you to send us nets, straight to the college address below if possible, so that they arrive BEFORE December 10th.
For every net you send in, you get a chance at a severely reduced or free entry to SpiritFire!
Send in 1 net = 1 entry in drawing for $25 additional off your SFF fee
Send in 2 nets = 2 entries in drawing for $50 off your SFF fee
Send in 3 nets = 3 entries in drawing for $75 off your SFF fee
Send in 4 nets = 4 entries in drawing for $100 off your SFF fee
Send in 5+ nets = equal amount of entries in drawing for FREE 2010 SFF registration!
You can either purchase the nets and have them sent to us directly (at the address below), or ship them yourselves. Please make sure to email me and tell me: how many nets you bought (please include a tracking number or order number, if possible), when they were bought/shipped, and who you would like to enter in the raffle. If it is for yourself, we’ll use your email to notify you if you win. If you’d like someone else to win the discount/entry, you can specify that as well.
ALL DONATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE DECEMBER 10th, so we know how much we have to pack!
Ship to:
SMC in Ghana
c/o Professor Josselyne Price
St. Michael’s College
Box 345
1 Winooski Park
Colchester, VT 05439
Thank you in advance, and an update will be sent out before the trip, and then one after to share how it went.
In Gratitude,
Josselyne/SMC in Ghana
Saturday, October 17, 2009
SpiritFire 2010 Dates are set!
Hey folks,
We have shifted SpiritFire to slightly earlier in July to meet the scheduling needs of quite a few of our staff and others - sounds so far like this has been a really good move. The new dates are:
Wednesday, July 7 - Sunday, July 11, 2010
Hope you will be able to make it!
We have shifted SpiritFire to slightly earlier in July to meet the scheduling needs of quite a few of our staff and others - sounds so far like this has been a really good move. The new dates are:
Wednesday, July 7 - Sunday, July 11, 2010
Hope you will be able to make it!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Blessed Mabon! Happy Fall Equinox!
Today is the Fall Equinox, or to some Mabon. A celebration of the changing of the seasons once again, an appreciation for the bounty of the harvest, and all of those wonderful things that go with it. The changing of the leaves, the crispness to the air with the bit of summer warmth subtly lingering in the breeze. Apples! Pumpkins! Cider! A great cornicopia of foods and traditions to be had. However you celebrate, may you find many blessings along the way.
I'll share with you this Grateful Dead song that I've been humming on this beautiful morning, and hope you enjoy it! Hooray for Fall :)
Sunrise
Gazing at the fire, burning by the water
Before he speaks the world around us quiets.
With eyes as sharp as arrows and turning to the fire
He clears the air and cuts it with a feather.
Many in a circle slowly 'round the fire
When he is gone I want to know him better.
No one is forsaken, no one is a liar,
He plants the tree of life on our foreheads with water.
He hums, there are drums, four winds, rising suns,
We are singing and playing, I hear what he's saying.
I remember breezes from winds inside your body
keep me high, like I told you, I'll sing to them this story and know why.
Love and light,
SarahFae
I'll share with you this Grateful Dead song that I've been humming on this beautiful morning, and hope you enjoy it! Hooray for Fall :)
Sunrise
Gazing at the fire, burning by the water
Before he speaks the world around us quiets.
With eyes as sharp as arrows and turning to the fire
He clears the air and cuts it with a feather.
Many in a circle slowly 'round the fire
When he is gone I want to know him better.
No one is forsaken, no one is a liar,
He plants the tree of life on our foreheads with water.
He hums, there are drums, four winds, rising suns,
We are singing and playing, I hear what he's saying.
I remember breezes from winds inside your body
keep me high, like I told you, I'll sing to them this story and know why.
Love and light,
SarahFae
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Where in the World is the SpiritFire T-shirt?
So SpiritFire 2009 is over. That can only mean one thing … SpiritFire 2010 is on the way. But what to do until next summer to help remind ourselves that all the magic we felt was real? How to stay connected? Well, there’s lots of ways: study a pathway, stay in touch with the people you met, deepen your spiritual practice in whatever form Spirit calls to you, and … what for it … wait for it …
Play “Where in the World is the SpiritFire T-shirt?”
(Sung to the tune of “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”)
Yes. You guessed it. Where in the world is the SpiritFire T-shirt. Over this coming year, take a picture of yourself in your SpiritFire T-shirt in some really interesting location. A foreign country. A national park. Hang gliding. Volunteering in your local community. For example, here’s a picture of me in my SpiritFire T-shirt just a few weeks ago in Salzburg, Austria.
Send your photos to the list labeled with your name and location. Where in the world will all the members of the SpiritFire community travel in the next 12 months? What are all the interesting things we’ll do? How many lives and places will the SpiritFire community touch? Let's find out.
I’ll do something interesting with all the pictures for the next festival. What will that be, you ask? Well, we’ll just have to see how many pictures come in and how good they are, now won’t we. The first part is up to you. Until then ... get out there, and keep the magic alive!!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Soul Expression 2009
At SpiritFire this year, we held a poetry jam on Friday night. From my perspective, it was WILDLY successful. People brought it in big time: laughter, tears, passion, pain. Original work, Robert Frost, Leonard Cohen, the back of a sugared ginger box ... and so much more.
Poetry speaks to us in deep ways. It says what we've always meant to say but didn't quite know how to articulate. It reveals connections between us and others that we may have kept hidden. It takes off our rose-colored glasses. It shines light into dark corners. It shows us that the darkness has wisdom to offer.
Speaking only for myself ... and knowing that I am saying this LONG before we've done any planning for SpiritFire 2010 ... I think it's safe to say that Soul Expression will be back next year.
So here are some questions ...
What about the circle (set up, guidelines, timing) worked and shouldn't be changed?
What should be done to improve the experience?
How can we keep the magic of the circle alive through the rest of the year?
Comments are welcome. This IS a blog, afterall!
Poetry speaks to us in deep ways. It says what we've always meant to say but didn't quite know how to articulate. It reveals connections between us and others that we may have kept hidden. It takes off our rose-colored glasses. It shines light into dark corners. It shows us that the darkness has wisdom to offer.
Speaking only for myself ... and knowing that I am saying this LONG before we've done any planning for SpiritFire 2010 ... I think it's safe to say that Soul Expression will be back next year.
So here are some questions ...
What about the circle (set up, guidelines, timing) worked and shouldn't be changed?
What should be done to improve the experience?
How can we keep the magic of the circle alive through the rest of the year?
Comments are welcome. This IS a blog, afterall!
Monday, July 20, 2009
New Moon and Solar Eclipse Ritual - 07-21-09
It's a very real, very scientific, astrological and tangible experience we can all see and feel. The New Moon combined with a Solar Eclipse! Some of the best magick can be worked in the time of the New Moon leading up to the Full Moon, when the energy surrounding us is growing in the positive.
So what can we do to celebrate this magickal moment in time? The answer lies withing you. Do the spiritual work yourself, because it is as indivually sacred as unique for you as you are. Spiritual work is not something you can achieve by reading a ritual laid out for you to follow and get the same results as anyone else.
What is it that you want to achieve at this time? Is there something you want to see come to fruition that is deeply important and special to you? Is there something you have been meaning to let go of and embrace the new as you watch two heavenly bodies align as one?
By thinking on these things, or saying these things aloud as you stand or sit under the blanket of stars in the Summer night's sky, hold these feelings close to your heart, and lend your energy to it. Picture those dreams or ideas becoming real. Feel the energy within every fiber of your being, and give that energy out to the Universe. Request gently for the Universe to hear your call.
Eclipses tend to bring big changes. You can see that throughout history how often eclipses have been considered omens and the events that have been linked to eclipses, whether they happened as a result of a natural build-up of forces or people used the eclipse energy to force the event. Astrologically, they tend to have the regenerative effect of Pluto conjunct a House or Planet, sometimes decimating what was there before to remove it from your life and moving you forward to rebirth that area of your life.
Think of a massive light focused through a lens and burning across an area of your life–it will either sear it or illuminate it. Use the time of the eclipse to guide you as to how long your personal ritual will be. Sometimes starting at the beginning of the eclipse, and moving with the enrgy through the duration until its completion helps you achieve the best results.
Whatever you choose to do, whatever you want to achieve, or however big the life change you envision, it is all yours to decide how you lend your energy to it. Many blessings to you, and as always, love and light.
SarahFae
So what can we do to celebrate this magickal moment in time? The answer lies withing you. Do the spiritual work yourself, because it is as indivually sacred as unique for you as you are. Spiritual work is not something you can achieve by reading a ritual laid out for you to follow and get the same results as anyone else.
What is it that you want to achieve at this time? Is there something you want to see come to fruition that is deeply important and special to you? Is there something you have been meaning to let go of and embrace the new as you watch two heavenly bodies align as one?
By thinking on these things, or saying these things aloud as you stand or sit under the blanket of stars in the Summer night's sky, hold these feelings close to your heart, and lend your energy to it. Picture those dreams or ideas becoming real. Feel the energy within every fiber of your being, and give that energy out to the Universe. Request gently for the Universe to hear your call.
Eclipses tend to bring big changes. You can see that throughout history how often eclipses have been considered omens and the events that have been linked to eclipses, whether they happened as a result of a natural build-up of forces or people used the eclipse energy to force the event. Astrologically, they tend to have the regenerative effect of Pluto conjunct a House or Planet, sometimes decimating what was there before to remove it from your life and moving you forward to rebirth that area of your life.
Think of a massive light focused through a lens and burning across an area of your life–it will either sear it or illuminate it. Use the time of the eclipse to guide you as to how long your personal ritual will be. Sometimes starting at the beginning of the eclipse, and moving with the enrgy through the duration until its completion helps you achieve the best results.
Whatever you choose to do, whatever you want to achieve, or however big the life change you envision, it is all yours to decide how you lend your energy to it. Many blessings to you, and as always, love and light.
SarahFae
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