Wishing All A Very Happy New Year - Peace, Happiness and Abundance to All

Happy New Year ! 

Here’s a wonderful vintage postcard that Vintage Dragonfly has made available to all.  Isn’t she the best!  

I do so wish and pray for all the people of this most beautiful Earth to find Peace, Happiness, Joy, Compassion and Abundance … After all is there enough for all of us. 

Love and Light to you and yours.

Dedicated To My Daughter - I See Your True Colors Darling Daughter

I dedicate this video to my wonderful daughter, who has saved my life in so many ways.  I just want her to realize how special and precious she is to me.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could ALL see everybody's True Colors?  Then this world would truly be like a rainbow.  I wish and hope for that each and every day.  

You with the sad eyes
Don't be discouraged
Oh I realize
Its hard to take courage
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And the darkness inside you
Can make you feel so small

But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow

Show me a smile then,
Don't be unhappy, can't remember
When I last saw you laughing
If this world makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow

(When I last saw you laughing)
If this world makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors
True colors
True colors
Shining through

I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow

Peace, Happiness and Abundance to  ALL !  

If only we could remember who we really are.

Happy Yule/Winter Soltice - Merry Christmas - Happy Holidays

Here's some information that I've gathered through the years on this merriest and brightest season that I thought I would share with you.  

Yule,Winter Solstice Lore and Traditions - 
The December solstice will occur at 05:30 (or 5:30am) on December 22, 2011. It is also known as the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere and the Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere due to the seasonal differences. The date varies from December 20 to December 23 depending on the year in the Gregorian calendar.  Yule is also known as the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere and the Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere due to the seasonal differences. 

Yule, (pronounced EWE-elle) is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, the sun's "rebirth" was celebrated with much joy. On this night, our ancestors celebrated the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth. From this day forward, the days would become longer.  

I found this recently on utube.  I can’t believe I just heard this for the first time and it’s from 1977.  What a joyous song.  It’s "Ring Out Solstice Bells," by Jethro Tull. From their album "Songs from the Wood". BLESSED YULE, Joyous Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Everyone !



When the Yule season approached, mistletoe was cut down from the sacred oaks by the Prince of the Druids, who used a golden sickle.  Mistletoe was also hung as decoration.  It represented the seed of the Divine, and at Midwinter, the Druids would travel deep into the forest to harvest it. 

Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider.  Children were escorted from house to house with gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges which were laid in baskets of evergreen boughs and wheat stalks dusted with flour. The apples and oranges represented the sun.  The boughs were symbolic of immortality (evergreens were sacred to the Celts because they did not "die" thereby representing the eternal aspect of the Divine). The wheat stalks portrayed the harvest, and the flour was accomplishment of triumph, light, and life. Holly and ivy not only decorated the outside, but also the inside of homes, in hopes Nature Sprites would come and join the celebration. A sprig of Holly was kept near the door all year long as a constant invitation for good fortune to visit the residents. 

There was quite a bit of ritual and ceremony tied to the Yule log, for it marked the sun's rebirth from its southern reaches. The Yule log gets its name from the Scandinavian tradition, but the ritual burning of a special log during winter solstice took place as far west as Ireland, as far south as Greece, and as far north as Siberia.     

The ceremonial Yule log was the highlight of the Solstice festival. In accordance to tradition, the log must either have been harvested from the householder's land, or given as a gift... it must never have been bought. Once dragged into the house and placed in the fireplace it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused with cider or ale, and dusted with flour before set ablaze by a piece of last years log, (held onto for just this purpose). The log would burn throughout the night, then smolder for 12 days after before being ceremonially put out.  

Celtic Druids decorated their logs with holly and pinecones. The remnants of the burned logs, believed to protect the homes from evil and lightning, were traditionally kept to start the fire the following year as a symbol of the cycle of seasons, the annual death and rebirth of the sun, and the triumph of good against evil. Ashes from the Yule log were spread around homes and gardens as added protection.   

Ash is the traditional wood of the Yule log. It is the sacred world tree of the Teutons, known as Yggdrasil. A herb of the Sun, Ash brings light into the hearth at the Solstice. 

Many customs created around Yule are identified with Christmas today.  If you decorate your home with a Yule tree, holly or candles, you are following some of these old traditions.   The Yule log, (usually made from a piece of wood saved from the previous year) is burned in the fire to symbolize the Newborn Sun/Son.  

I'll be back soon with a post on Christmas Punch ... Yum !

Happy Christmas, Blessed Yule, Merry Winter Solstice and Happy Holidays to ALL! 
I hope I didn't leave anyone out. 

YuleTide Christmas Assemblage Altered Art Angel, Fairies, Santas For My Home

Greetings all people who gather in goodness and peace.  Below are pictures of some of my Yule/Christmas decorations that I created for our home to cheer up the holidays. 

 Here are a trio of Angels ... vintage, Victorian, assemblage, altered art.  

Below you can see my fairies and Santas.  These are scattered throughout our home bringing a chuckle whenever anyone sees them.  

 I hope you enjoyed looking.  Happiness and Peace to ALL !

A Christmas Carol with a Progressive Pagan Twist

This is a beautiful artistic video showing a version of my very favorite "A Christmas Carol", with a progressive Pagan twist. I think it's especially touching that the celebration of the Holy Christ Child is really held on a sacred Pagan holiday. Kinda makes you think why do we have to push our spiritual beliefs on others .... they are all the same at the core anyway.



This is so nice ... I especially loved the dancing in the circle part. You can find the creator's post on this video and blog here http://celestialelfdanceoflife.blogspot.com/2011/11/christmas-carol.html.   We are all on our own journey with memories from past lives. All paths lead to the same place .... LOVE .

Peace, Happiness, Kindness, Generosity, Hospitality, Compassion and Abundance for ALL this Yule-tide Season.

Merry Christmas, Blessed Yule,

Happy Holidays !

Holiday Greetings From our Black Kitty Cat Puffie

Finally, as promised, my fabulous daughter put together this video of our simply marvelous and humorous kitty Puffie … our Nubian Princess.  Isn’t she funny ?  I mean, what other cat does this ?  If you know of one, by all means let us see … we love to see all the pretty kitties.  I'll be back with a picture of her flat on her belly with her legs straight out, I promise.  

Oh, and here's a delightful cat poem..All cat lovers know how wonderful cat kisses feel.   

Love and Light,
Happiness and Abundance to ALL !  

 

Cat Kisses

                     Sandpaper kisses                
on a cheek or a chin
that is the way
for a day to begin

Sandpaper kisses
a cuddle and a purr
I have an alarm clock
that's covered in fur!

~Author Unknown

 

Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake - Our Thanksgiving Dessert

I just thought I should get this post out before it's Christmas ! Although our family is tiny we still had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all the works.  The turkey was wonderful and we are still enjoying it a lot.  We are now finished with the Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake that my daughter created for us.  It's actually one of her own recipes.  It was marvelous.  She whipped up some cream with a touch of maple syrup which added that extra bling.  Needless to say, yummy.  Just click on the picture to link to her recipe at her blog.  She says it's not really that hard to bake up.  

 

May your days be filled with Happiness, Peace, Compassion and Abundance !!