5, 4, 3, 2, 1--Happy New Year 2015!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015!

Happy Winter Solstice 2014

Today is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Tomorrow, the sun begins its return to the northern hemisphere. Welcome back Sol Invictus.

Happy Winter Solstice 2014!

Happy Thanksgiving 2014

"I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude."
--Brené Brown

Happy Thanksgiving!

La Toussaint, 2014

Aujourd'hui est le jour de La Toussaint en France.

La Toussaint by Emile Friant (1863-1932)

Today is La Toussaint in France, a national holiday. Although Toussaint is a combination of the word tous ("all" in French) and saint, meaning "All Saint's Day," it is also "All Soul's Day." La Toussaint is closely related, in intent and spirit, to the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration in Latin cultures. It is a day to remember, celebrate, and honor departed loved ones and ancestors.

In France, people visit cemeteries to have picnics and to tend to the graves of family members and decorate them with chrysanthemums, a flower symbolizing death (a symbol shared with Day of the Dead); generally, the French do not use this flower for any other purpose.

And here are some shots of the lovely Cimitière du Père Lachaise in Paris (20th) last year, 2013, by Alain Delavie.

Visit the Père Lachaise website for an absolutely fantastic virtual tour. You can wander around the beautiful serene avenues, admire the sculptural tombstones, or search graves by name!
http://www.pere-lachaise.com/

Bonne Fete de La Toussaint!

Happy Cherokee New Year, 2014!

Happy Cherokee New Year!

The Cherokee people ended their year and started the new year in autumn. It’s interesting—and makes sense—that they chose the harvest to mark the end of the year. The earth had gone through a cycle: the food had grown from spring, through summer, and then was harvested in the fall. The cycle was finished; time to start anew. The New Year was celebrated with a festival that featured purifications, dancing, prayers and offerings, and food such as corn, beans, squash, and meat.

Since the Cherokee calendar was and still is extremely tied to the phases of the moon, the timing of the New Year observation is somewhat up for debate. Some sources say that it was observed on the first full moon after the start of autumn. Other sources report that the New Year was observed ten days after the first full moon (which is today, October 18th, 2014), the ten days probably being a period of fasting and preparation for the festival. Still other sources cite the first full moon in the Cherokee month of Nvdadequa or Nvwatitequa—which happens during our month of November—as the true Cherokee New Year.

Whenever it was celebrated, it was surely around this time... when the earth turns, the days grow shorter, the nights grow longer, and the weather turns cold. We prepare for the introspection that comes with winter, when the ground sleeps under the snow. That is the beginning of the year, the beginning of time: from darkness and cold springs life, new growth.

I wish you all "alihelisdi itse udetiyvsadisvi" or Happy New Year!


http://www.cherokee.org/

Happy International Coming Out Day 2014

Today is the 26th annual International Coming Out Day. This celebration started in 1988 as a way to raise awareness of the LGBT community and civil rights movement.

If you haven't yet, join us. We need you.

Sculpture by Lazar-G

Kew Gardens, London, 2014

Seen In London, 2014

The Borough Market, London, 2014