Happy Holidays Giveaway- Win a $15.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!

Merry meet and hello! With all the Winter Holidays rush I have been so busy and had almost no time to blog and therefor have decided to make up for it by doing my first ever giveaway! You will win a $15.00 US gift certificate for my Etsy shop. This will be for $15.00 worth of product from my Shop and shipping will be free! It wouldn't be right to make  you pay shipping on a gift, now would it? This giveaway will end on my birthday- January 25!

So here is the deal....to enter this contest you MUST be a follower of this blog AND leave me a comment below this post just to let me know. That is first and foremost. You can receive extra entries into the drawing by doing a few other things as well. These are listed below.

1. "like" my page on facebook (1 extra entry)

2. Blog about my giveaway and include a link to my blog, my etsy store and my facebook page. Make sure you leave me a comment with a link to the blog post mentioning me below in the comment section!(3 extra entries)

3. Post on facebook about my giveaway with a link to this post. Make sure you add a comment to this post below with a link to the post so I can see it. (1 extra entry)

4.If you have a website with a links page, add my etsy store to that page and leave me a comment telling me where I can find it. (1 extra entry)

5. Follow this blog on Networked blogs. (1 extra entry)

This giveaway will end at midnight on 1/25/10 and is open to the US only. The winner will be chosen via a random number generator.

December 17th Celebrations

Since today marks the first day of Saturnalia, it's a great time for a social. Invite people over for a potluck dinner, a gift exchange, or throw a costume party. Include the Lord of Misrule by allowing the children to plan meal menus today. Better yet, make the Lord of Misrule a central figure in the celebration by choosing someone to dress in the role. Designate a special mug as the Cup of Change, and fill it with hot cider. Then give it to the Lord and have him approach attendees by asking them to embrace the changes in the Earth, the Sky and themselves by drinking from it. Don't forget to honor Saturn, the God if Agriculture, Lessons and Karmic Law. Have everyone choose a lesson they've learned over the past year--something that was especially tough to get through--and discuss it with the rest of the group. Not only will you save someone else the aggravation you went through, but you will lighten your own Karmic load dramatically. Start the discussion by chanting the following together:

Saturn, God of Lessons Learned
And those to come--those yet unturned
Help us lighten Karmic load
By sharing what we've reaped and sowed


Today's Yuletide Trivia

Eggnog wasn't always the creamy, rich drink we know today. It's a derivative of a seventeenth century ale called "nog." The Irish celebrated each Christmas Eve by drinking a pint or so, for in their country all pubs were closed Christmas day.

Corrections about yesterday's blog and December 16th celebrations

Ok, so as a kind reader of my blog pointed out, yesterday's blog post was about the 19th of December when in fact it was only the 15th. The holidays have me so turned around, I guess I don't know what day it is anymore. LOL. So, I am very sorry about that and I will post both the 15th and the 16th celebrations today.

December 15th Celebrations.

The full moon closest to Solstice is called the Oak Moon. The oak tree has long symbolized the male aspect of Divinity and the natural flow between the material and spiritual worlds. Its trunk and branches grow and stretch fervently toward the sky in the physical world, while its roots dig deeply into the hidden planes of the underworld. Even in the dormancy of winter, the oak hosts the new life of mistletoe sprouting from its branches---a reminder that life is always new, always constant.

As you celebrate the fullness of the Oak Moon, remember that you play just as an integral part in the workings of the cosmos ( the world that is not seen with the physical eye) as you do in the world you wake to everyday. Celebrate the return of the Divine Child and the New Light by adorning your family with sprigs of mistletoe and giving each member a candle to remind them that they are each individual flames of the Coming sun with their own paths to light.


December 16th Celebrations

Today marks the Roman and Greek festivals of the Goddesses of Wisdom, Sapientia and Sophia. Celebrate by playing mind-challenging, thinking games like Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, or charades. If you have problems coming up with the game answers, try this silent invocation:

Give me the answer, Wise Goddesses, two
And I'll honor You both when this game is through

If the Goddesses help you , remember to light a candle in Their Honor.

If games aren't your thing, this is also a good day to think about positive solutions to any problems you may have. Ask Sapientia and Sophia to aid you; say something like:

Sapientia! Sophia! Goddesses Wise
Bring quick resolution to this demise
Grant me Your wisdom, Your savvy, and grace
Bring positive answers so I can replace
This negative energy that falls over me
As I will, Wisest Ladies, so mote it be


Today's Yuletide Trivia
The first commemorative Christmas stamp was issued in Austria in 1937

December 19th celebrations

I know I have been severely laxed in posting the daily celebrations as promised...but i really have been busy. I am very sorry for being so lacking.

That said, today is December 19 and Today is the Festival of Opalia, celebrated to honor Ops, the Roman Goddess of Grain and Agriculture. Since the growth of wheat is attributed to her, this is an excellent day to work on your holiday baking. Another idea might be to have a  bread baking ritual. Bless the bread by chanting something like this:

Good Goddess Ops, of wheat and grain
We thank You for the knowledge gained
To grow the wheat that made this bread
The golden grain that keeps us fed

Than ask each person to tear their slice in half. Each person must eat one half while saying:

As bread is made of golden grain
The Sun shall grow in strength again

The other half should then be torn to shreds and placed on a central platter to be scattered outside for birds and other small animals. During the scattering, say something like:

We give you back unto the Earth
With joy and laughter, love and mirth
We do this now in Op's great name
To honor Her-- hear our refrain!

Today also marks Pongol, the Hindu solstice celebration in honor of the Sun Goddess, Sankrat.

Yule Trivia and fun fact for today-
Donder ( not Donner), which means thunder, was the original name of the reindeer who helped pull Santa's sleigh on Christmas eve. He was paired with Blitzen, whose name means lightning.

December 6 Celebrations

This is the day that St. Nicholas visits the world's children and leaves them treats. If you don't want to go to all the trouble that my folks did, just let your children hang their stockings in the morning, then fill them with fruit, nuts, and small gifts before they return home form school.

Because this day is also sacred to Odin, another idea might be to have a family "rune exploration" night. Hide runes about the house, then allow family members to search for them. When all the stones have been found, give each person a short reading from the runes they have gathered. For those if you unfamiliar with rune meanings, a short list of definitions follows. (For definitions of a more comprehensive nature, check for books in your local library or bookstore.)

Feoh: Success, gain
Ur: Growth, transformation
Thorn: Defense, passage
Ansur: Communication
Rad: Travel, spontaneity
Ken: Creativity
Geofu: Union, partnership
Wynn: Wishes granted
Hagall: Chaos, change
Nied: Endurance, stability
Is: Standstill
Jara: Rewards, gifts
Yr: Discovery
Peorth: Awareness
Eolh: Protection, bravery
Sigel: Victory
Tir: Commitment
Beord: Birth of ideas
Eoh: Change, flexibility
Mann: Relationships
Lagu: Intuition, magic
Ing: Preparation
Daeg: Emergence, growth
Othel: Ancestry

December 2nd Celebrations

The Japanese celebrate Hari No Kuyo (the Festival of Broken Needles) today. It's a day to reclaim the feminine arts and enjoy them. Follow suit by working on small arts and crafts or needlework projects. This also makes it a good day to work on holiday gifts or decorations.

This is also the day St. Nicholas sneaks into homes to determine whether the children who live there are honest. If you have children, help them to make small lists of their accomplishments over the last year---especially if you plan to celebrate St. Nick's Day.

Take some time today, too, to sign, address, and stamp your holiday cards. When the cards are ready for the mail, stack them up and enchant them by saying something like:

Good luck and wishes we bestow

Within these  cards before they go

With love and joy we set this spell

And send it though the mail to gel


Today's Yuletide Trivia:
According to historical records, the first American Christmas festivities took place in Jamestown in 1607. The celebration was a device to cheer up the forty settlers who had survived living in the New World. (The original number was 100.)

December is here and the Winter holidays are upon us

So December has finally arrived. One more month to the year and the Winter Holidays are here! So this month I have decided to make a goal for myself. Each day I will blog about a section of a wonderful book I have read called "Yule- A Celebration of Light and Warmth" by Dorothy Morrison. A really good book that you shoudl cinsider purchasing. It tells about each day in December and what special day is celebrated someplace in the world and how. I will tell you what the book says goes on each day and also throw in a bit of trivia for this time of the year just for fun! So you, too can celebrate it to get started, I will tell you about today, December 1st and what is celebrated on this day.

Today belongs to Poseidon, the Greek god of oceans and seas. Begin the day with a family toast of water to Poseidon by saying something like:

Great God of the ocean and seas and rebirth

We honor You now for Your value and worth

As we take this fresh day and we start life anew

Watch over and bless us in all that we do

Since Poseidon is also the god of rebirth, this day also provides a great time to tie up loose ends, complete projects, and take appropriate steps to turn over a new leaf. Make it a family project, then treat yourselves by incorporating something different into your lives: Go somewhere you've never been, try a new dish, or play a new game. What you do really doesn't matter. What's important is that you try something different as a measure or rebirth and that you make it fun. Who knows? You just may start a personal tradition that belongs to your family alone!

This is also a good day to make your holiday greeting cards lists. Make it a family event. Start with a discussion about how greeting cards let others know we're thinking of them and how they bring smiles and good cheer. Add the names of those you think may be especially lonely during the winter holidays.

Today's Yuletide Trivia-

Modern day astronomers say that the famous Star of Bethlehem wasn't a star at all. More than likely, it was either a comet or an astronomical phenomenon cause by the conjunction of several planets at once.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed holiday season. No matter which one(s) you celebrate!