It’s Christmastime (Let’s Just Survive) by Kathleen Edwards.   And now for something new !   Well, from 2019 but still fresh .   It is also a perhaps refreshing dissent from the relentless cheerfulness and sentimentality of so many Christmas songs .   A lot of us have felt something like this but have stifled ourselves so as not to be a buzz kill .   It’s Christmastime (Let’s Just Survive) by Canadian singer/songwriter Kathleen Edwards tells it like it sometimes really is. Edwards wrote about her song: It’s that time of the year where you click the radio, and there’s the standard Christmas fare. I was like, none of these are actually what Chris...

      Some years ago the Zen priest Tom Hawkins wrote: We have arrived in Bodghaya. Thousands of other pilgrims, us, and then two thousand Tibetan monastics for a special gathering. Beyond words to be at the bodhi tree in the evening with such a crowd. And to make offerings and devotional gestures. Yet, […]

Taryn Strauss Each Advent, my empathy for Mary’s situation returns. Continue reading "The Blessing of Choice"

The Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregationin McHenry presents Leaves of Tree of Life—A Virtual Verse Night on Saturday, December 11 from 7 to 9 pm on Zoom. Poetswill share original work. Hosted by Patrick Murfin and featuring Tricia Alexander, Kenneth Balmes, Sue Rekenthaller, and Jane Richards. Tricia Alexander is a musician, poet, and spiritual teacher who has been performing for more than 40 years.  Her newest book is Excerpts From A Sonnetary Life . The program is free to the public, but donations to the Compassion for Campers, the program that serves the unhoused in McHenry county who will spend all or part of the winter monthscamping outside, sleeping in vehicles, or couch surfing, will be accepted and appreciated. The...

On Friday, January 7th, from 7-8:30 pm, the Hudson Mohawk Cluster of UU Congregations will host its second annual online, multigenerational, multi-congregational Trivia Night! Back by popular demand will be the music round of “name that UU hymn,” and a photo round. New this year, a trivia ... read more . The post Multigenerational, Multi-congregational Trivia Night appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

HOLIDAY STORY TIME: You and your children are invited to join me for Holiday Story Time on Tuesday, 12/14, from 6-6:30 pm. Let me know if you have any special story requests. UPCOMING RE CLASSES: K-6 EXPERIENCES WITH THE WEB OF LIFE: These nature lovers will meet again online ... read more . The post RE This Week – Dec. 7th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

As the snow casually drifts down from a gray sky, we catch one on a glove and then another. They really are different in size and shape and texture and yet it’s still called snow and depending on the weather conditions, it exists or melts ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Dec. 7th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

I am excited to announce that both the Hibbert Trust and the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Joseph Gittler Fund for Religion and Ethics will be partially funding the research for my forthcoming book (w/ Brill) “Unitarian Universalist Theologies” (publication anticipated in spring 2023).

By restoring and expanding the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program, Biden has again turned his back on people seeking refuge.

Pulpit Exchanges and a Foray to Baltimore [video forthcoming] New England Ministers of the 18th and 19th centuries typically exchanged pulpits with one or another neighboring minister one or two Sundays a month. As sermons then were scholarly labors: painstakingly constructed essays about an hour and half long, creating a new one every week was not sustainable. The pulpit exchange allowed for prior work to be re-used for a new audience. The liberals didn’t mind having conservative guest preachers in their pulpits because, for liberals, doctrine wasn’t terribly important. For conservative ministers, however, doctrinal orthodoxy was essential, so conservatives increasingly refused to do any pulpit exchanges with liberal ministers. The ...

Popularity of the word “racist” from Google Ngram Viewer“Racist” was coined surprisingly late—the Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest example in 1919. During the first half of the twentieth century, racists were proud to be racist, but for three decades after the end of Jim Crow, everyone knew racists were despised by most Americans, so both David Duke, a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan

The Wisdom of Water Striders An Online Service with Reverend Stephen Shick   Not long ago, I enjoyed watching water striders at the quiet edges of ponds, lakes, and streams. Those edges are frozen now. Yet, I carry the memory of these tiny fragile creatures into this season of darkness. In this season the world  has gone   [ … ] The post Sunday, December 12 ~ The Wisdom of Water Striders ~10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Manhattan district attorney's office announced that billionaire Michael Steinhardt has surrounded 180 stolen antiquities. Continue reading Stolen antiquities surrendered by billionaire collector at The Wild Hunt.

As I’ve let go of strict ideas of ‘belief’ and ‘knowing,’ and let myself release into a felt sense of mystery, my relationship with the world around me has grown deeper and more meaningful. What belief can you let go of that will help you form a deeper relationship with the world?

                                                                      It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas sung by Johnny Mathis. Note — This is the latest the Festival has ever featured this American pop Christmas standard.  It usually runs shortly after Thanksgiving as seasonal decorations and music seem to explode around us.  This year here in Northern Illinois we have the decorations and music, but we have hardly been touched by more than aimless snow flurries, so we are missing that white Christmas look.  Perhaps in a few days it will begin to snow on cue like it does in all of the cable rom-coms as the star-crossed lovers overcome all on Christmas Eve. There are many subsets in ...

As Pagans begin to gather in person again, I hope we’ll give some extra thought to the aesthetics of our spaces. How can we make them temples to the glory of our Gods and shrines to the power of our magic, even if only for an evening?

Yesterday I began making 3 boxes for Fine Woodworking, with Barry Dima taking photos of each step. The boxes have been glued up overnight and are waiting for the next steps which we'll take photos of today.  We had been scheduled to do this article earlier,  but the Covid 19 pandemic brought delays. I was too busy yesterday posing for shots, and forgot to take any myself. I'll try to remember to take photos today. The photo shown is one from an earlier visit from Barry Dima in 2018 in which I demonstrated making a mitered box joint. Make, fix and create...

The social media firm owes a debt to Rohingya youth.

We did it! We made it to the finish line of another plague year! Just a few more weeks left. Even though it’s not New Year’s Eve yet, uncork some bubbly to celebrate. We earned it. Our big wish for the new year: no more COVID variants. Delta, Mu, Omicron . . . Worst. Upgrades. Ever. Before we slam the door on 2021, we need to applaud and thank our authors and staff for the blog posts they wrote for the Broadside.

I have been told that in Japanese tradition today, the 9th of December is marked as the moment that Huike presented his arm to Bodhidharma as evidence of his desire to enter the intimate way. This is one of foundational moments in the mythic origins of the Zen way. The event is captured as a koan, […]

Editorial Note: TWH uses quotations on “witches,” “witchcraft,” and “witch-hunt” to denote there appears no association with modern Pagan or Witchcraft practices. The victims of “witch-hunts” are usually not Pagans, Witches, or practicing any spiritual practice typically considered Pagan. Content warning: Graphic depictions of violence TWH – In late July the Human Rights Council of the United Nations adopted a resolution focused on eliminating accusations of “witchcraft” and ritual attacks but attacks, assaults, and murders continue to occur within African and other countries around the globe. Continue reading The legacy of “witch-hunts” continue at The Wild Hunt.

Within the world of agriculture, there is a vital part of crop growing known as letting land “lie fallow.”  To fallow a piece of earth is to leave it deliberately unsown – to let it rest. This time of rest allows more fertility to gather in the soil, guaranteeing a better crop later. It is […] The post Fallow Season ~ Burnout, Fatigue, and Sacred Rest appeared first on Nature's Sacred Journey.

“Gathered here in the mystery of the hour …”  How does a concrete, sequential thinker think of these words, and will the interpretation of these words be different for the abstract random thinker? What, to you, is the mystery that draws humans to gather?

                                                       The Chalica Song performed at a Unitarian Universalist congregation. Regular visitors to this little pop stand at the far end of the cul de sac know that the proprietor is a proud Unitarian Universalist and quite fond of the faith’s quirky adherents .  But, oh boy, are we ever an earnest bunch fiercely proud of our history and heritage , our anti-racism , progressive social justice activism , and non-creedal religion .  Toss in the large numbers of Humanists who break out in rashes at the mention of God and we can be the butt of a lot of jokes, not all of them as semi-fond as Garrison Keillor’s . Take the recent development of Chalica for exampl...

Today I start a three day box making class at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts. Due to covid 19 restrictions, I have a small class of only 4 students, so each will receive plenty of personal attention.  Yesterday I finished a two day photo shoot with Barry Dima from Fine Woodworking. We made three boxes under the watchful eye of a Canon camera with huge lens, and flash. The boxes we made and photographed in process will serve as examples for my students as we begin class. A friend of mine, Ron Hansen, PhD, professor emeritus from Western Ontario University and the founder of the Human Ingenuity Research Group offered the following comment on my new, yet-to-be released book: Congratulations Doug and Linden. This book is so crucial t...

Because the Black Panthers were created and developed in black neighborhoods, identitarians assume the Panthers were a racial organization. This makes as much sense as assuming that because Marx and Engels were Europeans, Marxism is “white”.You could argue that the Black Panthers began with a racial focus. You cannot argue that they did not quickly move past focusing on race to focusing on class

      Today, the 10th of December in 1968, the American Trappist monk, mystic, spiritual writer, social justice activist, and advocate of interreligious dialogue, Thomas Merton died. The Episcopal church marks this date as a feast for a saint. And in my own way I try to keep this small feast, as well. What […]

"It is midnight on a Wednesday evening, which is the time I like to bring gifts to the gods. I tear the cider bread into nine pieces and leave it there. In the morning the bread is gone, taken by the gods or the squirrels, who in any event share much in common." Continue reading Column: Cider Bread, a Devotion at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (11 December 2021) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The group is free and open to all. For more information, contact Larry … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (11 December 2021)"

I find mystery sometimes scary because it can be the unknown and it could be the known you can’t stop, things like creeping apathy that lead to evil. Engage with something beyond your control today–overcome creeping apathy by caring.

    DOUBT & FAITH A Zen Meditation James Ishmael Ford “The opposite of faith is not doubt; it is certainty. It is madness. You can tell you have created God in your image when it turns out that he or she hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamont With Buddhism like with […]

Margherita Caruso as Mary in Pasolini’s  Gospel According to St. Matthew  (1964) A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation  (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece) —o0o— As I noted last week, we are in the season of Advent which, minimally conceived, marks the beginning of a period of reflective waiting and preparation for “that-which-is-to-come.” You may recall that I added, because the symbol of “that-which-is-to-come” in the Advent and Christmas myth has become so familiar to us — namely, the new-born Jesus as a representation of “divinity-among-us-never-gone” — it is easy to forget that ...

                                                   Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones) by Norah Jones. Today we have a brand spanking new Christmas song that may have legs if holiday radio can break out of its rut of a short rotation a comfortably familiar chestnuts.   In recent years only pop superstars and country music divas have been able to stake a claim.   Today’s artist, while well honored and popular, is pegged as a jazz chanteuse an offramp from the mainstream. Nora Jones was born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar on March 30, 1979 in New York City to Indian classical sitar player Ravi Shankar who burst on the western musical scene with an introduction by the Beatles and American concert producer Sue Jones...

Please join us on Saturday (11 December 2021) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM for our monthly building and grounds work day. Join us as we get our church home — inside and out — as we continue to reopen.

Rich liberals have pitted gender and race against each other since the early days of abolition and suffrage when partisans concluded they could not or would not work for both. It continues with antiracists today who refer insultingly to Karens (white women who report their suspicions of people of color to the authorities), pearl-clutching (white women who get upset by harsh language), and white

I have been posting recently about my latest research concerning my Innu third great grandmother, and because of that I want to write today some clarification about identity and relationship. The more I am learning about Indigenous people–through study, through language, through cultural sharing by Indigenous people–the more I understand that I am not Indigenous. […]

Luke Babb and Bat Collazo collaborate on a two-part series of conversation and context surrounding "the godspouse," Pagans whose practice includes romantic or erotic love toward a deity. Continue reading Column: Godspouses, in Conversation – part one at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us next Wednesday (15 December 2021) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

We will continue to watch the local COVID numbers.  We feel encouraged by the cooling weather and the possibility of comfortable outdoor activities. We are not resuming regular classes for children and youth at this time because our classrooms are too small to be safe for unvaccinated children, and because we want some time to … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education Updates"

Please join us on Sunday (12 December 2021) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. We are discussing episodes of the podcast Learning How to See with Rev. Brian McLaren, Father Richard Rohr, and Rev. Jacqui Lewis. They are discussing the 13 kinds of bias that Rev. Barbara mentioned recently in … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 12 December 2021"

From: Kathy Osuch, Board Secretary To: All Members, Inactive Members, and Friends In accordance with the bylaws of our church and as Secretary of the Board, I hereby announce that All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church will hold a Congregational Meeting Sunday, 19 December 2021 at 3:00 PM via Zoom. On the Agenda: Vote on the … Continue reading "Announcement of Congregational Meeting (Sunday, 19 December 2021)"

Please join us on Sunday (12 December 2021) at 11:00 AM for “Darkness and Light, Suffering and Love” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. Our service will be livestreamed on Facebook Live here. This will be our sixth consecutive in-person worship service in the sanctuary since March 2020. We have some special rules to keep all of … Continue reading "In-Person and Online All-Ages Worship (12 December 2021)"

“Out of the darkness, light. Out of the light, warmth. Out of the warmth, joy. Out of the joy, togetherness.” -Ben Soule Where are you finding joy today? How can you kindle it for others?

I look back on the mythical people who first observed the Winter Solstice. Like them, I don’t know what’s coming next year. But also like them, I will do what I can do to make things better, using both magic and mundane effort.

        Daiun Sogaku Harada died on this day, the 12th of December in 1961. He is a central figure in the establishment of what would become my spiritual path, as well as for many others. The roshi was born in Obama, Fukui Prefecture on the 13th of October, 1871. He was tonsured […]

                                                                    Le Canta a la Virgen de Guadalupe sung by Beatriz Adriana.   Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas , Patroness of the Americas , and most recently Patroness of the Unborn.   An imageof her preserved on cloth in a Mexico City Basilica is the object of almost universal adoration in Mexico and among the large Mexican diaspora in the United States.   She has been called the “rubber band which binds this disparate nation into a whole.”   Mexican literary icons have attested to her importance.   Carlos Fuentes said that “you cannot truly be considered a Mexican unless you be...

Finding joy is a practice of mindfulness. This service will stream LIVE!.

There was no bridge across this small creek, but it was fairly easy to cross by stepping on a few rocks. We were also wearing waterproof hiking boots. The creek will be higher this next week because we are finally getting some more much needed rain. But rain will make creeks a little harder to […]

To part 2 The Daoist text, Dao De Jing , dates back to about the 6th-century BCE. It consists of 81 short chapters, about 100 words each. There have been many translations into English, and I own about 17 of them. There is some scholarly dispute about the proper order of the chapters, but in the versions most common and longest known to English readers, here are the last lines of the last chapter -- the Dao De Jing 's last word. First, from the version by Stephen Mitchell, which is by far the best known and best loved. “The Tao nourishes by not forcing. By not dominating, the Master leads.”Those lines are translated by Wang Keping as:“The Dao of Heaven benefits all things and causes no harm. The Dao of the sage acts for others but ...

To part 1 In the Jewish tradition, the Talmud teaches saying 100 blessings a day over any little thing: a piece of fruit, a cup of tea, a sandwich. "Blessed are you, Yahweh, our God, Source of Life, who creates the fruit of the tree.” Or: “by whose word all comes into being,” Or: “who brings forth bread from the earth.” The item is blessed by saying that its source is blessed. Blessedness belongs to the source. Just acknowledge where it came from – whether you say God, or Earth, or All That Is. In this month's issue of "On the Journey," there’s a piece by Martin Seligman in which he recommends a simple practice: Each night, set aside 10 minutes – some time between dinner and bed. Write down three good things that happened...

as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, December 12, 2021 This is my second sermon on the theme of reimagining possibilities. Last week, at the end of my first sermon on the series, I invited you to attend to the world and share with me something beautifully unanticipated that you encountered: an […]

In part two of a series, TWH contributors Bat Collazo and Luke Babb discuss the concept of the "godspouse," a Pagan whose practice involves romantic or erotic love for a deity. Continue reading Column: Godspouses, in conversation – part two at The Wild Hunt.

Kristen L. Harper We need a new theology of darkness—a new way to relate to the darkness, blackness, and brownness that surrounds us.

Mystery is unsettling to my concrete-loving brain. I desire answers when maybe there are none. Sometimes that’s hard and I have to sit with it for a while. What does it feel like to sit with the unknown?

Registration Day at school was always slow and boring. So I did what any geek would do – I took a book. On Registration Day for 10th grade I took Interview With the Vampire.

                                                                           Sankta Lucia sung in Swedish at a Church observation in Gothenburg ( Göteborg) Another day, another Saint.   Today we consider how a Sicilian virgin martyr and a Neapolitan song, became central to a Scandinavian folk custom that looks suspiciously pagan. In point of fact, no one is exactly sure, but the Feast of St. Lucy—Santa Lucia—observed annually on December 13, is ancient on one hand and surprisingly recent in its Norseguise. Almost nothing is known about St. Lucy.  She was reported to be the daughter of a wealthy and/or noble family from Syracuse in Sicily in the early Fourth Century .   Syracuse was a so...

Yesterday I finished a 3 day box making class with students at ESSA, that immediately followed a two day photo shoot with Fine Woodworking. In my home wood shop I've been trying to finish boxes that have accumulated from various classes.  The five boxes made in the last 5 days add to that burden. Three must be sent in to Fine Woodworking after sanding and finish for photography to finish production of the article which will be published at a future, unspecified date. Yesterday I received a blurb for the promotion of my new book from one of my heroes, David Henry Feldan. His award winning essay, The Child as Craftsman, published many years ago should be read by every educational policy maker in the US. About my new book, David Henry said...

In sixty years, Asian-Americans have gone from being effectively a “gray” race that could marry white or black people when interracial marriage was illegal to a group that by most objective standards is more privileged than white Christians.Though there’s some precedent for the idea of race before 1680—in some places, nobles were literally thought to have “blue blood” that marked them as a

Rev. Kit Ketcham, with Nancy Logan Dec. 12, 2021             This is the time of year when that tired old War on Christmas rhetoric gets dragged out of the tattered decorations box and hung on the tree—or the cross, if you wish.  I don’t get into the fray any more but I do like to pass on the real story, because it is so deeply embedded into our culture and yet virtually unexamined by most folks.             You may already know this, but the Unitarians actually SAVED Christmas, long ago, building on the foundation set in place by pagan worshippers over thousands of years of honoring the earth, sun, moon, and stars as divine.             This month marks the Winter Solstice, a holy day which has ...

Om this week's Pagan Community Notes, Caverly sentenced, Thor's Oak Kindred releases statement supporting Indigenous People's Day, the Gemenid meteors, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of December 13, 2021 at The Wild Hunt.

Sometimes we are afraid of the unknown, of the mysterious. Sometimes admitting–or even facing–those fears is a healthy part of overcoming them. What unknown makes you afraid? How can you face that today?

I apologize for the brief blog outage. My indefatigable web host moved this website onto a more secure server with additional hardening against attackers, and some minor glitches happened. That’s the price we pay for website security these days. (Some day maybe I’ll convert this entire site to static HTML, which would reduce energy consumption … Continue reading "Outage"

A few years ago, I started working on a book of songs and carols for winter holidays, pitched for medium voices (most Christmas carols are pitched for sopranos and tenors), arranged on simple lead sheets. I had to abandon the project because life got in the way. Someday maybe I’ll finish the book, but in … Continue reading "Winter holiday songs"

Hello, Mr. Kringle  performed by Kay Kyser & his Orchestra with vocals by Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mason, Ish-Kabibble. Christmas is the season for novelty songs .  There are hundreds, probably thousands, of them.  A few become perennials —think I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus , Santa Baby , or Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer —but most are ephemeral and quickly forgotten no matter how famous or popular the performer doing one is.  Take Hello, Mr. Kris Kringle by Kay Kyser and his Orchestra from 1939.  Kyser was probably the most popular band leader on radio that year and a budding movie phenomenon who prominently featured singers and members of his band in his recordings and Kollege of Musical Knowledge broadcasts, ...

      Juan de Yepes y Alverez was born into a Converso family near the town of Avila on the 24th of June, 1542. He died in the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Ubeda today, the 14th of December in 1591. We generally know him as John of the Cross, or more properly St John […]

The possible astrological impact and influence of the coming shift of lunar nodes from Gemini and Sagittarius to Taurus and Scorpio. Continue reading The astrology of lunar nodes at The Wild Hunt.

The UUSS Board of Trustees will be hosting two Congregational Conversations at the beginning of the new year. The first will be via Zoom on Tuesday January 11th at 7pm. The second will (hopefully) be in person after church on Sunday February 13th at 12pm. There is ... read more . The post Upcoming Congregational Conversations appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Join UUs from all of the congregations in the Hudson Mohawk Cluster for the 2nd annual Online, Multigenerational, Multi-congregational Trivia Night on Friday, January 7th, from 7-8:30pm. Back by popular demand will be the music round of “name that UU hymn,” plus a pop culture photo round. ... read more . The post Save the Date! Trivia Night on January 7th – 7-8:30pm appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

HOLIDAY STORY TIME: You and your children are invited to join Director of Lifespan Religious Education Robin Ahearn for Holiday Story Time Tuesday, 12/14, from 6-6:30 pm. UPCOMING RE CLASSES: Regular RE classes are on hiatus for a few weeks. All ages are welcome to attend Sunday and Christmas ... read more . The post RE This Week – Dec. 14th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

A poem for December: The morning quiet invites me into the day. The cardinal calls out in the chill, and the air echoes with           possibility. In this beauty, I rise, in reverence. May your days also include beauty, even if fleeting, and moments of reverence and gratitude. Need an idea for some ... read more . The post Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Dec. 14th appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

A good mystery book can be a blessing. It’s a brief break in my daily life and makes my brain think in different ways. Sometimes I love knowing ‘whodunit’ and sometimes I just go with the flow of the book. Similar to life. When do you go with the flow of the mystery?

                                                       Silver Bells sung by Stevie Wonder in 1967. The pages are flying off the calendar like in those old movies as we near Christmas.   It’s time to consider the most urban of the secular advent songs from the Golden Age of American holiday music.   Like It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas and other songs it captures the vibrancy, bustle, color, and excitement of the season but sets it on the crowded streets of a big city.   Other songs captured nostalgia for by-gone Christmases, country villages, and sleigh rides but Silver Bells , sometimes called City Sidewalks , was set squarely in the modern post-World War II era. Songwriting team Ray E...

Jake Morrill For me, “surrendering everything tenderly” brings an awareness of grace. Continue reading "The Grace within a Pecan Pie"

I’ve missed a few days of my #100DaysOfArt, but mostly have stuck to it. One completed drawing:

One of my books has fallen off a cliff in terms of sales, and it's one that I think deserves greater attention due to it having to do with the teaching philosophy of Friedrich Froebel's Kindergarten, a thing that should be of interest to every teacher and every parent in America.  The purpose of my book Making Classic Toys that Teach is to offer instruction to parents and teachers in the making of Froebel's Gifts. Froebel's gifts were designed to lead the child into creative engagement, integrated with an ever expanding understanding of self within the matrix of life.  The book covers both  hand-tool and power tool approaches and also covers the three ways in which the gifts were used— To create forms of beauty, to create forms of k...

  Sunday, December 19 Holiday Lawsuit: A Multigenerational Circle of Churches Solstice Pageant   The Winter Solstice sues Christmas for appropriating its holidays and traditions in this lighthearted and informative readers’ theater play by Maria Houck. Join us for this multi-church worship service featuring a solstice pageant prepared by the new Circle Religious Education Collaborative, including   [ … ] The post Sunday, December 19 ~ Holiday Lawsuit! ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Our annual Solstice by Candlelight is being paired up with our monthly Full Moon rituals for an evening of celebrating the returning light! Join us on Sunday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 pm for a reflective candlelit ritual in Union Hall. Masks are required and social distancing will be practiced. RSVP required to ensure a safe, socially   [ … ] The post *In Person* Solstice/Full Moon Ritual ~ December 19, 7:30 p.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

  Hokyozanmai Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi Translated by 増永霊鳳 Masunaga Reihō (1902-1981) First published in The Sōtō Approach to Zen, Layman Buddhist Society Press (Zaike bukkyo kyokai), Tokyo, 1958, pp. 188-192. Introduction Tung-shan Liang-chieh (807-869) wrote the Hōkyōzanmai (Pao-ching san-mei) in verse style. Made up of four-character lines, it contains a total of 94 lines and 376 […]

A round-up of Winter Solstice and Yule seasonal celebrations in the U.K. Continue reading Winter seasonal events in the U.K. at The Wild Hunt.

Throughout my life I have encountered variations of the question “Do you believe in ____?” Whether it be ghosts, Santa, fairies, whatever. My answer has almost always been something like “I believe that there are things that we cannot understand.” I have always felt strongly that forces exist that we cannot necessarily perceive, and they … Continue reading Belief

                                                                                                                                       Pedir Posadas, a traditional Mexican Posadas song with Spanish lyrics. Today is the first day of the traditional Mexican celebration of Las Posadas, a novenario or novena—an extended nine daydevotional prayer observed between December 16 and Christmas Eve December 24.   The more than 400 year-old custom has spread to other Latin American nations and to the Mexican diasporain the United States. A neighborhood Posada procession in a painting by  Carmen Lomas Garza in the National  Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. Las Posa...

      Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Somerset, England, on this day, the 16th of December, 1917. From his teenaged years he was fascinated with science and science fiction. After the Second World War, where he rose from the enlisted ranks to a commission as a flight lieutenant. After the war he attended […]

Did you make a commitment to a spiritual group that you’re no longer a part of? Were religious commitments made for you? Are others telling you their bonds are forever? These ties can be broken – if you have the power and the will do it.

COP26 was a prime opportunity to make real progress on addressing climate change—but little progress was made.

My woodshop is a mess with over 20 boxes nearing completion. These are all one-of-a-kind boxes as they were originally left-overs from having taught students various box making techniques. If I can get them finished they can be sold. If they can be finished they can be moved out of my woodshop to make room for the making of other things. And if I can get these boxes out of the way, I can give the shop the deep cleaning it deserves. A friend, Kim Brand called suggesting that perhaps the best audience for my Wisdom of our hands philosophy will be found among folks in the grandparent generation. Those that grew up playing with paper, scissors and string may have noticed that their grandchildren are glued to their digital devices, and they, ...

It is sometimes the hard mystery of attempting to understand “why?”  Why did that happen, or why did they pass that law? Mystery is the why we don’t always get to know. What is something you would like to know the “why” of? How do you embrace the mystery of not knowing that?

                                                                      Jingle Bells by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, 1941. Earlier this week was the 75th anniversary of the disappearance and presumed death of Major Glenn Miller somewhere over the English Channel on a foggy night.  Miller, the most famousand popular of all big band leaders was then in command of the Army Air Force Band in Europe.  He left England on December 14 in a small single engine plane to join the Band in Paris to rehearse and prepare for a special Christmas broadcast on Armed Forces Radio.  The public first heard of his disappearance when his assistant Tech. Sgt Jerry Gray conducted the band for the concert. Major  Gle...

As described by John G. Neihardt in "When the Tree Flowered," as parents of the indigenous people of the northern plains were providing for their children's survival, the grandparents were doing the things that assured cultural survival. They were the teachers, through story telling and the making of things.  For instance, a boy's first bow would be made for him by a loving grandfather who would then coach him in the making of his next bow. The grandmother's hands were busily engaged in making beaded moccasins and clothing for their grandchildren in whom they took great pride and while the children watched.  Children would learn all important things through the tutelage and demonstrations provided by the grandparent's generation. Compa...

This is it. The final hurrah for 2021! Yes, we’re ending in the phase of Omicron rising, but many of our titles were selected for a number of best-of lists and holiday gift guides for the year. So many! Let’s raise a glass to our authors to congratulate them! And guess what? Our holiday sale is in full swing!

      These days a couple of times a month I’m visiting an old colleague who now resides in a nursing home. He suffers from something called vascular Parkinson’s. It resembles Parkinson’s but is actually caused by a swarm of strokes. My understanding is that his cognitive functions are largely intact, although he cannot focus […]

Yule or Alban Arthan meaning “Light of Arthur” or “Light of Winter” in my Druid path is Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 10:58 a.m. ET. It is the shortest day of the year and known to the mundane as the Winter Solstice. It is so deep in Pagan tradition that one can openly practice without anyone […] The post Celebrating Yule while living in a Christian home appeared first on Nature's Sacred Journey.

Staff Writer Over 120 Unitarian Universalists participate in Poor People’s Campaign Moral March

Storm Faerywolf covers the proliferation of spammers impersonating occultists on Instagram. Continue reading Opinion: Instascam – Fraud and the Online Occult Community at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (18 December 2021) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The group is free and open to all. For more information, contact Larry … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (18 December 2021)"

Solving a mystery is fulfilling. I’m not talking about big mysteries, but little everyday mysteries. Where did I put that? How can I do that? It feels good to work hard, sometimes alone and sometimes with others, to figure it out. Solve a little mystery today. Take satisfaction from your accomplishment.