Sunday, December 6, 2015

Radical Reposts: Winter Holidays Extravaganza





From poems to quotes, from articles to jokes: Winter on The Radical Virgo has always spanned the ridiculous to the sublime, the holy to the ho-ho-ho.

The Winter Solstice prayers, poems and meditations have already been posted. Onto the other categories with warmest wishes for a holiday season filled with laughter, wisdom and love.

Articles


Happy Holidays is not so much a matter of being politically correct or externally polite. It is greeting that acknowledges of all beliefs. An essay on including everyone, with a reminder of the pain that can be caused by ignoring what others hold dear when it’s different from your perspective.

I saw my friends and I allowing ourselves to be in I would call “positive vulnerability.” It’s a kind of openness that’s not an invitation to victimhood but rather the bedrock of honesty. Nothing but another person’s truth can enter the space once this “truth of your being” is expressed. It’s an environment that catalyzes deep change, because it goes to the heart of your issues and how your own heart will deal with them. There’s an energy around it that is post-traumatic, the part where the pain or strain is “venting” off your body and spirit like a mist, leaving behind only a pure and empty vessel of new creation. This place is sacred. 

Whether you’re in introvert or extrovert has a lot to do with how you manage winter. The zodiacal process expressed from Capricorn through Pisces represents, going from most dark to the cusp of increasing light—from slowdown to preparing to “spring” into new activity. Here are some thoughts on how this works.

I thought we could go around the zodiac and look at the various “instruments of peace” that might be played by the 12 archetypes of the zodiac—one for each of the 12 Days of Christmas, if you like. (The universe does love the number 12.) This, of course, involves seeing each sign in its highest potential.  And, of course, read with your combo of astrological influences in mind, not just your Sun sign.


Humor


Let’s face it. The holiday season can bring up old wounds like nobody’s business, especially when you combine high stress with relatives. Here’s my suggestion. Shop their Chiron signs!

Every holiday carol is likely to be loved by some signs more than others. I asked my alter ego, Auntie Joyce, to scratch her head and share her ideas and acerbic wit on which holiday tunes go with which singers in the zodiac. Here’s a taste of her which-craft!

Years ago, I worked in a place where we did outrageous holiday entertainment at our parties. One of the traditions I started was to create Kinky Carols, where we twisted the verses of traditional holiday tunes to suit our whims. This is an example, hot off the presses, just in time for this ChrismaSolstiHanuzkaa.

Rituals and Ceremonies


Links to the two main ceremonies I do with my Solsisters every Winter Solstice, the Ceremony of Recognition and Burning t he Old. You can do these individually or in a group. A great tradition!

My Solsisters group is a quarter century old! I consider the practice of doing rituals at the Cardinal turning points—many add the cross-quarters —to be the most practical and experiential astrology we can practice.

New Year’s


Aries ~ New Year's Day is every man's birthday. ~Charles Lamb …

Gemini: I’m good at writing. Doorbell. Hi, Max! Oh, I have to TiVo my four programs that are on at the same time. What am I supposed to do again? My phone is ringing.

Winding down:
quiet as snow falling
Calendar switching
hushed as a church
before midnight
Darkness
awaits
dawn …

 



Quotes


VIRGO: One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day.  Don't clean it up too quickly. ~Andy Rooney



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Photo Credit: © Michele Paccione – Fotolia.com



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