Nancy Lankston
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring,
One smile can begin a friendship,
One hand can lift a soul,
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal,
One sunbeam can light a room,
One candle can wipe out darkness,
One laugh can conquer gloom,
One hope can raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care,
One voice can wake up everybody,
One life can make the difference.
Be that one.
-Author Unknown
Image: Old Ponderosa by Nancy L
If you want to give birth to your true self, you are going to have to dig deep down into that body of yours and let your soul howl. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and trust that if you turn off your head, your feet will take you where you need to go.
‘When your world moves too fast
and you lose yourself in the chaos, introduce yourself
to each color of the sunset.
Reacquaint yourself with the earth beneath your feet.
Thank the air that surrounds you
with every breath you take.
Find yourself in the appreciation of life.’
~ Christy Ann Martine
Image by Nancy L
Creator,
bless my eyes that I may see with love,
bless my mouth that I may speak with love,
bless my ears that I may listen with love,
bless my heart that I may give and receive love,
bless my hands that all that I touch feels love,
bless my feet that my walk may be a prayer upon Mother Earth.
~Curandera Grace Alvarez Sesma
🌙
Image: Mandala Offering to
Mama Earth by Nancy L
May a good vision catch me
May a benevolent vision take hold of me, and move me
May a deep and full vision come over me, and burst open around me
May a luminous vision inform me, enfold me.
May I awaken into the story that surrounds,
May I awaken into the beautiful story.
May the wondrous story find me;
May the wildness that makes beauty arise between two lovers
arise beautifully between my body and the body of this land,
between my flesh and the flesh of this earth,
here and now,
on this day,
May I taste something sacred.
~David Abram
“Life’s waters flow from the darkness.
Search the darkness, don’t run from it.”
~Rumi
❤️
Now is the season of tricks and treats
When the veils between the worlds grow thin
And the ancestors walk among us.
We descend into the dark season in the north
A time to reflect, take stock,
Clear the old, make space for the new.
What do you hope for and dream of?
What do you wish to leave behind?
What will you honor with your love and care?
As within, so without
To change your world
Start with you.
❤️
Tarot Card Guidance for Halloween and The Day of the Dead:
Two of Stones (pentacles) – Challenges face you. hold your ground, honor your own needs, guard your integrity.
❤️
Traditional Ritual / Celebration Days in early November include:
November 1: Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead – a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico that focuses on praying for and remembering friends and family members who have died. Rituals are also done to help support the spiritual journey of the departed beyond this reality.
Nov 6: Tiamat’s birth. Tiamat is the primordial creative force of the Cosmos, the ancient Mesopotamian mother of all the Gods. Tiamat is depicted as a Dragon Goddess who emerges from the Sea and gives birth to all the other deities. She is the Sacred Feminine itself – fierce, protective, loving and nurturing. Tiamat is “Ummu-Hubur, who formed all things”.
Nov 7: Celtic Samhain Cross-Quarter Day falls on the boundary between autumn and winter halfway between autumn equinox and winter solstice (November 7th this year). The light is slowly fading away as our Sun drops lower and lower in the sky and our nights grow longer. This is a potent in-between time. The veils between the worlds grow very thin during this sacred in-between time. Loved ones who have departed this Earth are believed to be nearby. Samhain is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the sacred cycles of birth – growth – death – rebirth that are an integral part of Nature.
The Goddess Hekate was also celebrated and honored in ancient Greece at this time of year. Hekate is the guardian of the gateways between the worlds. She is a wisewoman crone Goddess of the Moon and Magick who stands at the crossroads and assists with all kinds of transitions, including birth and death.
Hindu Diwali or Festival of the Lights is also celebrated at this time of year (November 5-9 this year). This popular festival celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. In some traditions, the Diwali night’s lights and firecrackers represent a celebratory and symbolic farewell to the departed ancestral souls.