Recipes and Tips: Please note not all recipes and tips are tried by us. We are happy to post your contributrions please email us at serenity2761@gmail.com
“Are you feeling stressed, depressed, anxious or being challenged in life and relationships? Do you wonder why you attract the same people into your life, or continue patterns that no longer serve you? I am offering a 30 minute free consultation for counselling/psychotherapy. Contact me (Minni) @ minni@guidingjourneys.ca to book an appointment to see if psychotherapy is for you.”
Meditation creates the space you need to get through your day, your life, your challenges.
Dear Friends,
The month of May has arrived, which is one of my favorite months of the year. Spring is in full force in most places, and the anticipation of summer’s arrival is palpable. I start working more outside, bringing my laptop to the outdoor table and setting up for the day under an umbrella in anticipation of new and wonderful ideas to come forth. Another thing I love to do outside is my daily meditation practice, and the lovely weather of May makes it ideal in so many ways.
For those of you that have been reading my work for years, you know how important meditation is in my life. Some of you already have a practice in some form, and still others either have not yet tried it or are a bit reluctant to try. When I do radio interviews I always talk about meditation and how it is for everybody, not a select few. You don’t need special equipment or to go to a sacred place or to even sit in the lotus position (legs crossed over each other). All you need is the intention to sit and be still for as long as you can, whether it is only a few minutes to start or 30 minutes. People ask me why I love to meditate, and the reason is that it is my quiet time to connect to spirit and listen. Then my mind clears out and I come to a place of complete peace. This, in turn, sets the stage for my day, and if I become upset or scattered I need only tune into the feeling I had during my morning meditation. I wrote a story a while back about prayer being an active time ! of asking and meditation a quiet time of listening. For some reason people thought I was bashing prayer, which is far from the truth. I was simply explaining the difference between the two practices.
Over the next four Mondays in May, I will be sharing with you different stories about the topic of meditation. Keep a look out for those in your email Inbox.
If starting a meditation practice sounds like something you may want to explore further, I have gathered four courses to assist you.
Learning to Meditate by Madisyn Taylor. This is a course I wrote with my DailyOM readers in mind. It is an eight-week course that takes you through everything you need to know about meditation, from the very basics. I also explore all of the ways you can meditate, such as guided meditations, music meditation, walking meditation, etc. Everybody has a way to meditate that is ideal for them. You just need to explore to find what suits you best. more info
How to Quiet the Mindby Gina Lake. This is an eight-week course that includes exercises, videos, and meditations to help quiet your mind. Explore the truth about your mind and who you really are, detach from the egoic mind, and learn how to experience the ”now” and stay there.more info
A Year of Guided Meditationsby Dudley and Dean Evenson This is a 52-week course brought to you by our friends Dudley and Dean Evenson. Each week you will receive a new meditation featuring soothing voices and beautiful musical background with video images of nature. The meditations are about one minute long and are spoken in the ”I am” tense, or affirmations. more info
Being Here Nowby Ram Dass. This is an eight-week course where you will learn to live with change and to navigate the complexities of your life by being in the moment. Come back, come home, be present again, be here now. more info
I would also like to mention that I have a new guided meditation that I released last month called Releasing Fire GuidedMeditation. It has been so warmly embraced by you, my readers, and I am so happy to hear that it is helping you. Look for more of my guided meditations coming soon.
Until next time, please be well and wishing you the best on your meditation journey.
Depending on your particular tradition, there are many different ways you can celebrate Beltane, but the focus is nearly always on fertility. It’s the time when the earth mother opens up to the fertility god, and their union brings about healthy livestock, strong crops, and new life all around. Here are a few rituals you may want to think about trying — and remember, any of them can be adapted for either a solitary practitioner or a small group, with just a little planning ahead.
April’s showers have given way to rich and fertile earth, and as the land greens, there are few celebrations as representative of fertility as Beltane. Observed on May 1st, festivities typically begin the evening before, on the last night of April. It’s a time to welcome the abundance of the fertile earth, and a day that has a long (and sometimes scandalous) history. Try some of these rituals and ceremonies for your Beltane sabbat celebration.
Setting Up Your Beltane Altar It’s Beltane, the Sabbat where many Pagans choose to celebrate the fertility of the earth. This Sabbat is about new life, fire, passion and rebirth, so there are all kinds of creative ways you can set up for the season. Try some of these ideas to get your altar ready for your celebrations!
Beltane Prayers By the time Beltane rolls around, sprouts and seedlings are appearing, grass is growing, and the forests are alive with new life. If you’re looking for prayers to say at your Beltane ceremony, try these simple ones that celebrate the greening of the earth during the fertility feast of Beltane.
5 Ways to Celebrate Beltane With Kids Every year, when Beltane rolls around, we get emails from folks who are comfortable with the sexual fertility aspect of the season for adults, but who’d like to reign things in just a little when it comes to practicing with their young children. Don’t worry! Here are five fun and easy ideas for celebrating the season with your kiddos.
Beltane kicks off the merry month of May, and has a long history. This fire festival is celebrated on May 1 with bonfires,Maypoles, dancing, and lots of good old-fashioned sexual energy. Let’s look at the history behind the Beltane season
Interested in learning about some of the traditions behind the celebrations of May Day? Learn why the Romans had a big party, why we dance around a Maypole, what a hobby horse is, and the reasoning behind all those bonfires.
May 1 will be the sabbat Beltane, also known as May Day or Walpurgisnacht. Beltane begins at sundown on April 30. Traditionally, couples stay out overnight “bringing in the May,” or gathering spring flowers and greenery with which to create garlands, crowns, and bouquets. It is a time of joyous celebration of the fertility displayed by the land as it further opens to the touch of the sun: trees have put forth new leaves and are now flowering, the new grass is lush and thick; the days grow ever longer, and the rains nourish the new crops in the fields.
This festival is opposite Samhain on the Wheel of the Year, and like that Sabbat, it is a night of divination as the veils between worlds grow thin. The ancient Celts recognized only two seasons– summer and winter– and as Samhain was the beginning of Winter, the dark half of the year, so Beltane recognizes the beginning of Summer, or the light half of the year.
Beltane is also called Walpurgisnacht in Germany. Foods associated with Beltane include anything dairy– as the livestock is now feeding on new grass which improves the quality of milk and cream– as well as mead and other alcoholic beverages.
Traditions and Rituals
Beltane is considered a sexually licentious time. It is the beginning of the season favoured for marriages and handfastings, as well as for re-enactment of the Great Rite, the union between the God and the Goddess. Much poetry and folklore exists describing the abandonment with which dancing, singing, and playing leads to lovemaking. Children conceived on this night are called “children of the Gods,” and are said to be blessed.
The Maypole is perhaps the most recognizable accessory to Mayday celebration. A dancing game in which mean and women interweave ribbons attached to a high pole (passing one another with plenty of kisses), this action is another form of the Great Rite, the pole representing the God, and the ribbons which slowly enfold it representing the Goddess.
Correspondences
Colors: Blue, Green, Pink, Red, Yellow, White.
Gemstones: Amber, Malachite, Orange Carnelian, Sapphire, Rose Quartz.
The rhythm of drumming is easy for our bodies to take in as was the rhythm of our mother’s heartbeat.
That rhythm renews us is no secret. Drumming is the oldest form of music on the planet. Virtually every culture that exists or has existed on earth has practiced some form of drumming. In Africa, the beating of a drum continues to be an important part of significant ceremonies and holiday celebrations. Native American cultures use drumming as a means to reconnect an individual’s mental and physical selves. Throughout history, drumming has been a part of performing rituals, marking significant transitions, and celebrating life’s cycles. Our lives are infused with rhythm beginning at the very moment we first sense our mother’s heartbeat in her womb.
All manner of drumming has the ability to put us in touch with our own natural rhythms, the rhythms of the earth, and the rhythms of the people we choose to drum with. The drum can represent the heart, and drumming awakens the mind while stirring the soul. Drumming can take you to a place deep inside you where you are keenly aware of your mind and your body, as well as the vital bond between the two. Much like human beings, each drum has its own vibration and voice. Drumming alone can help you release tension, dispel stress and aggressive feelings, and restore your energy. It can also give you an opportunity to reestablish your connection to Mother Earth, as the beat of a drum can represent a crack of lightning, pounding ocean waves, or the tumult of an earthquake.
Drumming with others brings with it many benefits. Taking part in a drumming circle attunes us to the invisible energy that exists between us while uniting us in a common purpose. Drumming can be relaxing as well as energizing. It quiets mental chatter and can create a peaceful meditative state. In Navajo lore, the drum is the Great Spirit’s favorite instrument. It is said that this is why all human beings were given a heartbeat. The rhythmic beating of a drum can move us into new realms of consciousness. There is no right or wrong way to drum, and everyone has the innate ability to create rhythm. When you drum with intention, you’ll discover the rhythms that move you.
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Serenity's Gift Cove (sgc) 