Scorpio Season: Halloween, Samhain & Day of The Dead
You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself. —Alan Watts Imagine long ago, when people lit the night with fire. Back then, through clearer skies, stars shone brighter. They looked close enough to pick, like fruit. While the last harvest was gathered, the star cluster Scorpio glittered. For thousands of years, humans found special meaning in the midpoint between autumn equinox – when light and dark were equal – and winter solstice, the year’s longest night. Scorpio Season. From October 31 to November 1, many believe the barrier between the physical and spiritual domains thins. Communication with ‘other’ worlds opens. Aztec, Toltec and Nahua peoples saw physical death as the natural part of a longer life. The dead remained members of the community. Mourning the departed was disrespectful. Their returns on the Day of the Dead are still celebrated. At this time, families place their loved ones’ favorite meals on altars. The living wear fancy clothes, paint their faces to look like skulls and party hearty to rouse those of the spirit world and keep them close. Read more. The Celtic new year also begins at the midpoint between summer and winter. At Samhain [sow-wain], bonfires burn the old year’s fears and worries. Here, too, celebrants believe the spirit world can come closest and connect with the earthbound, like the costume ghosts and goblins traveling a night lit by the constellation Scorpio. It’s heart is the red, supergiant Antares, 400 times larger and 10,000 times brighter than our sun. A huge heart is vital for this season. While trees release leaves along with seeds, the life ending also plants opportunities for rebirth. Ancient stargazers sitting around campfires taught that Scorpio has three modes. The scorpion protects and cares for self during transitions. The snake reminds that identities can be outgrown and shed. The eagle flies high enough to see then reach a future bigger than the present. Midway between equinox and solstice, many cultures feast and celebrate the growing season’s bounty. While preparing to battle winter, the next six weeks of increasing darkness can allow the deepening and gestation, like seeds gone to ground, that is Scorpio Season. The more I study, the greater truths are found in this wisdom from the Bible’s Book of Genesis, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons.” Today’s celestial midpoint occurs under a full moon. Have you ever wondered how it affects us? Click the picture to watch Two Minute Universe’s answers. And, have you ever wondered what the first movie about the supernatural might have been? Click here to see “The Haunted Castle,” a 3-minute film from 1896, a fun journey back to the days of silent entertainment. * Special Offer Tales from the Dream Zone is a delightful, imaginative and, sometimes spooky, collection of brand-new, prize-winning short stories inspired by remembered or imagined dreams. My story about a magical coin is one of the winners. “Wishes” begins: On October 31, 1958, moonbeams lit the stardust that sprinkled Crescent Avenue’s sycamore and hawthorn trees. On that clear, bright evening, candles dimmed inside jack-o-lanterns as Estelle Ringgold Pearson said, “We shouldn’t see anymore spooky movies.” Parnell held her hand as they strolled from the Roland Theater. “Did The Queen of Outer Space really scare you?” * The cover price is $17.99.Order a signed copy for $15 during a special sale. Shop here for your copy of this delightful and imaginative collection. Buy more to give as gifts.
Life Well Lived #12: What If You Could Not Fail?
Dwell in possibility. – Emily Dickinson Make a list. In his book Move Ahead with Possibility Thinking, Rev. Robert Schuller asked, “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” What a question! What is Possibility Thinking? Business leader, success coach and author John Maxwell answers, “Possibility thinking is the willingness to see possibilities everywhere, instead of limitations.” What happens when a marvelous possibility is identified? Dr. Phil has ten strategies for success. They start with: Vision: Clearly see the goal. Strategy: Write plans. [Go beyond thinking to inking a timeline.] Flex: Allow adjustments and insights that could improve results. Read more. In this week’s special video [below], actor Denzel Washington suggests preparing to fall forward instead of making back-up plans. Join over 26,000,000 who learned why. Here’s the transcript. * BookTube BookTube is a YouTube world where everything from book hauls [announcements of book purchases] to books reviews are broadcast.Styles range from Wisecrack’s Thug Notes [summaries and analyses of classics in gangster speak] to Snazzy Reads [recommendations from a ten-year-old ‘dapper dude’]. Some BookTube channels have hundreds of thousands, even millions of subscribers, like Comicstorian, who dramatically reads all kinds of comic books. Here’s Reedsy’s list of BookTube channels [171 and growing]. And here are five tips for starting your own. Keep reading!! * This Week’s Special Offer Each week, my Featured Art is offered at 25% off [plus any discounts offered by my Galleries]. Shop here. Thank you for visiting my galleries and for your purchases. They support Succeed and Soar. NOTE “Bright Red” was photographed with a Nikon CoolPix camera and ‘developed’ with Adobe Photoshop Elements 14. In addition to enrhancing the color saturation, hue and vibrance, the image was enriched through the Watercolor filter.
Autumn Treasures
“Memories are the treasures locked deep within the storehouse of our souls; to keep our hearts warm.” — Becky Aligata A Meditation Once upon a summer, I played tag and softball and ran races with Madeira Street’s other ten-year-olds. Lunch was chipped ham and sweet pickles on Miracle Whip-slathered bread chased with Tropical Punch or Pink Lemonade or Cherry Kool-Aid. We played Tic-tac-toe, hangman and checkers on porches and watched television cartoons until dinner. At sundown, the ice cream truck’s jingle promised sparkling shaved ice drenched with pineapple or watermelon, strawberry or grape syrups. Now sometimes as leaves fall at eventide, I think of playmates running under streetlights, calling through the twilight. “There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place, where colors are brighter, the air is softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” Elizabeth Lawrence The Wisdoms Collection Shop Enriching and Beautiful Posters Click Here