A Winter Story
Consider A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles. — Anonymous One of my delights is finding and presenting special, short videos. So, be sure to click the New Years greeting above. This month’s is a heartwarming story about kindness and community coming together. Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould Ford Presenting art to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thing and inspire. Shop Sandra’s Art on Puzzles Art also available as tote bags, tee shirts, journals, puzzles, phone cases, ornaments, face masks, towels, blankets, cups, pillows, shower curtains and more. Each item is individually made, just for you. REEIVE FREE 3×3 Sticker {$5.75 value] from the Paths to Joy Gallery Just send a picture of your puzzle under construction by January 31st. This puzzle is a poster from the Contemplative Art that illustrated Succeed and Soar’s Path’s to Joy series. Puzzles are made from premium 0.2” thick paper stock Include a semi-gloss coating that makes the top vibrant Arrives in a puzzle box with artwork printed on top for safe storage Puzzle pieces are unique shapes 18×24-inch 500-piece puzzle is $40— 20×28-inch 1,000-piece puzzle is $44.50 CUSTOMIZE. Use tools with item to: Enlarge, reduce size of art Change placement of art and text Choose background colors Purchase this puzzle. Shop All Collections HERE. Depending on Browser, Puzzles may be a stand-alone category or listed in Lifestyle Section. Thanks for shopping!
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.
Happy New Year & Delicious Dishes
We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are. Adelle Davis Click for 30-second Happy New Year greeting. Thank goodness winter starts with bright holidays. Best of all, Hanukkah, Christmas, Yule and Kwanzaa all include great food gatherings. Here are some delicious ways to fortify the body, mind and spirit for 2020’s adventures. Super-Easy Hanukkah Classics Holiday Salads Special Kwanzaa Recipes New Years Treats Blessings and best wishes for a joyful and tasty start to the new year. Eat well. Be Well. In heart and mind, body and spirit, succeed and soar. Photo: Kwanzaa Quinoa Peanut Soup The Wisdoms Collection Shop Enriching and Beautiful Posters Click Here to Visit