Intro 0:09 This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's Online University. Rosa McAllister 0:18 Aloha. This is Rosa McAllister with Networks for Training and Development. And this is December the third 2018. This is our Healing Circle Call, a time our monthly time on the first Monday of the month at 8PM Eastern Time, where we get together to breathe together, think together, meditate together and hold each other close. Just a time set aside in our busy lives for us to come together with other like minded kindred spirits where we can help one another and help ourselves slow down. Be a little bit more present and breathe. I'm honored to be leading this healing circle call [on] this beautiful December day. I'm in Maui, Hawaii where I live. And it's three o'clock in the afternoon, my time. And it's a breezy, sunny, beautiful, warm day. Some of you are listening in from other locations - the East Coast of the United States where I understand it's been pretty cold, may even be a little dreary. It's 8pm your time. There oftentimes are others from Central and South Western Pennsylvania around excuse me, southwestern United States on this call. Sometimes we have folks from Canada, from other parts of the United States, from here in Hawaii, Mexico, Iceland, and several other locations. Wherever you are, be it December 3 or December 4, possibly, whatever time of day and whatever is your weather, I'm offering you this time to be with us. Rosa McAllister 2:08 As often happens when we do these healing calls, it just, interestingly enough happens to be a time where things are happening. And whether it's a celestial event, full moons or political events, or natural events. We've done these healing calls, sometimes following disasters, earthquakes and flooding and weather related things. And sometimes it's just that time of year, which here we are now. Rosa McAllister 2:38 And today, the beginning of December, for many of us is a very wonderful time and also sometimes very troublesome time. It is the confluence of many, many spiritual holidays that happen in December. Did you know that December, more than any other month in our calendar has the record of the most number of spiritual holidays? And other holidays too, but spiritual holidays and really high holy days, high spiritual days in many beliefs - that's our December and here we are. Many of them are pretty obvious to us, you know, but I wanted to spend a little bit of time just thinking about some of the different spiritual holidays that do happen in December starting with Hanukkah. Rosa McAllister 3:33 Hanukkah is a Jewish Festival of Lights - it's known as. It started yesterday on December 2 and it usually it starts the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. And I hope I'm saying that correctly. My apologies if I'm not. Hanukkah many of us know is, growing up not Jewish I had various friends who were, and I remember being very jealous because they had, what, eight or nine days of gifts. How wonderful was that - festivities and fun. But there's more to it of course than that. And I'm not going to go into the whole history of Hanukkah. But what I think is really beautiful and lovely is this idea of Festival of Lights, Hanukkah in itself. It really means a dedication or an induction. Rosa McAllister 4:27 And it really has to do with the Maccabees, and the Greeks, and the Maccabees, a Jewish tribe, fighting up and rising up against the Greeks. Like many groups, spiritual groups and religious groups being persecuted, the celebration that would then follow would be one of great celebration and continues on. Rosa McAllister 4:53 And so the lighting of the menorah, the lighting of the nine branded candle holder, if you will. You light one candle for each day of Hanukkah, with the one in the middle as well, which is your kind of starter candle if you will. And there is ceremony and prayers and foods and gifts that go along with this. Rosa McAllister 5:16 The colors for Hanukkah that we think of most are blue and white. Interestingly enough, we'll hear that again as we talk about some of our other holidays, spiritual holidays of December. Rosa McAllister 5:29 Hanukkah is of greatly revered and cherished holiday of the Jewish faith. And more and more I'm seeing other people who aren't necessarily of the Jewish faith and culture, who also are following some of the traditions of Hanukkah, which I think is lovely. Rosa McAllister 5:47 Then, next, spiritual holiday that is in December is Advent, the Christian tradition of Advent, which interestingly enough this year, also started yesterday, on December 2. Advent means - it means a coming into place or a view or a being or an arrival. And for Christians, Advent is the four Sundays... it starts the four Sundays before Christmas, and it lasts until Christmas Eve. And Advent is a time to think about the coming of the birth of Christ, which occurred on Christmas. Rosa McAllister 6:31 Interestingly enough, Advent there are many traditions that go along with Advent. And one of them also is the Advent wreath, which is similar to Hanukkah is the lighting of candles. Now there's typically four candles in the Advent wreath - one for each of the Sundays or one of the each one of the, excuse me, one for each of the weeks of Advent. And blue and white are also the colors typically thought of with Advent, just like Hanukkah. Rosa McAllister 7:03 Some traditions, I grew up in a mostly Catholic neighborhood, and we were a various cultures and lineage and some traditions and some cultures have various foods linked with Advent as well. Rosa McAllister 7:19 The next one, which may not be as familiar to some of you is Bodhi Day. Bodhi Day, B-o-d-h-i, Bodhi Day is this year's well, and it's typically celebrated on December eighth. It's a Buddhist holiday, and it's known as a day of enlightenment. It is the day that it is believed that Buddha when he was a prince and not a Buddha yet, sat under a Bodhi tree, and was transformed and transfigured and became enlightened. Rosa McAllister 7:54 Bodhi festival festivals throughout India and other places of Buddhist faith and by Buddhists around the world is celebrated similarly to Christmas trees in lighting colorful lights all around your home or your trees even if you don't have a Bodhi tree itself. There are foods celebrated with Bodhi day. There are chants and songs much like Christmas and Hanukkah. And guess what? It's multicolored lights, but the primary colors of Bodhi Day also are blue and white. Interesting. Rosa McAllister 8:33 The next of the spiritual holidays is Winter Solstice, and that's typically celebrated on December 21, sometimes the 20th or the 22nd, but typically the 21st. And the winter solstice is one from the pagan or the Wiccan or the Gaian religious spiritual belief systems. Winter Solstice is also celebrated to some extent or acknowledged by others and it is the beginning of the winter season officially. Some say that the Winter Solstice is when the sun is triumphant against the night. Rosa McAllister 9:15 In ancient history and still carried on in some traditions, this is when you plan your crop rotations. I remember back when I lived in Pennsylvania, on the solstic, on the winter solstice is when I would plan my garden for the summer - where I was going to grow things, I would plot it out, what plants I was going to put in, knew what I was not going to use, etc. Seed catalogs usually didn't start coming until January. But I already had a plan in mind because I knew the tradition of the winter solstice and used it as a fruitful time literally, to plan for my garden. Rosa McAllister 9:55 It's also a time when domestic animals were often mated. It was a belief that anyone who mated or became pregnant on the winter solstice would give birth to an enlightened, very healthful being. In England, in some areas of England, it's also celebration or a tradition where they burn the clocks. The idea that we're coming to the end of time, the end of the year, and it's time to get rid of things that didn't work out or get rid of the notion of time for the year. And guess what? Winter Solstice the primary colors often envisioned with Winter Solstice are blue and white. Rosa McAllister 10:50 The next big spiritual day, holiday, in December is December 25, known as Christmas. Now there are many traditions and many cultures that celebrate it on other days, but December 25 is kind of acknowledged as the Christmas Day. And most of us are very familiar and in fact, for some traditions It's a shame because maybe they're not as held as highly or as well known as Christmas. Rosa McAllister 11:22 But our traditions of Christmas trees and Christmas lights, oftentimes multicolored lights, although in more recent years, the white twinkly lights certainly seem to be the ones that that were that are used the most. Lighting of candles, candles in the windows to help shine the way and shine the night, enlighten the night are oftentimes used. And again many many traditions, foods, songs, chants, dances, presents, things going along with Christmas. Interestingly enough, we think of red and green also as the primary colors of Christmas but the original colors with Christmas were: yep, blue and white. Rosa McAllister 12:07 The next big spiritual holiday is a more recent one, and that's Kwanzaa. And that's celebrated where it starts celebration on December 26. It is a week long celebration of African culture. And it's based on the idea of the quote, "first harvest celebration that oftentimes occurred in Africa around this time of year, where the first harvest oftentimes of crops was thought to be the best harvest and the one of which you you ate some, and you let some go fallow the fields or you replanted some. You let it go to seed or replanted. You didn't use it all from the first harvest because the idea was, you were giving back to the earth." Rosa McAllister 12:55 Kwanzaa is a very, very special holiday that's celebrated by many people. And again, I'm seeing more and more people, not just of African descent, but other people who are in embracing Kwanzaa as well. There's a special mat called a mkeka that is oftentimes used - sometimes it's a tablecloth or a placemat, sometimes a rug. And on it are many different things that are indicative and kind of illuminating parts of the African culture, around food, around music around many other things. And they're placed on the mkeka or the special mat. And there's chants and songs, no surprise during this weeklong celebration and lots of good food, family and celebration. The colors associated with Kwanzaa are much more brilliant, not the blue and white, but the oranges and the greens and the browns that we oftentimes see in the clothing of folks from Africa. There is, however, a seven piece candle, oftentimes used in Kwanzaa and it's called the Mishumaa Saba. Mishumaa Saba, and it, just like a menorah, and just like an Advent wreath, are lit one day at a time, one piece at a time or one candle at a time, again, being a week long celebration, one candle is lit per day. Rosa McAllister 14:26 There are other many, many, many other holidays, spiritual beliefs and things that happened during December. Again, the most popular month for spiritual traditions, if you will. I just think it's very interesting, the recurring theme of the light and candles and bringing out of darkness and celebration and food and chant, and more. Rosa McAllister 14:54 And so I offer us a bit of a prayer, a bit of a meditation together. That's not from Kwanzaa. And it's not from Solstice. And it's not from Hanukkah. And it's not from Bodhi Day. And it's not from any of the other traditions. But just one about the winter and December, because December is the end of our calendar year amongst other things. And December is a time for us to recall and relive a bit and give thanks. And also a time of hope for the new year. Rosa McAllister 15:32 And so I offer you this: Rosa McAllister 15:41 [Music begins to play] Rosa McAllister 16:07 There are those who fear the night. There are those who don't see the light from 1000 million suns since the multiverse began. Rain upon us pure as light, radiance fine and radiance bright. Blessing us with starlight song. Bring the new and heal the wrong. Velvet darkness old and wise draws up all into the skies. Let your hopes and fears now flow to the heavens. Make it so. Give all to the starry night. That want let what once was be right. When you flow so crystal clear, starlights music you can hear. Starlight messages you sense from the world which never ends. From the realms of beauty free bringing stellar harmony. now to you and now to me, lifts us, loves us, lets us see. Universal tapestry wonder filled infinity living light awakens in me. So it is and so it shall be. Rosa McAllister 17:47 And I offer you one of my favorites of the holiday season from the Christmas Christian tradition, but embraced by many others. Rosa McAllister 18:08 Rejoice, rejoice. Rejoice in all that you are. Rejoice in all that you have been. Rejoice in all that you are yet to be. Rejoice in the year that has been. Rejoice in the year that will come. Rejoice in your family, and your friends, and your health and your beauty. Rejoice in you. Rejoice in me. Rosa McAllister 19:07 Happy Holidays to everyone. We love you. Look forward to 2019. Aloha. Outro 19:23 Thank you for listening. We hope the information provided was helpful. Don't forget to stop by our website and take advantage of all we have to offer. Transcribed by https://otter.ai