Anybody who knows me or who has been following my blog long enough will know the autumn is my favorite season with its crisp breezes and cool air perfumed by the colorful falling leaves, but as a spiritual person I do understand the importance of being in touch with all the seasons. I do in fact enjoy the spring when the cold sharpness of February melts into the milder days of March and April and Earth once…
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About fifteen years ago I happened to hear about an Eastern Rite Ukrainian Catholic Church a few towns over from where I was living at the time and I decided to attend Divine Liturgy one Sunday morning. I have always loved Eastern Rite Christianity with its beautiful sung liturgies, generous use of incense, holy water and continuous making of the Sign of the Cross throughout the service not to mention the churches themselves decorated from wall to…
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New Year’s Eve and Day have always been fun for me. I love the idea of ushering in the New Year through a night of celebration that does not have the commercial overtones of Christmas. I celebrate and love Christmas as well but I feel that it should be a time of deep spiritual reflection, charity and kindness towards others rather than the materialism with which it has become associated in the modern age. New Year’s is…
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The holiday season is truly a time of magic and whimsy as anyone who has seen the Nutcracker or read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol will confirm. The weeks after Thanksgiving leading to New Years are filled with a tangible energy of peace and harmony that often brings out the kind and charitable side of people even amidst a frenzy of materialistic gift buying. It was not until recently that I’ve realized that on a deeper level,…
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An altar is a portal into the spiritual world, a channel through which we may summon spiritual energy into our lives and commune with our ancestors, spirit guides and saints. Today I would like to discuss a specific type of altar: The Ofrenda for the Mexican Days of the Dead. From October 31st through the 2nd of November, families throughout Mexico celebrate the Days of the Dead which are a time to remember loved ones who have…
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