Day 7 - Kwanzaa

[Joan Marie]

Ah yes! The role of ritual.

Join us for day 7 of the yule - winter solstice readings.
Here is the theme:

Day 7. Yuletide, Kwanzaa: - Dec 26th
This card shows us how to express nurturance, to attend to our families and to consider the role of tradition and ritual in our lives.

[Joan Marie]

On a literal note, my family are spread all over the world. I've spent the last couple of days skyping and trading emails.
I guess that it's a holiday tradition. of sorts, an informal one though.

Keeping relationships alive over distance takes effort. It also takes imagination and a certain openness because without it, things can turn very superficial.

This card just gave me an idea though. What if a person (like me for example ) would take some time to meditate on all the people she knows, one by one. Picture each person, their face, their gestures, really set them in mind. And then, I don't know, say something to them? have a mental exchange of some kind. Tell them how I feel about them.

I know that athletes, like gymnasts use a visualisation technique where they close their eyes and see themselves performing certain moves over and over. They develop a kind of muscle memory of it, so when they do it for real they already know how it feels to do it successfully.

I think sometimes when we don't see or talk to people so often, that it's a bit awkward when we do and the opportunity for a meaningful encounter is lost. Maybe this visualisation technique could be a way to close that distance gap, mentally, emotionally, so that when we do see or speak to each other for real there can be a faster connection and less time wasted with superficialities. But the trick I think, would be to first really take the time to set the other person in mind, as they are, for real and not just as an imaginary image to bounce my own personality off of.

[Rachelcat]

Ace of Wands, the Just Do It Leopard
I should express nurturance. And it’s cool to make up and follow our own new traditions and rituals. Anything can be a tradition if it turns out that way. And there’s nothing wrong with making that happen on purpose.

I’m not sure what that would be in my family. Except a few days ago, my son came over to wrap presents while his fiancé went to her mom’s to wrap presents. My friend said, “that sounds like it’s going to become a tradition”! And going to my sister’s at Christmas is our tradition now, and my house for Thanksgiving. And we’re reviving the family reunion (my father’s family) this year, so that’s good.

I’m also thinking about my tarot traditions, because it’s been almost 2 years of working at home for me. Tarot has helped me keep track of the time and feel different about the use of my time these days.

[Rachelcat]

What if a person (like me for example ) would take some time to meditate on all the people she knows, one by one. Picture each person, their face, their gestures, really set them in mind. And then, I don't know, say something to them? have a mental exchange of some kind. Tell them how I feel about them.

Maybe this visualisation technique could be a way to close that distance gap, mentally, emotionally, so that when we do see or speak to each other for real there can be a faster connection and less time wasted with superficialities.

This is such an interesting idea! I'm the queen of awkward, so this might help me too! Thanks for sharing!

[chiscotheque]

Day 7. Yuletide, Kwanzaa: - Dec 26th
This card shows us how to express nurturance, to attend to our families and to consider the role of tradition and ritual in our lives.

Card: The Ace of COINS

The first card of the COINS suit encompasses all things concerning earthly bounty, including magnanimity, manifestation, reward, and being lucky. It underscores the ways in which the earth nurtures and implies it is incumbent on us to pass that nurturance on to others - not just other humans but all life forms and back to the earth itself.

The Ace/COINS upright song is I Contain Multitudes which comes from Dylan's most recent recordings, made when he was 79. It paraphrases Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and alludes to Rimbaud's line, "I is another." The song is part boast, part homage, and as such engages in pluralism and inclusivity. It name-checks William Blake, Beethoven, Anne Frank, Indiana Jones, The Rolling Stones, and Edgar Allen Poe, among others, and advocates the appreciation of art on the one hand and the creation of art on the other. The card's reverse song, Gotta Serve Somebody, signals how interconnected we are to everything - how everything, animate and inanimate, is all of a family. This could be seen as a condition of servitude, or the give half of life's give and take - the ashes to ashes, dust to dust act of returning the favour.

The embrace of the diversity of life along with infusing all you do with creativity seems to answer today's questions concerning the role of tradition and ritual - seeing in the one the many, and taking a sip and passing it on.



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