Peace, Harmony, Love, And Increased Happiness On This Winter Solstice Day

Yule Lore (December 21st)

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Yule, (pronounced EWE-elle) is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, much celebration was to be had as the ancestors awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth and made her to bear forth from seeds protected through the fall and winter in her womb. Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider.

Children were escorted from house to house with gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges which were laid in baskets of evergreen boughs and wheat stalks dusted with flour. The apples and oranges represented the sun, the boughs were symbolic of immortality, the wheat stalks portrayed the harvest, and the flour was accomplishment of triumph, light, and life. Holly, mistletoe, and ivy not only decorated the outside, but also the inside of homes. It was to extend invitation to Nature Sprites to come and join the celebration. A sprig of Holly was kept near the door all year long as a constant invitation for good fortune to pay visit to the residents.

The ceremonial Yule log was the highlight of the festival. In accordance to tradition, the log must either have been harvested from the householder's land, or given as a gift... it must never have been bought. Once dragged into the house and placed in the fireplace it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused with cider or ale, and dusted with flour before set ablaze be a piece of last years log, (held onto for just this purpose). The log would burn throughout the night, then smolder for 12 days after before being ceremonially put out. Ash is the traditional wood of the Yule log. It is the sacred world tree of the Teutons, known as Yggdrasil. An herb of the Sun, Ash brings light into the hearth at the Solstice.

A different type of Yule log, and perhaps one more suitable for modern practitioners would be the type that is used as a base to hold three candles. Find a smaller branch of oak or pine, and flatten one side so it sets upright. Drill three holes in the top side to hold red, green, and white (season), green, gold, and black (the Sun God), or white, red, and black (the Great Goddess). Continue to decorate with greenery, red and gold bows, rosebuds, cloves, and dust with flour.

Deities of Yule are all Newborn Gods, Sun Gods, Mother Goddesses, and Triple Goddesses. The best known would be the Dagda, and Brighid, the daughter of the Dagda. Brighid taught the smiths the arts of fire tending and the secrets of metal work. Brighid's flame, like the flame of the new light, pierces the darkness of the spirit and mind, while the Dagda's cauldron assures that Nature will always provide for all the children.

Symbolism of Yule: Rebirth of the Sun, The longest night of the year, The Winter Solstice, Introspect, Planning for the Future.





Today is a day to celebrate the Rebirth of the Sun, reflect on one's life past and present, and to start planning for the future. We are entering a new phase of the Sun Year. Now our days will be getting longer and we will be waiting for the "rebirth" of Mother Earth. Now is a time for changes. Embrace and celebrate it.

Wonderful Day In The Animal Kingdom

Today is a wonderful day! Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prision! Personally I don't think it is long enough for the horrible things he did to dogs, but it is a start in the right direction toward punishing people for cruel acts against animals. It is horrible that it took a high profile person getting caught to bring this horrible activity to the for front of our society's attention. But now that it is a bigger issue, hopefully we will see the decline of dog fighting.

Also, the ASPCA has launched the first ever Mobile Animal Crime Scene Investigation Unit. This vehicle is outfitted with state of the art forensic tools as well as medical equipment, all of which is tailored to animal patients and victims. This vehicle will operate under the leadership of forensic veterinarian Dr. Melinda Merck, who assisted in the Michael Vick investigation. The ASPCA also announced that in 2008 they will break ground on the nation's first Anti Cruelty Institute in New York. This facility will include a forensic laboratory and veterinary hospital, a treament center for animals who are victims of cruelty, as well as educational training for veterinary staff and law enforcement officals. The new institute is scheduled to open in 2010.

For the record, I am not a PETA member (unless it's the People for Eating Tasty Animals group). PETA is way to hard core for me. I do not find it right to attack people because they are wearing fur and I also do not see any problem with having animals for pets. However, I am a supporter of the US Humane Society and the US ASPCA. These groups actually do things to help animals. I have written many emails to my law makers regarding many issues because of these organizations.

Be sure to check out the video at the end of this post. It is the end of year video from The US Humane Society highlighting everything that has been accomplished since Oct 2006.

What's in a name.....

I'm sure many of you have been wondering where Ponytails came from. While in college, I had to do many projects involving a business. For a little while I used the name Windrunner, the name Melissa and I planned on using for our own barn. After a while, I decided I needed a new name. A name that to me showed a maturing side of me. There was a company in Fort Collins that sold pure bred puppies called Puppy Breath. I thought it was a cute name and it really conveyed what the business worked with. So drawing on that, I came up with Ponytails. A friend in college drew the picture of the 3 babies for me.

Ponytails soon became the embodiment of what I wanted to do. I wanted an equestrian center that was open to everyone. I wanted a place for people to come and enjoy their relationship with their horse. For those who didn't or couldn't own one, I wanted to have "center" horses that people could learn to ride and play with. I wanted to do a loan type program so everyone could enjoy and gain the benefits that come with the human equine bond.

At some point, I lost my way. I allowed myself to listen to the naysayers that kept saying that there is no money in having Ponytails. I allowed myself to be drawn in to a different direction. After graduation I spent 18 months working at the Disney Store and then spent the next 5 years working off and on as a veterinary technician. For the msot part, I loved working as a veterinary technician. But I now realize that it wasn't my calling in life, nor is my working for Disney.

I was reminded of my true calling in life when I went to Jacksonville in October. I went to the Pat Parelli Natural Horsemanship Tour Stop conference. Talk about an enlightening weekend! I was reminded of the joys that come with the human equine bond, when two creatures are communicating and working together. Due to this reminder, I'm working toward a plan to make Ponytails a reality. I don't need to be a famous performance horse trainer, that was a childish wish. All I want to do is provide a place for people to interact, learn, love, and play with horses.

Part of my road to that is to provide myself with little reminders. Naming my blog after my future destination is like a talisman or reminder of what I'm working toward. I wear a black Parelli wristband daily for the same reminder. There are many steps for me to go through before Ponytails will be a reality, but I know that I will get there and it will happen. :-)

Traditions

"Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as... as...as a fiddler on the roof!"

- Tevye “Fiddler On The Roof”

This time of year is full of traditions. Family traditions, societal traditions, and religious traditions. Some traditions that start as religious or societal, eventually become family traditions. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a societal tradition. Now for most families, mine included, it’s not Thanksgiving with out the parade on in the background while the turkey dinner is getting prepared for the oven. Even to this day, I will wait to tear up my bread for the stuffing until Thanksgiving day, so I can sit in front of the t.v. and watch the parade at the same time. This is something I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember, thanks to my mom.

Today at sun down a very beautiful religious tradition began, the Jewish tradition of Chaunkah or Hanukkah. It is also called the Festival of Lights or the Festival of Dedication. Not many people know the meaning of Hanukkah or how it came about. I was enlightened by my good friend Marissa back in high school and was reminded this past weekend what a wonderful tradition it is.

Around 200 BCE Jews lived as an autonomous people in the Land of Israel, also referred to as Judea, which at that time was controlled by the Seleucid king of Syria. The Jewish people paid taxes to Syria and accepted its legal authority, and they were free to follow their own faith, maintain their own jobs, and engage in trade. By 175 BCE Antiochus IV Epiphanes ascended to the Seleucid throne. At first little changed, but under his reign, the Temple in Jerusalem was looted, Jews were massacred, and Judaism was effectively outlawed. In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. Antiochus' actions proved to be a major miscalculation as they provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. Judah became known as Yehuda HaMakabi ("Judah the Hammer"). By 166 BCE Mattathias had died, and Judah took his place as leader. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted by Judah Maccabee and his brothers to celebrate this event. After recovering Jerusalem and the Temple, Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. But there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.

As you may have noticed, the Menorah has nine slots for candles. The ninth and center candle is the shamash (or slave) candle. It is the candle that you light all the other with. The candles are placed in the Menorah from right to left, with the newest one going in the farthest left. Then the candles are lit left to right, starting with the most recently added candle. This is to symbolize the acceptance and concentration on the things the family already has and not what they do not have yet. Prior to and during the lighting of the candles, typically three blessings are recited, depending on the traditions of the family.

Also during this time, there are special games and food enjoyed by all. My favorite is the latkes, or potato pancakes. However there is a custom of eating food fried or baked in oil, preferably olive oil, as a reminder to all the importance of the oil from the original miracle. The most well known Hanakkah game is dreidel. The dreidel is a four sided spinning top that children play with. Each side has a Hebrew letter. Each letter is an acronym for Nes Gadol Haya Sham – “A great miracle happened there”, referring to the miracle of the oil. The letters on the dreidel are the Hebrew letter for the first letter of each word:

* נ (Nun)
* ג (Gimel)
* ה (Hey)
* ש (Shin)

However, in the state of Israel the fourth letter Shin is replaced with פ (Pe). Then the acronym is Nes Gadol Haya Po or A great miracle happened here. After lighting the Hanukkah menorah, it is customary in many homes to play the dreidel game: Each player starts out with 10 or 15 coins (real or of chocolate), nuts, raisins, candies or other markers, and places one marker in the "pot." The first player spins the dreidel, and depending on which side the dreidel falls on, either wins a marker from the pot or gives up part of his stash. The code (based on a Yiddish version of the game) is as follows:

* Nun - nisht - "not" - nothing happens and the next player spins
* Gimel - gants - "all" - the player takes the entire pot
* Hey - halb - "half" - the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number
* Shin - shtel ayn - "put in" - the player puts one marker in the pot

Some say the dreidel game is played to commemorate the Jews ingenuity for studying Torah, which was outlawed by Greeks. The Jews would gather to study and if soldier were spotted, they would hide their scrolls and spin tops. The Greeks thought they were gambling and not learning.

As you can see, there are many components being celebrated in this wonderful tradition. The giving thanks for the oil and what each family currently has, and the ingenuity and survival of a People and their traditions.

Unfortunately, in this country, a huge emphasis is placed on the Christian Tradition of the season. Over the next few weeks, I hope to be able to enlighten each of you of the other traditions celebrated during this time of year, like Kwanza, and Yule. Different traditions have always fascinated me, hopefully you will learn something new and maybe incorporate some of these fabulous traditions in to your own family traditions.

What's Been Going On

The past two weeks, I've been in training at work for a new position. I am moving out of Reservations Sales to Guest Services. My job will be helping reservation agents to fix reservations, book dining for executives, help the front desk of our resorts with reservations, and many other things. I started working on the floor last Weds. I've been taking calls and have been very comfortable with it, but I'm still with a trainer/shadow. I'm sitting at someone else's desk taking the calls, so they can monitor me and be there if I have questions. I'm ready to move on, but not all of the programs have been updated with the new privileges I need to do my job. Hopefully that will be fixed by the time I get to work tomorrow. But I'm not holding my breath.

Here at home, Andy and I have been trying to get the house presentable for when mom and dad arrive in 10 days. I'm waiting on my darling husband to finish cleaning up his mess in my craft room. He built a projector in there because I have a large desk to do my scrapbooking, sewing, etc on. After he is done cleaning it, I can get it organized so we can pull out the sofa couch for my parents!

Andy's projector turned out really nice. I've attached photos at the end for all to see. It's fun having a big screen to watch movies on. The only downside is that it currently need the computer (Mushu) to provide the video. Which means, Mushu is in the living room away from the cable modem. Andy told me to just take the modem to the living room, but that seemed silly to me.

The critters are doing good and handling my crazy schedule well. Tommy and Diego love the tree being up. I'll find them curled up on the tree skirt sleeping. They have been very good about leaving the ornaments alone. Tommy does like to chew on the branches though, probably not a good thing with the lights....... Zoe and Cindi are being their usual selves. They are finally figuring out that they can actually relax while out of the cage. Cindi will stretch out on the floor in front of the cage and hang out after doing some exploring.

I really need to get some laundry done and try to get some cleaning done.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Sunday!

Hi All!

I thought I would give blogging a try. Now, it won't be a daily thing, but when something interesting happens in my life or in the world I'll put it here.