Rising from the ashes ~ A phoenix ceremony for New Year's Eve
On the last day of The Mother magazine
family camps, we hold a phoenix ceremony around the camp fire. We join together in a
circle, and individually we write on a piece of paper what it is we’d like to
release from our life. It might be a person, event, health condition, debt or
situation. We feed it to the fire, and trust that it will be gone. Afterwards,
we take a fresh piece of paper and write what we’d like to bring into our
lives.
Release. Burn. Create.
I do this ceremony at least twice a year.
Once at camp, and the other is New Year’s Eve. With my family, we release any
negativity, grudge or discomfort.
For the element of creating, we either put
the paper with wishes and dreams into Mother Earth to incubate, or tuck it
inside our pillow case or a special place like an altar or journal.
Don’t be fooled by the apparent simplicity of
this ritual. It is indeed one of the most powerful ceremonies I know. Of
course, it can be performed as a ritual on any day of the year. It’s wonderful
to burn paper outside on an open fire, but it’s just as effective in a
woodstove or with a candle and small fire-proof dish.
Out of the ashes, the phoenix rises.
Today the Moon is in Aries ~ a fire sign,
known for action. It’s a great time, energetically, for planting the seeds of
fruits. We can use this idea metaphysically, and remove all thoughts which take
us in the wrong direction, and then plants ‘seeds’ which will blossom into rich
fruits.
This year ~ 2012 ~ do something you think you
can’t do.
I send you blessings for an abundant,
productive, grace-filled and kind new year.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Sharing the love.....
Today, my husband Paul and I celebrate our 15th wedding
anniversary, and this blog post is a sharing of the reasons we love each other.
One for each year of marriage. We hope it inspires you to remember the reasons
you love your partner.
I love Paul because he is:
Kind
Gentle
Empathetic
Humorous…I’ve never laughed so much in my life as I have with Paul
Conscious
Aware of others and thoughtful
Cares about the welfare of animals
A wonderful singer with a beautiful speaking voice…I fell in love with
those dulcet tones immediately
Emotionally stable ~ my rock in waters both calm and stormy
Generous spirit and heart…
Our shared spirituality is the glue of our marriage, and is what brought
us together in the first place. As Venus (the planet of love) in my
astrological 12th house of spirituality would have it, I met him
(the love of my life) in my place of work ~ a church of metaphysics!
Shares his emotions freely
Trustworthy and honourable
As he once said, he’s tilted his whole life to support me and my dreams.
The enormity of that doesn’t escape me and I’m very grateful
Dare I say it, he makes the best coffee! And if you’re going to drink
coffee, it should be GOOD coffee.
Paul writes: About Veronika…what I love about are her, in no
particular order:
Passion
Generosity
Appreciation of Nature and the natural
The way she looks (Editor’s note: You can’t put that!)
Commitment
Love and support for me
The way she’s not afraid to be herself
That she stands up for herself and what she believes
Her cooking
Is always wanting to learn
Insightfulness
Empathy
Compassion
Nurturing
That she always cries in rom-coms
 |
Our wedding cake
was decorated with Pohutukawa ~ New Zealand
Christmas Tree. Bethany, our flower girl.
|
Our Wedding Invitation
Paul and Veronika
A Christmas Wedding
Sunday, December 29th,
1996
at 9 o’clock am
And afterwards for a
Wedding Brunch
Pinesong of Green Bay
, Auckland
“On this day I will
marry my best friend;
The one I laugh with
Live for
And love….
Your presence will be
an honour as we are joined in marriage.”
We thought it would
be a great idea if instead of bringing us a present you brought a meal for
brunch (preferably vegetarian) to share with our guests.
