Author: Debra Strom
Santa Lucia Brings the Light
Tonight our closest friends gather and celebrate the promise of the return of the light in the season of darkest night. In Sweden the youngest or oldest daughter rises early to make Lussekatter (saffron buns) and coffee then serves the adults breakfast in bed. She wears a crown of lighted candles as she carries the tray from room to room; embodying Santa Lucia as brings light into every darkened space.
Tonight is ablaze with magic, tradition, music,light, story and we even have a young maiden dressing as Santa Lucia bringing Lussekatter for each of us. We celebrate, feast, love one another and wish for peace and abundance for ourselves and for our world.
Blessings of the light to each and everyone of you.
Dragongong (Deb)
BATS
Hello Everyone-
I am in San Francisco attending BATS–the Bay Area Tarot Symposium. What fun! I get meet the movers anmd shakers in the tarot world and deepen my divination knowledge.
Today
All Hail-Hail All
Just walked out the door into the first hail of the season in Bellingham. What attention it commands; what energy it releases! While running to my car I pondered how saluting our Gods, ancestors, or those we look up to with “Hail!” has a more visceral meaning. There is so much magic in really experiencing the coporal existence we are having. Everything lives in the body. The trick is to pay attention.
I think of hail as Isa meeting Hagalaz. The ice and stillness of water is thrown around and released with destructive force. And chaos is coming to NW Washington. The huge storm that has been battering Alaska is moving down to assault us. My daughter just called that the power is out at home, the hail continues, and the winds are becoming fierce. Appropriate for Veterans Day, I think.
All Hail the warriors that kept our ancestors safe so we could be. All Hail the warriors that sacrificed so we can live in freedom on this great land. All Hail the warriors that remain ever steadfast at their posts. All Hail!!
Deb
Rune of the Day: Fehu
Today I drew Fehu. Mobile wealth on Tuesday–what does that look like?
What I think is that this is a perfect day to take a couragaous step in my financial affairs. I am having a website created by Stacey Pruim at http://www.systemserenity.com/home/ The investment I am making will make my rune sets, rune dice, and rune classes available to others and provide some icome for me as well. I have delayed moving forward because of fear–of failure, of success, thinking I had to do all the web work myself. Today I can take the next step forward; in alighment wth Fehu and bring my dream closer to reality. Both Freya and Tyr are sure of themselves and willing to pay the price required to have what they wanted. I am also willing to pay the price for my dreams. Some of that price is coin; but also due are attention, time, faith in others: all forms of mobile wealth. My website should be up by the end of October–the end of the Pagan year. Perfect. A new venture, in a new year; in the dark of the year when I really have time to devote to it.
I love the way the universe works! And I am so grateful to have the runes to show me the path to the future; and to see the possibilities available to me each and every day.
What does Fehu mean to you today?
Abundantly,
Deb
Saturday: Lordag (Bath Day)
The Norse did not name Saturday after a god or Goddess; it simply remained lordag which translates to bath day. Even a culture that interwove the Gods into daily life knew that some days were needed to recharge and reconnect to our human bodies. Bath houses were built near or over natural hot springs–the basis for the Scandinavian love of saunas. If there were no hot springs, the bath house would be placed near a spring or stream. Bathing was a group event in the bathhouse weekly. But the Vikings washed their faces, washed and combed their hair in the morning and washed their hands before eating. There is some evidence that they rinsed out their mouths and noses as well. Certainly not the picture of filthy barbarians that is commonly portrayed.
I remember as a child that we took weekly baths, although they were on Sunday nights so we would be clean for school on Monday. I can still feel how it felt to be fresh and clean after my bath, wrapped up in a towel and a robe; watching Walt Disney and Wild Kingdom. Fresh sheets, and getting tucked in my Mom. Aaaaaaahhh. Now as a an adult I do make Satudays my day to refresh and renew. It can be a hot tub on my deck with a glass of iced tea or wine; soaking in my jacuzzi tub in my master bath, shaving, tweezing, trimming….or it can be a girls day out for a pedicure and maybe a manicure too. I go to the http://www.olympusspa.net/Lynnwood/index.aspx or http://www.olympusspa.net/tacoma/index.aspx a couple times a year to really pamper my skin and my soul. It is a Korean spa that you can spend all day being pampered. Entrance fee is only $35 and all the pools, heated rooms, sauna are included. Many other services are available and are reasonalby priced. Olympus Spa’s mission is to make self care in the style of Korea available to the common woman. In Korea, the women go to hte baths in the morning, using mugwort infusion to purify and the soaks to remove any old skin. When I go, I always get the Korean Body Scrub and Korean Moisturizing. My skin feels great for weeks afterwards. I try to get my scrub late so I can enjoy the day in the various pools before I get moisturized. Then I eat at the Korean restaurant and rest in the heated rooms until close. What a lovely day–perfect to take a friend and spend all day catching up.
How do you spend Saturday? Do you pamper yourself, take some time to refresh? I hope so!!
Saturday Blessings,
Deb
