seen from South Korea
seen from Netherlands
seen from Germany
seen from Sri Lanka
seen from Yemen
seen from Singapore
seen from Sweden
seen from France
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Ireland
seen from Canada
seen from Pakistan
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Canada
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seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
God will break through your blindness
If you let him, God will turn your life upside-down. Or rather, right-side up. He will work a great thing in you.
He will not leave you where you are, but will sweep away the trash of selfishness and the litter of small concerns to fill you with a consuming love for him. God will transform you, change you, reorient you to himself. He will leave you marveling at grace and in awe of truth.
Further,…
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Getting students to a place where they can write their own persuasive speech is difficult, especially with ELLs. This video is part of a complete unit designed to help Middle School students become comfortable with persuasive texts.
As teachers the best way for us to learn is through resources given to us by other faculty members and even websites. The teaching channel is great way to spark new ideas for lesson plans and in-class activities.
I have provided a link to a great lesson plan provided by Emily Park-Friend who is a middle school teacher at Bruce Randolph School in Denver, CO. This particular lesson deals with interacting with complex texts and helping students’ reading skills through scaffolding. As many classrooms in America there are students who are English language learners where reading and writing skills may be a challenge for them. As teachers we want to accommodate our lessons to our students as best as we can. This lesson helps students interact with texts in a multitude of ways. Student and teacher actions are met through reading, writing, discussing, and listening.
Emily uses a strategy known as “Jig-saw” which gives students different pieces of the same text and asked to organize it chronologically as a class or as groups. I have used this strategy as a student and as a teacher and find it very helpful to obtain different perceptions of a given text. My college professor here at the University of Hawai’i, uses this strategy within his education course. As a student I am able to comprehend texts better when I am able to hear other students’ opinions and views. As a teacher I have found this very helpful because it initiates a discussion between students where I am able to grasp what my students are thinking about a given text.
From teaching channel.org's resource handout.
Background knowledge is crucial for students to be able to learn and comprehend text. Before diving into the reading, Emily gave her students a short biography of Barbra Jordan to help her students better understand the civil rights movement. I think providing background information for any given reading will greatly increase students’ comprehension and understanding of any given text.
From teaching channel.org's resource handout.
Focus Question. Emily also provided her students with a focus question before directing them to read the given text. Some students have trouble comprehending what they have read because they are not sure what to focus on. Focus questions gives students a purpose for reading and helps students define the authors argument within the text.
Why I love the Teaching Channel!
The teaching channel is a great resource for all teachers. It is free and easy to sign up and provides all types of resources including lesson plans, strategies, and helpful tips for beginner teachers. It is easily accessible with resources conveniently listed on the right hand side of each lesson video.
PSG: December Holiday
One of the reasons I became more interested in and aware of the seasonal changes is because they are actually recognized in my adopted country (Japan). Spring and autumnal equinoxes are national holidays, and even the summer and winter solstices are marked in my day planners. For the winter solstice (冬至 とうじ touji), people put yuzu (whole or cut in half) in their baths and eat kabocha (pumpkin). Reading the wikipedia article, the kabocha tradition came from the Meiji era and used to apply generally to foods that end in ん (n), which is the last character in the kana syllabary. Kabocha for some reason also referred to as "nankin" which is where that final "n" comes in. Although I don't take baths at my house, I did manage to eat some kabocha today, having just made some soup this week!
This time of the year means that although Christmas and the New Year are very close, true winter is about to descend on my home. Being from a year-round warm place, living in Japan was my first experience with four distinct seasons. Knowing that Yule means the days gradually get brighter is a huge relief, since I am weak to both cold and darkness.
I know that Yule is arriving usually because it coincides with many year-end activities, which means looking at my planner and constantly seeing the holiday reminder. That, and the increasingly insufferable cold.
Sadly, I spent most of the day in class, followed by work. My private celebration was in my room, wrapped in sweaters, burning a candle, drinking some amaretto, and looking out at the rain.
My altar is currently decorated with my holiday-appropriate weekly ikebana flowers. This week we had one red rose among the typical yellow ones, which is nice because the color red and the flower rose are both my thing. There were also some awkwardly spray-painted silver twiggy branches - festive, but unnatural. Then there were some fir branches, which is a first in materials. The whole bouquet looks lovely, and my teacher described it as "very large."
PSG focus question - Hearth and Home
This week’s focus question comes from PSG member dewognatos, who wants to know:
How do the ideas of hearth and home figure in (or not) with your practices? Do you interact with household spirits? Do you have any hearth-centric practices (brewing tea, potion making, hospitality, etc) which feature prominently in your life? Or is your spiritual focus elsewhere?
My home is like my sanctuary. My place of escape and calm, as well as my showpiece. Its me in building structure, I guess. Without even thinking about it in religious, spiritual, or wiccan terms; I painted the walls of my four main rooms in Red, Blue, Green and Yellow and they are super saturated. No pastels for me. All that's left is the hallway, which I've considered painting lavender for a long time. So all the elements are represented and I could include the elemental spirit in my hallway, which oddly enough connects all of the other four rooms since they are on one side of my apartment and the hallway is on the other.
I've also studied a bit about chakras and it would be interesting for me to set up shrines or altars to correspond with certain chakras in each room. I want to set up mini altars in each room anyway to help me focus on tasks and honor the spirits that inhabit that space. Not too long after I first moved in, I did a house cleansing/protection ritual which included honoring the spirits within and those who helped create my home. There's the thought that when you can't find your keys or some other small household incident occurs that fairies or spirits may be playing with you or helping you look in a certain direction which can help you with another issue. When things happen I find myself stopping to ask them to please help me to find what I'm looking for; whether its what I set out for in the first place or not.
Just living here has changed many of my habits so they correspond more wiccan or pagan like ways. Living on my own helps too since there were many things I had always wanted to do but couldn't or wouldn't before. Like cooking, I like it but with others expectations on what I make I would get flustered, irritated, angry and then mess up the food somehow. Now, I'm more at home in the kitchen; which is actually two shades of green. I've experimented a lot and I've learned through various cookbooks, websites and wiccan books how certain herbs and spices enhance a meal both spiritually and magickally. I've taken to making the Sabbat offering drinks for my groups open rituals. I also usually make all my oils and incenses in the kitchen. It just seems right and proper. I've also started making my body scrubs there as well.
Any bigger projects, like making BoS' and class related stuff happens in the living room. Its the most public room and yellow. When I have parties or a roommate that's where the people are. And I like being social as well as being alone. I love entertaining people and then just turning around and climbing into my bed after they leave. So much easier then worrying about getting home or sleeping somewhere strange (no matter how many times I've been there.)
The bathroom is definitely my escape. The only thing I do there is cleanse and purify both literally and figuratively. Its my zen place. Its blue-ish green, like Caribbean seas, which I did on purpose since I love water. I just feel like I'm floating whenever I am in there. Last, is my bedroom which is where I have my ritual space. Its the last room in my home and the one I am most protective of. Always has been and always will be. Its red, my favorite color. And when the sun hits it in the morning it has that womb effect. Very comforting. Rituals happen there of course. I'm trying to work on weekly meditations too.
The hallway is my library really. Its where most of my books are though there could definitely be more. Its also my transition place.
Anyway, my home can do with improvements and I almost lost it this year and I'm not sure if I will still be here next year but its still my home. So I think my spiritual practice is more home based then I thought. I guess I was slowly, unconsciously making it that way.
PSG focus question - High Days
How is the high day celebrated in your tradition?
What myths are associated with the high day?
What does this holiday or time of year mean to you?
How do you know this high day is coming?
How did you celebrate this high day?
How do you want to celebrate this high day in the future
At this time in my life and spirituality I am Wiccan. I say that because that might change. I'm not flaky about spirituality and religion but I recognize from my more in depth research that I might be drawn to a more specific pagan path in the future.
Anyway, my high days are the 8 sabbats; Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltaine, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon and Samhain. The most recent one being Litha (aka Midsummer or the Summer Solstice). I love this particular holiday actually. I think it might be my favorite; partially because it celebrates the summer at it beginning (I'll explain the midsummer name in a bit) and summer is my favorite season. So on to my research about Litha. I wrote the below ages ago to help me remember the sabbats.
Other Names and associated holidays: Midsummer, Summer solstice, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Vestalia, Alban Heruin
Date: June 19-25th 0° Cancer
History: This is the longest day of the year. The sun is at its strongest and highest. From here on in the days will be shorter. It is also called the Summer Solstice. The term solstice comes from the latin term solstitium which means “sun stands still” because it appears to stop moving at these times of year. During the summer solstice (in the northern hemisphere) when the sun has reached the Tropic of Capricorn or when the earth is tilted closer towards the sun. The date of Litha is also seen as the official start of summer. Because of the obvious changes that occur on earth and in the skies at this time of year many celebrations have sprung up. The weather is good and plant-life is alive. This time was also called midsummer since it falls between the planting and harvesting times as well as because it is considered a quarter day which falls between Beltaine and Lughnasadh. And since the God and Goddess union was in May, during Beltaine, many couples married in June so not to be unlucky. This tradition is still held today. June is also the best month to collect honey and so couples were fed and gifted with various dishes and beverages made of honey to sweeten their new marriage; thus the “honeymoon,” to encourage love and fertility in at least the first month of marriage. The full moon in June is often called the Honey Moon for this reason. Also of note is that this is considered a time of year where the veil between worlds is thin. So contact whether on purpose or accidentally with spirits, the fey or other beings is associated with this holiday. Look to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for an example. This is the time of year when the God is at his strongest. The sun, his symbol takes over the skies and like the sun he grows older and weaker from here on in. For some there is the associated story of the Holly King and Oak King, both representations of the God; one representing the light half of the year and the other representing the dark half. During the Summer Solstice they fight as always to see who will rule the latter half of the year until the Winter Solstice comes and they fight again. This time the Holly Kind wins as the Oak King dies, or really just withdraws until the Winter Solstice when they fight again. Druids celebrated Alban Heruin or Light of the Shore, a beautiful festival which symbolized the crowning of the Oak King followed by his fall to the holly King. In Ancient China, the earth, the feminine, and yin energy were celebrated at this time of year. Many Germanic, Slavic and Celtic tribes celebrated with bon fires that lovers would jump over/through luck-bringing flames. It was believed to be a good time for love, marriage and divination. Also, it was a time when the veil between the worlds was thin. So many spirits came out from the other side and people would get lost on their side. Native American tribe Natchez worshipped the sun and saw their rulers as the suns descendents. So during this time of year they held a fruit festival with the first fruits of the year. Also corn was not allowed to be harvested until after the festival. In ancient Rome the goddess Vesta was celebrated around this time with a festival called Vestalia. Vesta is the roman goddess of virginity, hearth, home, and family. Sacred fires were burned and tended to in her temples. Later on when Christianity came about in Europe, the Feast of St. John became celebrated at this time. It is the birth date of St. John the Baptist.
Colors: Red, yellow, orange, deep green, deep blue, gold
Decorations: Bon fires, first fruits of the season, Oak and holly sprigs
Herbs, incense and oils: Apple Spice, Bay, Bayberry, Cedar, Cinnamon, Frankincense, Chamomile, Evergreen, Holly, Ivy, Laurel(bay), Mistletoe, Pine.
Gods and Goddesses: Vesta, St. John the Baptist, All sun gods and goddesses, All mother goddesses, all father gods, Oak King, Holly King, all Goddesses of love, passion, beauty and the Sea, and Pregnant, lusty Goddesses, Father Sun/Sky, Gods at peak power and strength.
So as for how I celebrate. I usually celebrate with my group, which is an open ritual. There is a symbolic fight between the Holly and Oak kings as well as some divination with Elder Futhark runes for each individuals upcoming season since divination is seen as more powerful during this holiday.
This year, was my year to start creating and celebrating on my own each sabbat and I have been doing so but for Litha unfortunately I forgot and didn't plan it out. At the last minute I did think of some things but did not get to actually hold my own ritual. I did however create the wreathe as planned.
My plan included thanking my local house and neighborhood spirits and fairies for their help recently and leaving them an offering. Of course not an obvious thank you but just an acknowledgment of their presence. Also venerating the God at his most powerful time. Some small divination most likely with tarot cards. And lastly, to include the recent moon phase and what sign it was in for some spell work. The last two I might combine. But this is basically what I would do for most future Litha rituals at home. Maybe go to the beach too since I love the beach and have always wanted to do a beach ritual.
So Litha was my most recent High Day and this was my post about it. I hope you enjoyed it.
