[Life] Four Seasons: A Celebration of Life

Name: TheGhostHunter

Favorite Time of Year: Halloween

Birthday: November 8

December Holidays: Christmas (more secular than religious), Winter Solstice and Possibly Yule

TheGhostHunter said:

Name: TheGhostHunter

Favorite Time of Year: Halloween

Birthday: November 8

December Holidays: Christmas (more secular than religious), Winter Solstice and Possibly Yule

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That's cool! I just signed you up. I'm glad you came :)

Oh, Sam, you've outdone yourself with this club! Such a lovely idea! I shall join the seasonal celebration!

Name: Lina

What is your favourite time of year?
This is such a hard one! I cannot simply pick one season. I adore both autumn and spring. Spring, or printemps as we call it in French, is the season of rebirth, of flowers, rainbows, and butterflies! It truly is a joyous time indeed! I love when the snow begins to melt and the world blossoms before my eyes. I love to garden and I enjoy the mid-spring rain that smells oh-so heavenly! And autumn, quite the opposite of spring, is the season that prepares the world for slumber, for the upcoming winter. Although autumn is quite a short-lived season in my region, it is so beautiful. I adore the beautiful leaves as they float down from the treetops, dancing in the wind like vibrant ballerinas! I love fall fashion, nothing beats a quaint cardigan or a comfy blanket scarf, and of course, we must not forget pumpkin spice lattes! Truly a treat! To top it off, at the tail end of the season is Halloween, which is favourite holiday! (tied with Christmas)




When is your Birthday?
The 9th of December, my darling!

Are you Celebrating any Holidays?
Christmas! My family is big on Christmas. It is primarily a religious holiday for my family and on Christmas-Eve we attend service at our local church ever year. Christmas morning we unwrap gifts and have a feast that eve and do a gift-exchange with our extended family. Of course, on the days leading up to Christmas, my sister and I will be baking sugar cookies, Russian tea cakes, and other delicious goodies!

My mother's family also celebrates Ukrainian (Orthodox) Christmas in January! So it's essentially two Christmases!

*What is your favorite time of year?

For seasons, I really like Spring and Fall. I adore Summer too, and Winter has it's good moments, but overall, I like the subtle temperatures of Spring and Fall. During spring time, we can look at Cherry Blossoms, which grows around my old area around that time of year! Sometimes I like to just sit at home and listen to the spring rain too. It's comforting in a sense; it makes your worries go free, and just calms your mind. It's quite handy for me in particular because I like to do things like writing, event planning, and world building. During fall is my birthday sooo I'm a tad biased, but I also like that time to see pumkins, enjoy pumpkin dishes. Doing for a hike while seeing the colourful leaves is pretty great as well.

*(Optional) When's your birthday? We can make a post for you on your special day if that's okay.

November 23rd! You don't have to make something special, but if you want to, that's pretty cool~ I'll just be glad if someone remembers. c:


*Will you celebrate any holidays this December like Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa or other? If yes, what will you do?

I celebrate Christmas! And yes, I spend time with the family, or any friends. Though this year, since we've moved, we're probably just going to spend it together as a family in the household, rather than going out to see other family. Still though, I'm going to make sure to bring gifts for everyone nearby, and some gifts for some PC members as well. The time for giving is quite important, and I hope everyone who also celebrates it has an excellent time too. During the time. I like to bake cookies, brownies, or helping mom to cook turkey and veggies.

MysticalNinetales said:

Oh, Sam, you've outdone yourself with this club! Such a lovely idea! I shall join the seasonal celebration!

Name: Lina

What is your favourite time of year?
This is such a hard one! I cannot simply pick one season. I adore both autumn and spring. Spring, or printemps as we call it in French, is the season of rebirth, of flowers, rainbows, and butterflies! It truly is a joyous time indeed! I love when the snow begins to melt and the world blossoms before my eyes. I love to garden and I enjoy the mid-spring rain that smells oh-so heavenly! And autumn, quite the opposite of spring, is the season that prepares the world for slumber, for the upcoming winter. Although autumn is quite a short-lived season in my region, it is so beautiful. I adore the beautiful leaves as they float down from the treetops, dancing in the wind like vibrant ballerinas! I love fall fashion, nothing beats a quaint cardigan or a comfy blanket scarf, and of course, we must not forget pumpkin spice lattes! Truly a treat! To top it off, at the tail end of the season is Halloween, which is favourite holiday! (tied with Christmas)

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Thank you so much! I have been wanting to make this club for a long time. I'm glad my friends are here. You know, you really are an awesome poet Lina, you can just make images come alive! Now I am picturing the treetops gently moving and swaying in the wind as if they are real dancers.

The way you paint a portrait of every season reminds me of the song from Camelot "If Ever I would Leave You" when Lancelot and Guinevere have to leave each other, but Lancelot can't choose which season to leave court because every time of year his queen takes on a new and different kind of beauty, in summer her hair's streaked with sunlight, in winter he'll see the sight of her running through the snow. It's a love song, but also captures the power and beauty of nature at the same time.

Thanks for the striking photos too!

MysticalNinetales said:

Christmas! My family is big on Christmas. It is primarily a religious holiday for my family and on Christmas-Eve we attend service at our local church ever year. Christmas morning we unwrap gifts and have a feast that eve and do a gift-exchange with our extended family. Of course, on the days leading up to Christmas, my sister and I will be baking sugar cookies, Russian tea cakes, and other delicious goodies!

My mother's family also celebrates Ukrainian (Orthodox) Christmas in January! So it's essentially two Christmases!

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Sweet! If you are proud of how your Russian tea cake and sugar cookies turn out this year then you can always post a photo of your recipe over here!

To have 2 Christmases is incredible. I have marked the calendar for January 7th so I will make sure I post Happy Holidays to acknowledge the Orthodox Church too! Wonderful!

Dragon said:

*What is your favorite time of year?

For seasons, I really like Spring and Fall. I adore Summer too, and Winter has it's good moments, but overall, I like the subtle temperatures of Spring and Fall. During spring time, we can look at Cherry Blossoms, which grows around my old area around that time of year! Sometimes I like to just sit at home and listen to the spring rain too. It's comforting in a sense; it makes your worries go free, and just calms your mind. It's quite handy for me in particular because I like to do things like writing, event planning, and world building. During fall is my birthday sooo I'm a tad biased, but I also like that time to see pumkins, enjoy pumpkin dishes. Doing for a hike while seeing the colourful leaves is pretty great as well.

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I enjoy listening to the sound of the rain too, especially at night I find it calming, or when you're walking after a little rain and the smell of the water mixes with the wood and ths forest. Fall is also fun, Halloween's one of my favorite holidays. And when the leaves turn my dad and I like to take drive through mountains and look at all that majesty. I am not a huge pumpkin eater, but I do enjoy saving the seeds and roasting them as snacks, and maybe having a little pumpkin bread too :)

Christmas is a time of giving. It should not just be giving presents to our friends and family, but also helping fhose who are in need.

I was wondering if any members have plans to donate to charitable causes this holiday season? I am giving away some of my clothes to my local Good Will, canned goods for the Food Bank, and books and movies to the library. Whatever cash donation I can manage will go to probably a wildlife protection agency. I only wish I had more to give.

I volunteer to bake for a foodbank around this time, and my work also has a toys drive where we bring unwrapped toys in for children of the less fortunate~

I'm strapped for cash, too sadly ;;

(reminder to use max-width: in css instead of width: as the latter doesn't make posts legible on mobile...)

Astronaut said:

(reminder to use max-width: in css instead of width: as the latter doesn't make posts legible on mobile...)

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Thanks for alerting me that you couldn't read the posts. I didn't know it wasn't legible for all, so I'll make sure max-width next time. Are you sure the issue it's just on mobile devices and not something like a browser issue? The reason I ask is because it appeared normal for me on mobile, so I'm curious why that was.

Anyway, should I put you down as a new club member while you're here? :)

My family and I donate clothing, furniture, trinkets, old toys and such a few times a year. Our church also collects non-perishable food for families in need, and my mother dropped off a few items as well.

The Winter Solstice is coming! Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are about to experience the shortest day of the year as well as the longest night of the year. The sun will be at it's lowest point in sky, and will appear at the moment of the solstice like it stood still and reversed direction. Hence the origins of the word 'solstice" from the Latin solstitum, meaning "sun stands still."

The Solstice formally begins this year on December 21st (tomorrow night) at 11:19 pm Eastern Standard time. That is the time when the North Pole is aimed furthest away from the sun on the 23.5 degree tilt south of the Earth's axis. It is officially the start of the winter season. At the North Pole there is 24 hours or Twilight during the solstice.

All around the word throughout time humans have celebrated the change of the seasons as it represents brand new year, and a time of darkness, quiet and slumber before the return of the sun that we depend on for life. Winter solstice is one of the oldest holidays in history.

Every December visitors gather at the bronze age site of Stonehenge in Britain during the solstice to watch the sun rise. This prehistoric monument is aligned with the sun, and during the solstice the sunlight would have dramatically shone down on the ancient people through the space between the two tallest stone posts and lintel. The excavations at Durrington Walls suggest that our ancestors held a great feast there.



The Celts celebrated the Winter Solstice by ceremoniously cutting mistletoe from oak trees. They hung mistletoe over the doors of their homes and shared springs with others as charms of protection and fertility. This was called Yule by the Norse, and the Germanic peoples burnt Yule logs and drank toasts to the Gods as part of the a 12 day Winter festival, representing the Wild Hunt of the God Odin.



Today in Il Castillo, Mexico people come to sing, pray and light incense during the winter Solstice at the ruins of the pyramid of Chichen Itza, the great temple from the Mayan civilization. The ancient Mayans performed rituals at this time of year to honor the coming of a new Great Cycle of Time and reset of the celestial clock.



The Hopi and Zuni Indian tribe of Arizona have a December solstice celebration called Soyal, which means, "Establishing Life Anew for All the World." This fire festival is a time of healing where the Hopi make prayer sticks and bless each other, praying for people, animals and plants alike as they welcome the sun. Elders share gifts and stories of wisdom with the children, and secret ceremonies are performed in underground chambers called Kivas. Benevolent guardian spirits known as Kachina are said to dance the snake dance with humans to help bring the sun back to the land from it's sleep, and start a new cycle of the Wheel of the Year.



Our brothers and sisters in East Asia celebrate Dongzhi to maintain the balance of yin and yang. People get together with their families, exchange wishes for each other's well-being and may visit the tombs of their ancestors and leave animal-shaped cakes for the departed. In the North of China it is folk tradition to eat a dumpling for good luck to ward off frostbit during the coldest time of year. In Southern China rice balls are prepared in bright, decorative colors.



Whether we call it Winter Solstice, Saturnalia or Yalda, I want to wish everyone a wonderful beginning of winter. Bless you all.

Happy Hanukkah brothers and sisters the world over, Shalom aleichem!



In case you did not know today just so happens to be the first night of Hanukkah or Chanukah, a Jewish holiday that lasts for 8 days, sometimes called the Festival of Lights. It always begins on the 25th day of the 9th month (Kislev) of the Hebrew Calendar. Because the Hebrew Calendar is based on a lunar cycle the date of Hanukkah celebrations can change from year to year when observed under a Gregorian calendar, which is based on the solar cycle, but Hanukkah will always take place during winter. This year Hanukkah will end on December 30th.

Hanukkah comes from the Hebrew word meaning "dedication" and refers to the restoration and re-dedication of a 2nd century BCE Hebrew temple that had been converted when Judea was under control of the Selucid empire as told in the Apocrypha books of Maccabees.

The Maccabees were a group of Jewish warriors led by a priest Judah who rebelled against the empire when faced with forced conversion, and drove the Selucid forces out of Judea. As the Jews were greatly outnumbered their victory was a miracle, and is a story of the few standing up to the many.

An essential part of celebrating Hannukah in Judaism is lighting a menorah called a Chanukiah, a very special candelabra that has 8 branches to hold 8 candles, and a 9th branch called the shamash ("helper") to light the other candles with.

The Chanukiah menorah is lit on Hannukah to commemorate a miracle described in the Talmud when the temple of Jerusalem was cleansed and re-dedicated by the Jewish people after gaining independence from the empire.

There was said to be only enough ritual oil left in the temple's container to light the menorahs for a single night, however the oil outlasted all expectations for days and days, keeping the temple from going dark until new oil was pressed and ready to use after the eighth day.

The Chanukiah is a symbol of hope and light conquering darkness. It is important for believers to light and display a Chanukiah during Hanukkah to publicize the miracle of the holiday, and to identify a home as Jewish since Hannukah is about freedom of worship and expression. A candle of the Chanukiah is lit every night, increasing the number by one each night, two on the second night, three on the third until all eight candles burn brightly on the last day of the festival.

Hanukkah is a holiday with rituals and traditions and provides time for self-reflection, but it is also a joyful time of year with singing, feasting and games.

Food fried in oil is often shared to remind each other of the holy oil that lasted for 8 days, including rich potato pancakes called Latkes and a sweet doughnut-like treat called Sufganiyot. Children and teachers are often given gelt, candy coins that have been wrapped in gold or silver foil. Another symbolic gift that is bestowed is a dreidel, a four-sided spinning top. Each side of a dreidel represents a letter that makes up a sentence and an action that you take if you spin the dreidel in the game. The dreidel is significant because it was a way to teach Jewish children the Torah secretly when it was banned under oppressive governments, disguising learning to read with text on an innocuous clay spinning toy.

Hannukah is a time to gather together with friends, neighbors and family, and share warmth and light as we head into shortest, coldest and darkest days of the year.

I enjoyed researching this holiday about having faith and courage in the face of adversity. The following link contains a blessing you can say on the first night of Hanukkah, and blessings for the candles and miracles.

https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/103874/jewish/Blessings-on-the-Menorah.htm

Ba-ruch a-ta, a-do-nai e-lo-hei-nu, me-lech/ruach ha-o-lam, she-he-chei-a-nu, v'ki-y'ma-nu, v'hi-gi-a-nu, la-z'man ha-zeh. Amen.

So tonight is Christmas Eve and the third night of Hanukkah. If you have any decorations up to celebrate the winter be it a Christmas tree, a menorah, a kinara, holiday lights, feel free to share em.

Here's my tree. It's modest compared to last year, but I just wanted, simple and pure, just a few glass icicles and lights.

Merry Christmas everyone! Joyeux Noël! Frohe Weinachten! Feliz Navidad! Buon Natale! Feliz Natal! Vrolijk kerstfeest! Crăciun fericit! Wesołych świąt Bożego Narodzenia! God Jul! Veselé Vánoce!

Christmas is the most celebratory time of year for Christians, as it represents when the son of God came into the world to redeem humankind. It's a holiday of brotherly love and goodwill towards humankind. It's a time where we get together with those near and dear to us and show them how much they mean to us, give thanks for what we have and make merry with feasting, songs and show charity to those less fortunate than us. You don't have to be a practicing Christian to celebrate Christmas though, Christmas can be found wherever the human spirit of giving and love is.

Merry Christmas! I'm really happy spending time with the people I love, and I hope you guys have a comfortable and happy Christmas too. As for Christmas decorations, we just moved so we didn't have time to put up a tree, but:



We still have small things like that.

Greetings all,

It's New Year's Day, the first day of 2020 if you live under the Gregorian Calendar. I'm excited and curious about what this year is going to bring. I can just feel this new year is going to be different and important, I can feel it in my bones.

In Japan last day of the year is called Omisoka, a very important celebration for the end of the year. At this time of year people clean their house to sweep the old year out, cleanse themselves of troubles in a good bath and visit shrines to pray, purging away any evil spirits. Ritual bonfires are performed at such religious houses. Shinto shrines pass out the sweet rice drink amazake to visitors around midnight, while Buddhist temples ring their bell in the night once for each of the 108 defilements, striking the bell to symbolically drives these impurities away. Some of the earthly temptations they chase out include anger, violence, pride, ambition, deceit, prejudice lust and jealousy.



Folks travel to reunite with family during Omisoka, debts are settled, wishes are written down on plaques, fortunes are read and children receive gifts. It is tradition to stay late at night to welcome the new year, and on New Year's Day many people find a place in nature to watch the first sunrise like from a mountain top or at the coast.

Homes are decorated with fresh greenery called kadomatsu, meaning "gate pine." These arrangements are often pine, 3 bamboo shoots and plums, and they are left in front of homes to welcome gods of the New Year and ancestors in hope of blessings and a prosperous harvest.

Big special mochi rice cakes called Kagami meaning "mirror" are also made at the end of the old year. They are thought to resemble bronze mirrors like sun Goddess Amaterasu carries. In Shintoism she was drawn out from hiding in a cave by seeing her reflection in a mirror. When she came out of darkness she brought light to the world.



The mochi are a symbol of renewal and light in the new year. Two mochi are usually stacked together to double your fortune and decorated. These festive ornaments are left at family altars to usher in the new year. A Japanese bitter orange is included atop the arrangement with it's leaf attached or mandarin. This is because the daidai orange tree is known for its resilience with fruit that hangs for years, making it a perfect symbol for longevity. You can make lots of variations of Kagami mochi with permissions, colored paper, ferns or make them very simple.

On the lucky day of January 11th the Kagami mochi are ritually cracked open with the hands or a hammer and made into a Sony soup, in a process known as Kagami biraki, to "open" the mirror. It represents a positive transition from one stage of life to another.

One more thing I wanted to share that I have learned about Omisoka is the daruma! Daruma dolls are round, whimsical red dolls made out of paper mache that represent the 5th century monk of the same name founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism. Daruma dolls are lucky, and purchased to encourage the perseverance to realize your goals. These hollow dolls have empty eye sockets that it is up to the owner to fill. Daruma gets one eye when you set a goal for yourself, and the second only once you achieve that goal. Seeing your doll with one eye is a friendly reminder to stay on course.

Does this vibrant little vibrant ornament remind you of anyone pokemon fans?

Hello everyone,

I have been informed by dearest of friends that Christmas is being observed right now by the Russian Orthodox church. I am delighted to wish all of you a very merry Christmas again today! Incidentally, I spent this weekend vacationing in the mountains of North Carolina. Yes, I am a Southern belle for those who did not know. My state is home to the beautiful Blueridge Parkway. Asheville is home to the Biltmore Estate, a gilded age mansion surrounded built by the famous railway industry tycoon G. W. Vanderbilt. This is a 250 room French style chateau completed in 1895 and surrounded by woods, waterfalls and cliffs in a fairy tale-like style. The home is a historic museum now, and you can explore the home go for horse-drawn carriage rides there, have picnics and often their wonderful events here like music festivals and plays. One major attraction is Christmas at the Biltmore house. During the holiday season choirs carol for you, candles are lit and the house is covered in magical Christmas decorations.

These are some pictures I took of the Christmas trees on display. I thought it would be fitting to share at the Four Seasons as we continue to celebrate winter. This is just a taste of what was on display. You should have scene some of the outdoor winter lights when evening fell. I wanted so badly to take pictures, but unfortunately my camera battery was dead by then.










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All of those trees are gorgeous, Sam! Certainly the most exquisite that I've ever seen.

Orthodox Christmas was quite busy but it was very lovely indeed. We went to my grandmother's house for Sviata Vecheria (holy supper) which is a 12 course meal. It was a time of healing and a time of celebration.

MysticalNinetales said:

All of those trees are gorgeous, Sam! Certainly the most exquisite that I've ever seen.

Orthodox Christmas was quite busy but it was very lovely indeed. We went to my grandmother's house for Sviata Vecheria (holy supper) which is a 12 course meal. It was a time of healing and a time of celebration.

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They had 55 different Christmas trees total. I was wowed by some of what I saw myself! There was a wonderful ginger bread house construction in the kitchen of the estate on display. The gingerbread house was actually a giant replica of the Biltmore estate with steeples and balconies. It was a little work of art. It was ever-so crowded in the kitchens though, so I couldn't get a proper picture-- too many years of front of me. Maybe I'll go back next year, I had so much fun.

That is so wonderful Lina to hear about your Christmas experience. I have never had Sviata Vecheria before, and am really glad I made this club because it has been such a wonderful learning experience for me to find our about more and more traditions the world over. We're all one family.