The Reiki Cafe 

Hi Friends,

At one time, this was the time of year when one got together with family and friends to celebrate peace, good will and spiritual values.

Now it's crowds out doing the Christmas thing (or as one of our members so wittily refers to as Greedfest). Pressure to shop, being bombarded by commercialism, crowds, pressure to go to social events one really would rather not. I'm not saying anything new.

So I hoping all of you are having good holidays, despite the madness. And I'm thinking good thoughts for the people who are feeling the pressure.

Blessings,
Roxy

I'm broke, busy, happy & right now listening to a great recording of my last Grateful Dead concert (Winterland, S.F., 10/20/78). Since the only song I remembered from that one was Mississippi Half Step, thought I'd finally replay it & hear what it was that triggered all those hallucinations.

Not worrying much about holiday madness, maybe I'll send out one of those chatty newsletters if I get around to it.

Listened to beautiful Gregorian chants last night in the cathedral in Portland. They invited the audience up onto the altar area, to hear better. Another kind of altered state with music!

Blessings,
Aronaya

Ms. Roxanne,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- not everyone celebrates shopping or christmas or Hannacah or Kwanza or???????

- I'm going fishing - no crowds, no noise (except perhaps the sounds of a paddle being dipped into the water or the splash of a fish willing to be playful for a few minutes)

- thus, plenty about which to be mindful and thankful (especially if an ivorybilled woodpecker should make its presence known - zounds!!)

>:-}}

- all joys of the season to you and yours

>:-}}

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Otoharo!

I knew I had no money for gifts this year, so I began in the fall and made items from fabric samples my sister gave me years ago. She worked in a drapery shop, She was the seamstress and could take home their sample books when they became outdated. Two boxes of these she gave me. Since I have time, I could put all this together and make gifts for my family. I have not taken the time to send cards though I have some left over from the past.

I do not go out much.

I make copies today of recent music.

finality

Otoharo!

Is that POrtland Oregon?

finality

Hi honey,

As someone I know recently remarked. "Everyone complains about the commercialization of Christmas but no one ever does anything about it." Strikes me as odd because it is one of the few places that we really can have a large and rapid effect. Stop buying. Literally, as well as into the propaganda. We don't even have to make gifts if we would rather not. Treat it like some say to treat our reiki practice and keep the parts you like and throw away the rest. :-). (Couldn't help it :-)) Wow, so simple, like the jitterbug, it plumb eluded me. :-))

If people call us grinches or scrooges we can let them know that the real message in those stories was the love and 'spirit' of the season and that we have plenty of both to go around. :-)

Things are pretty low key here. I've always felt that if you don't get along with family the rest of the year there is no reason to torture yourself (and them) for the sake of some tradition. Fortunately I did get along with mine but my sister has her own family and grandkids and except for my husband and daughter all the rest are gone. How we spend our time and get along the rest of the year has always been more important to me than spending one day together just because it was expected. Call me weird. :-))

Don't really do Christmas in a big way, maybe because I don't have grandkids or maybe because as my daughter says I don't have any traditions. :-) (I do but not the ones she would like me to have :-))

Just doing some baking. I always stay out of the stores between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Too many people most of them stressed and sickly.

Did decorate a little bit and framed a bunch of my photos for gifts. Did the other things that are part of my 'tradition' and only have to make the rounds to give my goodies away, which is the best part. :-)

Will be in Tacoma just before Christmas so we decided to go to Seattle for a couple of days. That's where I will be on Christmas day, going to the aquarium and zoo. :-)

No worries. :-))

May Your Christmas be Peaceful and Your New Year Happy, Healthy and, Prosperous

hugs

Walk in beauty,
Rebecca

My dearest Rebecca,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- can't imagine anyone calling you a scrooge-ess

bagl

- all joys of the Season to you and yours!!

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

My dear Firekeeper,

Well thank you for your support.

:-)

Can't say anyone has called me scrooge (that I know of anyway) but other more colorful titles come to mind.

:-))

Peace and Joy to you and yours!

Walk in beauty,
Rebecca

Sorry, Portland,Maine -- the original Portland!

Blessings,
Aronaya

Dear Becca,

I actually don't celebrate Christmas...except cooking a feast for my bf and myself. However, maybe it's New York. I can't go into the drug store to get mouth wash, without being bombarded by (bad) Christmas songs and being crowded out by Christmas shoppers. Going into Manhattan is an assault on the soul, everyone is giving off these anxious, irritable vibes. It's pretty overwhelming at times.

Blessings,
Roxy

Maybe not so much New York as any overcrowded metropolitan area. Brings out the absolute best and worst in everything. :-)

I was generalizing. I know you well enough not to think you would get lost in all the bs of the season. :-)

I truly do avoid going anywhere I don't have to between Christmas and Thanksgiving (I do have friends who say I avoid doing that all year :-)) so it has been years since I've seen the inside of a department store during that time.

The normal shopping type things that I do have to do, groceries, pharmacy, etc. aren't really any worse than any other time of year. They do play Christmas music and have decorations up but I don't mind them. I even rather like them, at least they are a change from the regular dreary offerings the rest of the year.

But then I live in Portland Or. and however cosmopolitan the locals would like to believe their fair city is it isn't much more than a farm with lights, especially when compared to something as overwhelming as New York or Los Angeles.

(I will now be sent to the dungeon and tortured in perpetuity for having been a heretic and defaming the fair city of Portland :-))

:-))

Walk in beauty,
Rebecca

Dear Becca,

Portland has plenty of charm that New York has lost. I sort of imagine it's what New York was like 100 years ago.

A nice event concerning NYC this Christmas: I was on the subway, when a trio of men came on to sing for spare change. They sang an excellent doo-wop version of "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer". I'm not a fan of that song, but this sure sounded good!

Hugs,
Roxy

Hey honey,

Yes it does have its charm but it is also something approaching a religion to most of its inhabitants (deserving or undeserving is an individual opinion :-))

Without the horses. :-) Can you imagine a city of a couple hundred thousand and a horse for nearly every person. Oy, the smell. :-))

See what I miss when I don't go out. :-) Sounds like it was great fun.

hugs

Walk in beauty,
Rebecca

For a change I am actually enjoying the build up to this christmas.
I finally have a paying Job after goodness knows how long trying, so have money in my pocket.
We had our work christmas meal today. Up to a local bar with my 30 minutes lunch break (I can take an hour, but don't) then a team meeting that consisted of eating and drinking and opening our secret santa pressies.
Some of the others went after the meal and another load are still at it in the pub. I retired to Lush to get my Mum some smelly stocking fillers (there is also a really cute shop assistant there as well who spends time with people even if they are only spending a small amount of money)

The work atmosphere is absolutly great. The boss is one of those who you only come across once in a lifetime if your lucky and even thou there are 16 of us in the office every one works together and there is none of the normal back biting that can occur in the work place. In fact a real team. I come home from work smiling every day and look forward to going in the next day.

All of my christmas shopping is done, except the fresh fruit and veg side of things(and perhaps another bottle of single malt) and cards are written and about to be posted and the world is a loverly place.

This year here, christmas seems less commercialised than normal, although I may be seeing things thru slightly rose tinted spectacles LOL

Namaste

Rob
Truth is not a property of language because language has not been able to express abstract ideas as efficiently as concrete items

Rob,

What good news. Sounds like a great place to work. Lucky fella. That's why we haven't seen much of you lately.

Congratulations.

Christmas is, I think, what we make of it. Just because someone is buying gifts doesn't mean they don't recognize and observe the spiritual side of the holiday as well. Most of the people I know don't do a lot of buying. (but we are generally older and don't have young children in our families) The commercial side of the holiday is more for the kids I think. The social side for the adults. :-)

Anything that can make people feel closer and take more time with one another, make them feel good about themselves and the world around them is good.

A Joyous Season to you and yours.

Walk in beauty,
Rebecca

Otoharo!

Roxy, readers of Urantia get together in August to commerate the birth of Jesus. So the winter solstice is what I celebrate. Much of what we do has to do more with this than anything pertaining Jesus. I sent out cards today. I made gifts for family and sent those off last week. So I am done with output. I am deep into reorganizing my sheets of music so I expect this is what I will still be doing. In my first two or three years, I did not write accompaniment. So I have about two humdred accompaniments to write! These are simply chords. Instrumentals are more complicated but there are none yet to do.

So far our weather has been rain. The first flush was a quick flood that measured 9 1/2 inches. That got emptied and now I noticed that the three gallon bucket is getting close to full with rain since then. That's a lot of water for this soil to hold! The creek sounds loud as soon as I open my door.

I love this wood we had available this year. It is some of the old, old trees. The grain of this wood is so tight that yesterday, I filled the fireplace before 7 am and did not need more wood until 7pm. The old wood burns long and stays hot.

I regularly make a fermented drink, green tea and honey. That will be my solstice drink. Best taste I ever tasted. Xaris said it tasted like mead.

Love every moment of the days!

finality

Otoharo!

I can add to what I am doing this holiday season! I have shifted out of the head into my feelings. For two days now! My soulmate has felt the shift as being peaceful. So it is a peaceful space to be in.

finality