I chose this day, the 26th, for Linda’s Blog Challenge over at Litebeing Chronicles because it’s a day that seems to go under the radar (at least in America), and therefore it’s a day that I wanted to know more about. I also wasn’t sure when I’d sign up and time was running out! Here’s some of what we discovered.

The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and others. Traditionally, on the day after Christmas people give a box of presents to servants or tradespeople to show appreciation for their year-round hard work.

December 26^th is also the Feast of St. Stephen (or St. Stephen’s Day), a holiday during which people traditionally give alms to the poor. This compassion and generosity is celebrated by the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas,” which tells a story of Wenceslas I, Duke of Bohemia, bringing firewood and food to a struggling peasant on a cold winter’s night. Here’s the song:

What Boxing Day and St. Stephen’s Day have in common is to focus not on the accrual of material possessions (gifts, toys, candy, or decorations), but rather on sharing kindness with those outside the family and therefore within the greater community. I found it quite interesting to learn about St. Stephen’s Day/Boxing Day.

Here’s the Blog Challenge Q & A:

Which lessons did you learn?

I learned to keep moving forward in 2014. It was also a busy year for me in my personal life. It was full of excitement and a bit of wonderment. It was also my first full year of being in a new city with my husband. As it turned out, there was so much change and newness for the both of us this past year. The newness has helped me to stick to the present moment, taking each day as it comes.

How did you serve others?

My husband recently called me, “the stranger whisperer.” I think he meant it humorously, but he says there’s truth to it. I asked him why, and he says that I connect well with strangers and inspire them. This year I saved a woman from losing her car battery by knocking on the door to her home to let her know her headlights were still on outside. She had these immense birds in her house that were squawking, and she didn’t easily hear the knock at the door. It was difficult to get her to answer, but when she did, she was really grateful about the car. Then on another day, due a strange and specific urge of mine to take the elevator in a deserted parking garage, I saved two men who were trapped in the elevator. Sadly, no one could hear their previous calls for help. Freeing them made me feel lucky! So, that was actually a blessing to me. Grace comes in and helps us to help another.

What blessings did you receive?

Every morning when I wake up, I am grateful that I am alive. I am grateful that I am healthy. Every day, I am grateful that I get the chance to walk around. Having recovered from an injury – I do not take my mobility, nor any ability to conduct my ‘activities of daily living’ (ADLs) for granted!!

Did you receive any “gifts” in terms of powers or skills? 

The greatest gift I received was the return of ‘Beginner’s Mind.’ I’ve been meditating for a while now. Every time I get back to ‘Beginner’s Mind,’ I get this sense of living on my edge in a soft and compassionate way – it’s the power of love and genuine receptivity of Spirit. Mmmm

Next up in the blog challenge is Pearlgirl  on December 27th. Nice to meet you at the Blog Challenge 2014!

Hello readers!

This morning one of my many, many emails jumped out at me and said “Read me.” This is the holiday season. When something comes of interest to myself as well as ‘vibes’ and asks me to share with others, I don’t doubt it – even if I have lots of things to do…and this wasn’t originally on my list.

Do you feel loved? I hope so. While sharing this with my close family and friends is good, I find that people beyond my family and friends are benefiting. In fact, all of my life experiences up to this point have been showing me that I need to continuous reach beyond that which is familiar to me. Every job I’ve ever had, I played the role as counselor, confidant, a listener to someone in need.  I KNOW that I am not alone in this. As with anything I post, if this isn’t for you, then move right along and place no emphasis on it. Have a happy and fulfilling day!

Listen to this call, there are people who are trying to fill their piggy banks, people who are laid off, people who are transitioning into their practices and finding clients, etc. What Morgana Rae shares, her processes, are valuable & they are free. Not all of her processes are free – but this one healing for yourself that if you are ready for, you don’t want to miss out on! Money isn’t everything, but relationships ARE.

GET TO IT: http://tinyurl.com/o5lbpuz   The password is ‘healing.’

Get back to the self that feels like you – the one that is abundant and has plenty to give…also, don’t forget to receive.  A gift from the heart is complete when it’s received.

With Love,

Ka Malana

Hello!

Dec 6: This Sun/Moon opposition (Full Moon) is squaring off Chiron in Pisces. I’m trying to get myself to write a little bit, but I feel like I’d rather hide under a rock. Why?  No reason, maybe it’s my natal Chiron in the 3rd (sure, that’s it). I just want to wrap myself up in softness and ask that life not *interfere.*  I’m chuckling at myself, because that’s what I do: laugh at myself. It passes the time.

Venus trine Jupiter and blessings abound! We got rain in Southern California, as I write, even!  All those semi-solo rain dances (my husband and I) paid off, I guess. I always call to the rivers when I am by myself. It’s just something I do when I want rain. I’d also been watching El Nino reports like a hawk for several months, reading about increasing water temperatures in the Pacific and other tell-tale signs for this weather event.

Venus trine Jupiter and my heart is expanding many times over. Saturn’s about to cross over my MC and I’m being really, really hard on myself. Generally speaking, though, most of the planets have been really good to me. Saturn passages have been *really* good to me. I hope Saturn sees my blood, sweat, and tears, sleepless nights… etc., but it’s true – there’s always more I can do…

I feel like I am on new a strata of my onion – opening up more and more and revealing soft-spots, happy spots, scary spots, and stuff that’s just no one’s business!  Life is staring me in the face asking me to continuously come-hither, come out of my Cancerian crab moon shell. The thing is… my shell is comfy. I want to make more shells, in fact. I want to create my home everywhere I go – that would be more shells.  With a Gemini IC, I would travel back and forth and shuttle to my different little shell-homes. That’s what these taxis are for!  Ah-hem…. thank you for listening. I bow to you and take my leave.  Please enjoy my photos! The Earth, she breathes! & taxis…

I won a book at a raffle during my local astrology group meeting this past weekend. Inside Planets in Aspect, on the book’s cover, is a quote by T.S. Eliot. To me the quote fits perfectly with this New Moon in Sagittarius. For even though I shall be taking easy street and not fighting with any resistant energy, Saturn will be at the party. So, here’s to *keeping on* with the process…even when it’s difficult.

“We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.”

~T.S. Eliot

To me astrology is a tool, a process. It is not a fixture of thought. It is an exploration, a territory to examine, an inner plane enacted in a temporary outer cosmic world. _Ka

I just wrote an email reply to a friend who asked me a question about evolutionary astrology. I am grateful to her for her question because it had me thinking about something that I do love to think about and rarely like to use words for. Probably because to me, astrology is an art, like poetry. Astrology aims to describe something that really is not describable, because it is on the level of symbol and not words. True, words are symbols but they are the “map and not really the territory,” to use a quote that some may be familiar with from NLP.

To me poetry is like adoration, affection, and it’s about a love affair with some level of mystery. I will potentially change my mind about this, and I reserve the right to speak about it as well as edit my words.

A little while ago I said that I was going to write a book. Honestly, I figured it’d be a good exercise for me. As it turns out while attending a professional graduate school, I am using my mind as I need to for that goal. I have put that project (writing a book) on the back-burner because I have been cramming my mind with information that is new. Theories that I am currently simmering in are like a new aroma of thought–traveling in some mysterious density toward my awareness (along with the wind).

I have been memorizing and learning a lot of theory. Also, I’m reviewing again and again all the anatomy and working with biology (yes, I already have some massage therapy experience, and have had classes in chemistry…etc. but there will be many many more, add herbs and latin names, acupuncture points, Chinese…); and, also I have been practicing Tai Ji recently which is different from the Kung Fu I was doing previously. I may or may not continue with that.

According to a text that I read for my Tai Ji class, the first stage takes about 5 years. Then, the second about 10. I’m not going into all of the details here. I already did that for my test.

All of my schooling is a dedication for me to be of service in a way that is harmonious with my personal energy. Some of you may be familiar with the fact that I have received the Reiki attunements and have been practicing with energy. My entire physical body has been part of many over-hauls, shall I say for now. I personally am slow with my digestion. It’s just the TAO of my body. It’s just what it is. In Chinese medicine, the spleen is the Yi- the intellect. The Spleen is closely tied to the Stomach. Out of respect to this sacred art, I will not be writing about what I am learning until (and maybe never) these teachings have become a part of me. This is out of respect for myself, too.

Anyways, back to astrology, what I was writing to my friend about was how I see the astrological signs as symbols as well as archetypes. I also think that even though we as a society operate with ideas such as Virgo means “insert keywords” and Leo means, “insert keywords,” etc that we as astrologers create our own relationship with the archetypes. For those who are not familiar, please refer to some of Carl Jung’s writings, as well as anthropological works.

Even people who are not astrologers have their own personal relationship with what the signs mean. They’ve been hearing/learning about it since they were little (especially if the farmer’s almanac was involved). This level of individual interpretation is what I aim to work on with my clients in the future. That means that when I work with my clients, I like to *not* practice prediction. Setting limitations sometimes helps bring focus to the area of greater impact.

Wow, isn’t that a challenge when astrology is historically linked to this idea of prediction? However, some psychologists have been using astrology for years because of the archetypal bridge that’s been created along with the enneagram as they have been used for introspection in upper level spiritual circles according to a devout Catholic friend.

Back to what I am doing:

In the past I had also made artwork in the form of an astrological interpretation for a client. I’m being vague about it because it was personalized and took a whole lot of time and I’m not sure I want to do it again in the same way. She said that I had given her “A LOT” to work with, and it made her feel special.

I am rethinking where astrology fits into my life right now – while it also still on the back-burner. I’m rethinking how I want to work with people. I’ve been mentioning this and hinting at this and I have not changed my ‘About’ section because it’s good to have something ‘in place.’  I believe, and I told this to one of my clients that it’s a good thing to re-write your own story as much as you want.

I also wrote a little bit about my ideas about truth in my email to my friend. I don’t really feel like going into that here. That’s a philosophical discussion about reality and ultimate reality in my opinion.  I love that people can really use WP as whatever they want it to be…

Some people are here to make friends, some people to find clients, some people to explore ideas, some to promote their book, and others to share their art freely, no price, no expectations. WordPress is a medium. Right now, I’m using it as my soapbox.

One more thing: I believe that belief is the most powerful thing and it influences (not always dictates) but influences a person’s experience of their reality. Therefore I believe astrology is to be used with the utmost caution and respect for a person’s freewill. Here is an excellent link to evolutionary astrology as Steven Forrest has outlined: http://www.forrestastrology.com/about-us/about-evolutionary-astrology

This has been one of my dominant paradigms – albeit it, however, it is not the complete story.

Thank you to my readers, my friends, and my unfoldment

Much Love,

Ka