Cat’s Morning Bits for December 25, 2018

Good Morning Beautiful Souls, grab a cup of your favorite morning brew and start things off with “Today’s Inspirations”. I hope you find something here that will make you feel good or help you on your path today.

Blessings, Cat

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The short holiday day of talking by the fire,
floating on snowshoes among
ancient self-pollarded maples,
visiting, being visited, giving
a rain gauge, receiving red socks,
watching snow buntings nearly over
their heads in snow stab at spirtled bits
of sunflower seeds the chickadees
hold with their feet to a bough
and hack apart, scattering debris
like sloppy butchers, is over.

-Galway Kinnell (1927-2014)

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Spirituality & Health

5 Meaningful Holiday Traditions
I once heard that kids spell love T-I-M-E. I often think of that with my own kids, but I think it’s also true for adults. What adult wouldn’t want a little more time off for the holidays? A little more time to spend relaxing by the fire. A little more time with a loved one who is no longer with us. This holiday season focus on meaningful traditions, whether that translates to time spent in peaceful solitude and reflection as you head into the new year, or time spent with friends and family. Here are five ways to create meaningful new holiday traditions

https://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/2018/12/24/5-meaningful-holiday-traditions

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MBG: Why I Don’t Do New Year’s Resolutions & What To Do Instead

I am on my tiptoes every New Year’s Eve, caught up in the magic of something new this way coming. “Auld Lang Syne” is in my ears reminding me to honor the past that brought me here as I ask everyone around me what their favorite part of the year was and why. The clock winds down, and I close my eyes for my kiss, confident my new life is beginning the very next day. It is pure magic and wishful bliss.

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/skip-resolutions-new-year-intentions

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Daily Good: Okagesama

Okagesama is the awareness that what is inside the walls of your house or under the skin of your body or any aspect of your life and experience are elements that cannot be seen. They are in the shadows and in order to see them, we have to look very deeply. Gregg Krech writes that we have to see with more than our eyes. There are unseen forces in our lives that make them possible. When we reflect on this and try to identify all the unseen forces that make a thing or an experience possible, we discover that it is endless. We discover that what is in the shadows doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but that once we bring the light of awareness to it, we often find that it is love.

http://www.dailygood.org/story/2150/okagesama-gregg-krech/

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Elephant Journal: The Big Box of Astrology for 2019: Change is Coming Your Way.

*Whether astrology is science or magic, we’re open to most things, if they may be of benefit. ~ Ed.

Too many of us are bruised, battered, and worn from 2018’s energy.
One of the things that most of us enjoy about astrology is its ability to give us some indicators into where we go next.
Astrology is not just about what lies ahead—it’s about the past and present, too.

https://www.elephantjournal.com/2018/12/the-big-box-of-astrology-for-2019-change-is-coming-your-way/

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MNN: Why and how you should start a sit-spot routine
Spending time in nature has proven health benefits, and this habit will help you reap those positive rewards.

I’m sitting on deep green moss at the base of an old Sitka spruce. Sunlight is filtering down through a canopy of pine and alder, vine maple and salmonberry. On my right, a small creek tumbles over rocks and fine silt, wraps around the little knoll I’m on and continues down a small green ravine into a sedge-filled marsh.

https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/blogs/how-find-sit-spot-and-start-sit-spot-routine

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EarthSky News: Moon and Royal Star on December 25 and 26

These next two nights – December 25 and 26, 2018 – you might see the moon and Regulus, the Royal Star, coming up above your eastern horizon before your bedtime. If not, you can always get up before daybreak to view the waning gibbous moon and Regulus much higher up in the sky.

https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-and-royal-star-on-december-25-and-26

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Patheos-Pagan: WHEN IT’S NOT ABOUT THE VIRGIN

What is this dark time of the year, when it’s not about belief, whether the biblical or the pagan?
Without the cards, the first thing that fell into my head as a quick answer was a favorite line from the movie All the President’s Men: ‘If it ain’t sex, follow the money.’
Right.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cartomancer/2018/12/23/when-its-not-about-the-virgin/

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Inner Journey:

WHAT’S IMPORTANT?

“Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going. Rather than always focusing on what’s urgent, learn to focus on what is really important.”
— Stephen Covey

Time management is all about making decisions. At each step of the way, we want to choose activities that best support what we want to do with our lives. To do this, we need to be clear about our short and long-term goals.

Here’s a general question to ask yourself often: “Is this the best use of my time in terms of meeting my goals?” Sometimes, of course, we don’t have any choice. But ask yourself honestly, “Could I take more control if I really wanted to?” Often, we play the victim because we don’t want to make the effort to change our behaviour.

“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.'”
— Lao-Tzu

higherawareness.com
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A Note from the Universe

Baby souls follow.

Young souls lead.

But old souls are just as happy to dance alone.

Not that I’m spying on you,

The Universe

tut.com

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Today’s Recipe: Caramelized Cranberry Brussels Sprouts

These Brussels sprouts are extra yummy, sweetened by being caramelized, and studded with cranberries. The onions and garlic give it a nice smoky flavour. I love the green and red look for the holidays. 🙂

https://www.thriftyfun.com/Caramelized-Cranberry-Brussels-Sprouts.html

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Magical Correspondences for Wednesday

Intentions:Rules healings, the mind, Communication, Divination, Writing, Knowledge, Business Transactions, Debt, Fear,Loss, Travel and Money Matters, Addictions, Young People, Messages, Perception, Self Expression.

Incense: Jasmine, Lavender, Sweet Pea, Cinnamon, Cinquefoil
Planet: Mercury and Chiron (though this is a moon of Pluto)
Sign: Virgo
Angel: Raphael
Colors: Orange, Light Blue, Grey, Yellow and, Opalescent colors and Violet
Herbs/Plants: Fern, Lavendar, Hazel, Cherry, Periwinkle
Stones: Aventurine, Bloodstone, Hematite, Moss Agate and Sodalite
Oil: (Mercury) Benzoin, Clary Sage, Eucalytus, Lavender

Goddesses: Aset [Isis], Demeter, Ceres, Spider Woman, Bona Dea, Oya,
Devi-Kali, Hella, Rhiannon, Coatlique, Maman Brigette, Sekhmet, Het Heret
[Hathor]

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Daily Wisdom
December 26, 2018

Blessings

“The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life.”

-Robert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson says “do not grasp at the stars” as if to say- don’t worry so much about things you don’t have, things that are out of your reach. Instead, focus on the task at hand, and see the beauty and the blessings which are right here, right now. We can’t appreciate what is right in front of us if we are looking off into the distance.

-Lissa Coffey

coffeytalk.com

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Beliefnet: 6 Things to Leave Behind in the New Year
Life is too short to give fear, regret, and bad habits a place in this next year.
I love New Years. Something about new beginnings and chances to improve always gives me a feeling of hope and excitement. Plus, I just love champagne. It’s almost as invigorating as the idea of letting go of “the old” things you want to forget or habits you want to change. Like running like an Olympian to catch the kids’ bus every day. Or drinking that second (okay fourth) cup of coffee before three.

Read more………….

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About Cat’s Morning Bits: These daily post are reblogged from various email newsletters that I receive each day.

I invite you to check out my websites!

The Desert Path: The dusty ramblings of a desert pagan. https://thedesertpath.com/

Cat’s Treasure Trove …. an eclectic collection of jewelry & gifts! https://thedesertpath.com
Sacred Spirals (the place where all paths meet)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SacredSpirals/