The Five People we meet Every Day

Written by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur


I rarely read fiction. This has nothing to do with a dislike ofrepparttar genre; I spent many days of my youth curled up with a wonderful story lost in other lives and other places. But as time marched on, and life became busy with work, graduate school, and now two children, non-fiction took over my reading lists as a practical necessity. Recently, however, I indulged in The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Album (Hyperion Press, 2003). It relatesrepparttar 126526 story of Eddie, an amusement park maintenance man who dies while attempting to save a young girl on a broken ride. Eddie then goes on to meet five people onrepparttar 126527 other side. Some he knows and some he does not but all have either impacted his life or been impacted by his life. All serve to help explain and help Eddie come to terms with his life, a life he sees as an abysmal failure.

Whether we actually meet five people to explain our life after we die is immaterial, butrepparttar 126528 book raises some very interesting points to ponder. The first isrepparttar 126529 interconnectedness of life. Some ofrepparttar 126530 people Eddie encounters he did not even know or knew as distant acquaintances, yet their lives were irrevocably interwoven. Every life impacts so many others in ways we could never even begin to imagine. How many lives do we touch in our daily lives? Whose day have we brightened by a smile, a kind word, or thoughtful deed? Whose path have we made more difficult, perhaps without even realizing it? Likerepparttar 126531 proverbial stone creating ripples inrepparttar 126532 pool of water, our actions have far-reaching effects.

Celtic Wheel of the Year

Written by Jeri Ballast


The Celtic calendar was lunar based, with thirteen months. Extra days as needed were added at new year's as a "time between times." The ancient Celts dividedrepparttar year into a wheel of eight segments, each with a corresponding festival.

The four fire festivals, so-called because all include bonfires as part ofrepparttar 126525 celebration, take place onrepparttar 126526 last evening of a month andrepparttar 126527 following day. The Celts, likerepparttar 126528 Jews, count a day from sunset to sunset. That's why we celebrate All Hallow's Eve, Midsummer's Eve, and so on.

These four fire festivals are tied torepparttar 126529 agricultural cycle as follows:

Samhain is celebrated on October 31-November 1 (our Halloween). It isrepparttar 126530 end ofrepparttar 126531 harvest,repparttar 126532 beginning of winter and once markedrepparttar 126533 Celtic new year. At Samhain,repparttar 126534 barrier between our world andrepparttar 126535 Otherworld thins, allowing contacts betweenrepparttar 126536 spirits (faeries) and humans. Normal rules of human conduct do not apply and one may "run wild". This was also a festival ofrepparttar 126537 dead andrepparttar 126538 church was easily able to transform these holidays into All Saint's Day (November 1) and All Soul's Day (November 2).

Imbolc is celebrated February 1-2 (later transformed into Candlemas byrepparttar 126539 church, and popular now as Groundhog Day). Imbolc markedrepparttar 126540 beginning of Spring,repparttar 126541 beginning of new life (in Britainrepparttar 126542 beginning of lambing season). Dedicated torepparttar 126543 ancient mother goddess in her maiden aspect, it was later transformed into a feast day forrepparttar 126544 Irish saint ofrepparttar 126545 same name (and attributes), St. Brigid.

The third festival ofrepparttar 126546 agricultural year is Beltane (Bealtunn in Scots Gaelic, meaning May Day), celebrated April 30-May 1. The god, Bel (or Cernunnos,repparttar 126547 horned god of Ireland) dies but is reborn asrepparttar 126548 goddess' son. He then impregnates her ensuringrepparttar 126549 neverending cycle of rebirth. This is very basic fertility worship. May Day traditions includes young people picking flowers inrepparttar 126550 woods (and spendingrepparttar 126551 night there), andrepparttar 126552 dance aroundrepparttar 126553 May Pole, weaving red (forrepparttar 126554 god) and white (forrepparttar 126555 goddess) streamers round and round. A great bonfire celebratesrepparttar 126556 return ofrepparttar 126557 sun.

The final celebration ofrepparttar 126558 agricultural year is Lughnasadh (Lammas in England),repparttar 126559 feast ofrepparttar 126560 god Lugh andrepparttar 126561 first fruits ofrepparttar 126562 harvest (generally wheat or corn). Lughnasadh is celebrated August 31-September 1. At Lammas,repparttar 126563 Corn King dies (to be reborn at spring), ensuring plenty forrepparttar 126564 winter.

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