Idea for a new religion - Chapter 28 - Festivals: Reasons And Things To Celebrate & Welcoming Of The Seasons

FESTIVALS: REASONS AND THINGS TO CELEBRATE 1) God is all and so, when we celebrate ourselves and others or nature and our connection to it, then we celebrate God. 2) Just as God feels our sufferings and sorrows, so God feels our pleasures and joys, thus our pleasures and joys may be given as offerings to God. 3) Angels, that are the symbiants or helpers of God, feed upon human pleasure and joy and so, by celebrating, we feed the angels and encourage them to gather around us and multiply. 4) By celebrating, we reduce the unhappiness in the world and thus starve the demons that feed upon suffering and sadness. 5) In our celebration of ourselves and others we must celebrate the beauty of human diversity. Every person should celebrate God in their own way and every region should draw upon their local culture and use it in their celebration. 6) In our celebration of nature we must celebrate both the world and our own bodies which are part of nature; the seasons of the world and the seasons of human aging; birth, childhood, puberty, adulthood, old age, death and rebirth 7) Birthdays - When we celebrate someones birthday we are celebrating they, who are a part of God and we are celebrating life and its continuance. The giving of gifts represents the gift of life. The eating of sweets and cakes represents the enjoyment of life and the lighting of candles, that each good moment of our lives is a bright thing which should be treasured and remembered fondly.Let all have happy birthdays, wether they be rich or poor. Let all celebrate and be celebrated by all. Every milestone is a gemstone on the golden road of life.

WELCOMING OF THE SEASONS A 1) Why we should welcome the seasons- There are seasons within seasons within seasons; wheels within wheels. The four seasons of the earth; spring, summer, autumn and winter. The seasons of our fortunes and misfortunes; of defeat and victory; loss and gain. The seasons of the body; childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. The seasons of the mind; innocence, arrogance, cynicism and wisdom. The seasons of the soul; birth, life, death and rebirth aswell as all the myriad seasons of the heart. Between life and death, there may be a million days and nights, a million dreams and awakenings, entrances and exits and we must welcome each new season and each new day, learn from it and prepare for the coming season and the coming night. 2) Spring: We welcome the blessed springtime; childhood and puberty of nature; season of hope, forgiveness and healing; season of the returning sun and of life victorious; of renewal, rebirth and thus of rejoicing. Like every season, it is a time of preparation; of ploughing, and planting, the seeds of the summer. Let us all rise and be part of the spring and, like it, bring the flower of healing into our world and spread life, love, beauty and joy wherever we tread.

WELCOMING OF THE SEASONS B 3) Summer - We welcome in the blessed summer; adolescence and young adulthood of nature; season of natures wealth, health and well-being; season of the body and of the senses; of music and bright colours, festivity, fantasy and fun; season of romantic love, passion, beauty, freedom and discovery. Like all the seasons, it is a time for preparation; for storing up happy memories that will help us to endure and triumph over all the trials of dark autumn and winter. Let us rise and be part of the summer; be like the roaring sun that drives the darkness into hiding and, with truth and wisdom, reveal all the beauty and glory of our world. 4) Autumn - We welcome in the blessed autumn; maturity and menopause of nature; season of wisdom and courage; of lighting candles and lanterns and facing the growing darkness without fear and the season of old mother nature and her bessom broom, sweeping the earth to make room for the new. Like all the seasons, it is a time for preparation; storing up our needs for winter but also of shedding our material desires, like the monk or the hermit, and baring ourselves to greater truth. Let us rise like the fall; giving of ourselves nobly, so that life may continue; throwing away our gold, like the precious leaves in autumn; planting acorns like the jay, so that future oaks may grow and, like the squirrel, saving what is important. Only by storing our spiritual needs, and letting the unimportant fall, shall we rise above the passing to the eternal.

WELCOMING THE SEASONS C 5) Winter- We welcome in the blessed winter; natures senesence and slumber; season of reverence and tranquility; of the snowflake bowing silently to earth; of the whole earth covered in snow, like deep, silent thought, before the speech of spring; of the sleeping soul of warmth, awaiting rebirth and the stars above, like ancient wisdom, reminding us of the eternal. The season of possibilities, of blankness and emptiness waiting to be filled; also, the season of the robin and the evergreen, of the spirit of life kept alive and of hearts gathered together and warmed by friendship. Like all the seasons, it is a time of preparation; readying ourselves to turn the corner of a new year and face whatever fate awaits us; learning from the bygone year and turning that knowledge into hope. Let us rise and be like the evergreen, bright and bristling with life amid the cold and darkness or like the robin with the rose bursting from his heart.6)Greeting the sunrise- Let us rise to greet the rising of the sun which is the beaming face of our god; and, like the birds, sing its praise and, with our outstretched, open arms, embrace its spreading beams and, from our happy hearts, make a mirror for it.