Jimmy Carter -1924-2024

 

"We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." Jimmy Carter

Merry Women's Christmas on January 6th! ❤️‍🔥 Nollaig na mBan (null ug na Mon) Irish for Women's Christmas KAREN KERRIGAN

 https://open.substack.com/pub/kkerriga1/p/merry-womens-christmas-on-january?r=1hgbx7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Maggie’s Angel. A Historical Tale.

Dreaming of my Great, Great Grandmother’s Guardian Angel …

Carefully, caring for the eggs last spring brought the best succulent fowl in autumn! Together, my neighbor Ella and I raised six very plump turkeys, chickens, and geese this year. Easily, we peddled them at The Christmas Market. Bringing in extra money, we could indulge in buying sugar, flour, and spices! I imagined scrumptious baked treats for our families and keeping a little money to feast with our friends even on Women’s Christmas, The Twelfth Day!

Caught up in so much hustling, bustling, good cheer, I proclaimed, “Ella, When I count my blessings, I think of you twice!”

Back home during the weeks before Christmas, despite the blowing, cold, rainy wind, we whitewashed our homes inside and out. With our children, we gathered sprigs of holly, with prickly leaves reminding us of Christ’s Crown of Thorns. When we cut the clinging Ivy, we thought to never cut ourselves off from The Trinity! Finally, we picked mistletoe with those oval shaped leaves and clusters of white berries to represent new life and romance. The hearth looked festive with hanging stockings and smelling of fresh evergreen adorning our mantle. Ella and I baked Christmas cake and warm brown bread giving a homey aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. We even served sweet short bread with our own churned butter. Of course, we never forget to bake the sweet loaf for The Laden Table on Christmas Eve.

Several years ago, we were able to splurge but many sparce Christmases followed! I always remember to be happy with what I have so I will have plenty to be happy about!

Practicing the finest of Irish hospitality, céad míle fáilte (Kade meal a fall cha) a thousand welcomes, we placed flickering candles dancing in each window to guide The Holy Family and the lonely to our homes. 

Ella exclaimed, “The gayety will go on for hours with jovial singing, lively dancing, a few sips of whiskey and delightful storytelling!”

I responded, “The craic (crack), merry making will accompany the high-pitched sounds of my husband John’s tin whistle and your husband James’ old drum keeping our beat! We always do this only after kneeling to pray the rosary. Our little thatched cottages smelled divine and filled with joyful Christmas abundance!”

Every evening, I carefully smoor the fire, breathing in the sweet, smokey scents before bed as I remember my mother and grandmother had done likewise. I put our fire to bed each night, pondering the ritual passed on for generations. Near Galway, women have kept the hearth fires going for more than three hundred years!

Making a sign of Dear Brigid’s Cross in the glowing orange and red embers, I pray, 

“In The Name of The Beloved Three to save, to shield, to surround, our hearth, our home, this eve, this night. O Bless and protect all, this eve, each single night. May it be so!”

On Christmas Eve, I set The Laden Table, by leaving out a loaf of sweet bread, a pitcher of milk and a lit candle so Dear Mary, Joseph and the poor can easily find it. I always keep the door open so our Holy Guests will come in! 

Before I could finally retire to bed, suddenly, I heard a deafening, swooshing wind in the hearth! I jumped back from the voice harkening at me through the draft.

“Beannachtai, (Ban ukh tee) Greetings, call me, Cáitín (Kath-leen) your guardian angel! I came to support you with all your preparations to make Christmas splendid!”

“What?” Maggie wondered. “Here goes my faltering hearing again!”

“Stay confident, you are hearing your guardian angel’s voice! Constantly, my presence partners with you. No reason to fear my companionship. I want you and Ella to ceiliúir (kell u rah) celebrate Nativity Days to the fullest including a stupendous time on The Twelfth Day, Women’s Christmas! Kindly prepare for us a cupán tae (cup on tay) cup of tea so we can converse here together for a while.

I tried to relax while preparing the tea still wondering, “Me, enjoying tea with my own guardian angel? Good gracious!”

Like a gentle breeze, I sensed Cáitín’s closeness in the glorious days and nights of Christmastide! Relishing the late nights, when guests left and with the family in bed, I smoor, the fragrant sweet moss fire and sit rocking, no doubt my guardian angel rocks nigh. 

Unbelievable, the eleventh night already here, our families convened again. I decided to make a change to the Eleventh Night custom. Each family member will say the name of someone deceased and light a candle. Instead of that old morbid omen, we will use candles to remember our loved ones. Blessed assurance, when the candles go out, no worries, our loved ones continue with us always!

On Women’s Christmas Day, Ella and I hosted with our friends, sisters, mothers, and aunts. Our kinwomen joined us for a fine spread of fruity, nutty Christmas cake soaked in whiskey! We offered malty, black tea to drink. At the same time in Ella’s house, while watching the children, John and James would be putting the goose on a spit in front of the fire, to move the bird to gauge with the heat. In my mind’s eye and nose, I imagined the savory roasting goose, grateful that Ella and I did not have to pluck the feathers! After a wonderful afternoon of rare reveling with the other womenfolk, we gathered to enjoy the luxury of being served supper! John, James, and the children even cleared the table. Later, to the rhythm of our heartbeats we prayed the rosary. I contemplated, even on The Twelfth Day, Women’s Christmas had been full of lavishness and not just leftovers!

Finally, before I smoored the fire in the hearth, I set out a bucket of water on my dresser. How fitting to remember the story of Mary at Cana and the extravagant wedding feast. The entire Christmastide has felt like Cana came to our little cottages! Lastly, I sat cozy in my rocker with the warmth of my tea, my guardian angel on the other rocker so near, treasuring the memories.

After I went to bed, the chimes of the clock struck midnight. I dreamed Cáitín came swooshing in the wind down the chimney straight to my bucket turning the water to the finest wine. Slainte’!

While owls keep watch in the forest, in the stillness of the night, O Sacred Three, gather our hearts to you. As the world sleeps, may our hearts awaken to your presence. Bathe us in the light of your wisdom. Guide us through the darkness and grant all of us peace with justice in your embrace. May it be so!

Customs of Women’s Christmas Then and Now

Women’s resilience, whether famous or not, can be celebrated by observing Women’s Christmas! A tradition that started in Kerry and Cork, Ireland. A great opportunity for women who have often organized and prepared most of the holiday festivities, to finally be given a day off to celebrate with their friends and female relatives on the last day of Christmas. In some of the older traditions, a woman had raised turkeys to sell at Christmas markets and kept the profits to spend on some special items for holiday meals. If there was any left over, she would spend it on herself. Because it was the end of the celebrations, there probably was not much left. She might gather a few women in her house for tea and currant loaf. The traditional household responsibilities were reversed for the day. The men would watch the children, do the housework, and cook the evening meal. Very fortunate families would have a goose for the last day of Christmas dinner. Critics will point out that everyone else had the holiday’s best and she often had the leftovers.

Traditions included lighting Twelve candles on the evening before January 6^th. Each family member would light a candle representing themselves. The first candle to go out represented the first person who would die in the new year. This omen may have come from how difficult the 19^thcentury was in Ireland. Therefore, the eerie omen was not necessarily morbid but just realistic.

My tale imagines my great, great grandmothers having at least this one exceptional Christmas time in the mid-nineteenth century. Given the conditions in Western Ireland for poor Catholic families who would later immigrate to North America, my hopeful tale might be unrealistic for them. But my reimaging on their behalf may bring healing to a little of the inherited intergenerational trauma that came across The Atlantic with them. I recognize they brought tremendous resilience capable of making it over the ocean as well! Recovering some of the traditions expressed in this story as practices for today may help with healing what is buried deep in multigenerational memory. I am beginning to recognize that there are other branches of my family tree, who were not famine era Catholics and contributed to the oppression that the story I wrote, conveys. My family tree contains both the oppressors and the oppressed in her complex branches that go back far beyond what we can name. 

For today, we could light twelve candles for the women ancestors on our family tree and invite them to support us during the upcoming year. Another practice honors The Wedding Feast of Cana. Before going to bed on this last day, women would set a bucket of water on their dresser. Legend was that the water would turn to wine at midnight, but it was considered very bad luck to try to observe this miracle. Most of these customs were not written down but just passed on through the generations orally. Recovering old customs, transforming, and creating new traditions to suit the experience of contemporary women will make the day even more meaningful. 

A revival of Women’s Christmas is happening in Ireland and extending across the world today. All women are invited to celebrate whether you have Irish Heritage or not. Some women may choose to go out to the pub with their friends. Other women may decide to have a more reflective way of observing the day. Collections may be taken for women’s shelters. Events may include talks on Women’s Health, Education, Leadership, those who are Marginalized and Women Authors. The gathering can make resolutions for women to support each other. Many holidays only honor certain kinds of women based on being a mother or their marital status etc. Women’s Christmas is an inclusive occasion for all women to enjoy!

Merry Women’s Christmas!

In Loving Memory of and surrounded by My Four Irish Great-Grandmothers.

Beannachtai’, Blessings,

Karen Kerrigan, ARCWP

Blessing in the Chaos by Jan Richardson

 

Goddess Rosary - Erin Duffy-Burke

 

Goddess Rosary 

In devotion to and solidarity with Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mother of All Life.  May we know we are held by your love always, and have the grace to become your love in the world.   

Rosary beads:  It is helpful to have a rosary, but not necessary.  Your 10 fingers work too!  Or, you could use japa mala beads, or any other string of beads.  An actual rosary helps because of the sequence and groupings of beads– this helps you keep track of the prayers.  Here’s a picture of a simple rosary.  There’s a cross, or beginning medallion of any shape or size, then the starting sequence: one bead, then three beads, then one more bead.  Then, there’s a large circle of beads: 5 single beads, followed by 10 conjoined beads, for a total of 55 beads around the whole circle.  Each grouping of 10 beads is considered a “decade.”  Including the beginning sequence of beads, the rosary has 60 beads, plus the cross or medallion.  

Order of Prayers 

We begin at the crucifix or whatever medal dangles from the end of your rosary, the shorter string of beads attached to the large circle.  

We cross ourselves, head to heart/womb, across the shoulders (offering/uniting our curiosity, creativity and compassion with that of the Divine Mother) 

As we cross ourselves we say:

In the name of the Mother, Christ and all the Incarnate Ones, and the Holy Spirit Sophia. (or however it works for you to name this trinity of Divinity) 

We might whisper or speak an impromptu prayer of offering.  Something like, “Divine Mother, we bring to you in love the prayers and the desires of our hearts.  We know you are with us, listening and loving us.”  

In this Goddess rosary, still touching the cross or beginning symbol or medallion, we begin with the Memorare. (words for each prayer are in the next section) 

We move to the first bead and say… 

Our Mother… 

Then we touch in sequence each of the three beads close to one another, saying at each one a Hail Mary for the increase of Faith, Hope, and Love… 

Hail Mary … (x3)

We move to the last bead in this short sequence of opening beads…

Glory Be… 

We move our fingers to the medal or bead uniting the circle of rosary beads. 

Name the 1st Mystery 

You might take some time here to meditate, contemplate, pray or reflect on the meaning of this mystery… 

Then we pray the first decade (1 Our Mother, 10 Hail Marys and 1 Glory Be) by gently moving our fingers from bead to bead with the repetition of each prayer.  The sometimes bigger or more spaced out beads are for the Our Mothers.  The 10 beads close together are for the Hail Marys, one Hail Mary per bead.  

Our Mother… 

10 Hail Marys… 

Glory Be… 

Name, pray into, reflect on 2nd Mystery… 

Pray the prayers of the 2nd Decade as you move your fingers from bead to bead… 

Our Mother… 

10 Hail Marys… 

Glory Be…. 

Name & reflect on 3rd Mystery and continue on in this way through all 5 Mysteries, or all 15, depending on how much you want to pray…. :) 

After last Glory Be, Close the rosary with the prayer, “Hail Holy Queen.” 

Finish with the sign of the cross, “In the name of the Mother, Christ incarnate in all of us, and the Holy Spirit Sophia, Amen.”  

Words of the Prayers

I have changed the words of the prayers to what resonates with me at this moment in time.  For me, this is always changing.  What feels resonant is different for each of us, depending on our experiences so far and the revelations of Sophia in our particular life.  PLEASE– find the words that resonate with you!  Give yourself full permission to say what feels right, and allow it to change as you change. 

Sign of the Cross 

With each naming of an aspect of the Trinity of Divinity, touch the forehead, the heart / belly/ womb, left shoulder then right shoulder, saying:  

In the name of the: 

•  Mother/Father/ Creator, etc.  
•  Son/Daughter/Sacred Child/ Christ/ Incarnate One/ Created, etc.
•  Holy Spirit/Sophia, etc.  

Memorare

Remember Oh Most Sovereign Mother 

that never was it known 

that anyone who fled to thy protection, 

implored thy help 

or sought thy intercession 

was left unaided.  

Inspired by this confidence, 

I fly unto you, 

Oh sovereign of sovereigns, 

my Mother. 

To you do I come, before you I stand, 

forgetting and sorrowful. 

Oh Mother of Love Incarnate, 

despise not my petitions

but in your mercy, 

hear and answer me, 

Amen.  

Our Mother

Our Mother, who is in heaven… (option to add here: and in us, around us, with us, etc.) 

Blessed Be your name. 

Your kin-dom / Queendom come, your will be done 

On earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our trespasses 

As we forgive those who trespass against us.  

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil.  Amen.  

Hail Mary 

Hail Mary, full of Grace, Love is with you. 

Blessed are you in all of creation (or among women, all people, etc.) 

And blessed is the fruit of our womb… Jesus (or name a fruit of the womb, like love, peace, joy, etc.) 

Holy Mary, Mother Goddess 

Pray for us … (option to leave this as is or add: still alive/ who struggle/ who suffer) 

Now and at the hour of our death, Amen.  

Glory Be

Glory Be to the Mother/ Father/ Creator, etc. 

To the Son/ Daughter/ Sacred Child/ Christ/ all the Incarnate Ones, etc. 

To the Holy Spirit/  Sophia / Wisdom, etc.   

As it was in the beginning, 

Is now, 

And ever shall be, 

World without end, 

Life without end, 

Love never ends.  

Amen.  

Hail Holy Queen

Hail Holy Queen, 

Mother of Mercy 

Hail, our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope 

To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve

To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping 

In this valley of tears 

Turn then, most gracious advocate, 

Thine eyes of mercy towards us 

And after this, our exile, 

Show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus 

O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Sovereign Mary 

Pray for us, Holy Mother Goddess, that we may 

Know our worthiness in the promises of Christ.  

Amen.  

Mysteries of the Rosary 

Joyful 

The Annunciation 

The Visitation 

The Nativity 

The Presentation 

The Finding 

Sorrowful 

The Agony in the Garden 

The Scourging at the Pillar 

The Crowning with Thorns 

The Way of the Cross 

The Crucifixion 

Glorious 

The Resurrection 

The Ascension 

The Descent of Sophia 

The Assumption of Mary 

The Coronation 

The Fifteen Mysteries: 

Short Paraphrased Summaries

(from The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary, by Clark Strand and Perdita Finn, pgs. 250-253) 

The Joyful Mysteries

1. The Annunciation
The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary and announces that, if she is willing, she may bring forth a child without a husband. In medieval art, Mary is often depicted illuminated by a shaft of sunlight, wearing over her red dress a robe of the deepest blue—the color of the ocean.

2. The Visitation
Now with child, Mary visits the home of her cousin Elizabeth who, despite her advanced age, is also miraculously with child. The young woman and the old woman celebrate together the rising life force within them and its power to transform the world.

3. The Nativity
Mary gives birth in a cave used as a stable. In the darkness of the night, surrounded only by the animals, she brings her child into the world and lays him in a manger.

4. The Presentation
Mary presents her child to the greater community. On her way into the Temple, she encounters two ancient seers who recognize her as the Mother of God, but predict that a sword shall pierce her heart.

5. The Finding at the Temple
Mary loses her twelve-year-old son in Jerusalem. For three days she searches for him and eventually finds him discussing scripture with the elders in the Temple. Rather than leave him with these men, she brings him home to be with her.

The Sorrowful Mysteries

1. The Agony in the Garden
Jesus remains awake in the garden at night. The disciples have fallen asleep, unaware of the coming danger. Alone, he experiences the full weight of all the many sorrows to come.

2. The Scourging at the Pillar
Just as the land is furrowed by ploughs and the beasts are beaten into submission, the body of Mary’s child is scourged. In the name of Empire, Jesus is flogged by soldiers who are following the orders of their commanders.

3. The Crowning with Thorns
In the central mystery of the rosary, Jesus is mocked by those still fearful of the power he represents. He is given a red robe and a reed for a scepter—each an ancient symbol of the goddess. On his head is placed not a wreath of roses but a crown of thorns.

4. The Carrying of the Cross
A crowd gathers as Jesus is marched to his execution. No one intervenes. After Jesus stumbles and falls, a random onlooker who has come for the spectacle is forced by the soldiers to assume responsibility for carrying the cross.

5. The Crucifixion
The tree that once stood at the center of devotion to the Mother has been stripped of life and made an instrument of execution instead. When Jesus is dead, he is lowered into Mary’s arms.

The Glorious Mysteries

1. The Resurrection
Following an ancient pattern whereby a slain god is resurrected by a mother or a lover, Mary Magdalene observes a sacred vigil at Jesus’s tomb. On the third day, he appears to her at last. When she tells the other disciples, they refuse to believe her.

2. The Ascension
After his resurrection Jesus appears unexpectedly to various other disciples. On the fortieth day he disappears into a cloud, surrendering to the ceaseless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth that includes all life on Earth.

3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
The disciples pray together with Mary for nine days after the Ascension. Finally, a mighty wind fills the room and the Holy Spirit descends upon them. The Hebrew word for spirit is ruach, which is feminine. In art, the Holy Spirit is often depicted as a dove—another sign of the Goddess.

4. The Assumption
Legend has it that Mary never dies but simply falls asleep and is “assumed” into heaven, her body and her spirit undivided. The body of the Great Mother is the body of the Earth and the body of the Heavens, the body of all that is.

5. The Coronation
In the final mystery of the rosary, Our Lady is crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth. Medieval statues of the Coronation showed Mary in the fullness of her power and glory, and yet mysteriously reborn and young again, holding the infant Christ. Life is a journey that circles back to where it started. This is where the rosary ends, and where it begins again.