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It is harvest season and my Mabon altar features the bounty of my farmbox. Piles of fruit and vegetables arranged carefully around ritual tools with a sunflower bouquet in the center. I sit back to admire how beautifully balanced the altar looks - for about 10 minutes. That’s when my cats discover the changed altar and promptly invent a game of apple soccer, sweet potato rugby, and squash - played with real squash. The apple is round enough to roll gently, the scratches on the sweet potato don’t bother me, and the squash has thick skin so I let them have at it. But when my precious pomegranate gets unceremoniously dumped off the altar, bruising and bleeding red on my bedsheet, I draw the line and stage a rescue mission amidst sharp teeth and claws.

Most of us grew up listening to song lyrics that proclaimed a lack of satisfaction. Here in mid-life I find myself increasingly satisfied, peaceful and content, or hetep – a fitting mood for today’s annual holiday of Thanksgiving.

The word hetep was also used in the classic “offering formula,” a standardized epithet placed on stelae commemorating the dead, on tomb walls and numerous other inscriptions. The formula started with the phrase hetep-di-nesu, “a gift the king gives.” Since the king was the priest for all of Egypt, any offering was thought of as offered by the king, even if it was just you ordering up a monument for your mom and dad.

Here’s what hetep-di-nesu looks like:

And here’s a whole offering formula for a guy named Ky:

There is a quiet place that burns brightly with the hearth fires. Family and friends gather round and love flows through each stone and tile. Food is prepared with loving hand and warmth flows like liquid honey sweetening the time spent together. There is no one location, for this space resides wherever there is heart enough to hold its flame of contentment and acceptance.   The days are feeling shorter and the nights longer and I am ready to burrow in and tend to my need fires.  In response to this turning within I have been thinking alot lately about the relationships and people in my life.  About what nurtures and feeds my soul and which interactions could use a bit more tending to keep those fires of connection burning. And, the energy of gratitude has been called front and center as I am reminded of how truly fortunate and blessed I am.

As a child I was always told to be polite and to say please and thank you for what I hoped to receive and what gifts had come my way.  I was taught that these were part of the routine of daily life and that gratitude offered would bring abundance in all endeavors. I was loved and cared for by my mother and grandmother and although we did not have much financially, there was always enough good food lovingly prepared by my grandmother and time to spend together with my mother despite her demanding schedule of two jobs at times.  Hestia's flame burned deeply and love and gratitude was etched very deeply into everything that occurred in that home. The Goddess was present in the strength of the women who shared my life and actions were infused with the tools needed to teach how to call those flames of strength into my own life.

Good morning everyone and welcome back! How are you handling the Mercury retrograde? It's been a total pain in the rear for me, so I won't be sad to see it completely dissipate, shadow and all, come Thanksgiving. During these times, we're not supposed to really start anything, but how is that feasible? And in my line of work, helping people find new apartments, which includes preparing and signing leases, there is no such thing as taking a couple months off several times a year. So, I do the best I can with what I have, which is all anyone can ever ask.

I at least find comfort in knowing I'm not the only one who's been going through ups and downs: Misery loves company, doncha know. But at the same time, I don't wish misery on anyone, and boy howdy has there been a lot of that going on. Millions of Americans, which includes the elderly, the disabled and military families, on top of the biggest recipients - children - have seen their monthly food stamp allotments go down by around 5%. The healthcare website still isn't functional to the point some are saying to shut the site down all together until it's fixed. And, on top of everything else, many trick or treaters were rained out last week. Won't somebody please think of the children! Oh and yeah, flu season is back, and I'm wondering if it's going to be a mild one or severe. So really, what can we do? Again, do the best with what you have.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I thought it would be fun to explore one of the ubiquitous symbols of the season: the cornucopia.