Advent Calendar: 15 and 16 Dec 09-The Gift of The Christmas Spirit!

We apologize for faltering on placing a gift yesterday on the Advent calendar. The bears are still with us and we had to deal with a protest from one of our bee colonies. They have been making more than twice the quota outlined in their agreement for no extra pay! So I said to them but where is the Christmas cheer?

That was before the attack of the killer bees! That one was a real disaster as one of my visiting bears decided to steal their honey…when I asked him what was with that…after all wasn’t I as host providing enough? He said to me he forgot he was just a normal Canadian Black Bear and for a second had a vision that he was a modern day Winnie the Pooh….he quickly got over that notion when the actual Winnie the Pooh showed up and said…

“Oh bother…I think I have an impersonator out here!”

It’s how it is when you have a menagerie of animals as your house guests! But hey it’s all in keeping with the Christmas spirit.

So to make up for it hopefully today’s installation with be in double dose and cover well both days of the calendar! Today’s post will be as sometimes is… identical on all three blogs as this blog post in its entirety seems to cover aspects of life normally explored on each of them. So today I speak to cover both Tue 15 and Wed 16 Dec when I present the gift of:

The Christmas Spirit!

And explain what it is for me and how I feel connected to it in song through …The Cherry Tree Carol!

Do you have a favourite Christmas Carol or thing that connects you to the Christmas Spirit?

The purple elephant would like to know. Check the little Christmas poll we’ve launched to find out by looking to the top left side bar of the Meady’s Musings blog.

Now here’s what Meady’s Musings Production considers to be the Christmas spirit…

Now there is comfort…there is joy…and love…the sense of warmth…the sense of familiarity…the need to feel accepted and loved…and on and on and on…it goes! All of these are things most people feel from time to time a need for…or either feel all fulfilled because they have it if only momentarily. And when they don’t have it they have hope to one day find it and some then well they pray for it…

Some people look for it in its pure and natural state while others look for it cloaked as something else...food…sex…toys…money…cars…house…the next big thrill…an adrenaline rush…fame…who knows really…
For many ‘Christmas’ and ‘The Christmas Spirit’ is about searching and focusing a little bit more excitedly and steadfastly on fulfilling these needs…but these are needs we have not only all year through but all life through! However ‘Christmas’ for some is like a great big magnifying glass! So people go about buying, fixing, organizing, inviting…doing all the things they do on a mini scale all year long on a much grander scale to fulfill these needful longings whatever they may be…or as Stephen King once phrased it in a title of a book…we try to acquire the “Needful Things”.


So for us here at Meady’s Musings Production house (overflowing with our animal muses as we are) really ‘The Christmas Spirit’ if analyzed boils down to the need to find this something out there…ourselves…the One…the Universe…our connection…our life purpose even? Perhaps everything in life in the end can be boiled down to the need to find out a few key things:

Who are we?

How did we come to exist?

Do we ever cease to exist?

What are we here for?

Most of us however give up asking those questions when we realize the truth is we don’t know for sure…and either (or in some combination of it depending on our mood) give in to a search for pleasure or surrender to prayer…or lose ourselves in seva (the Hindu term for service to mankind) or this or that…no matter how good or bad any of it sounds…it’s no different in the sense that all of us are clueless in the end if we admit it to each other!

After all we are just this stream of energy flowing forward (or expanding perhaps) and we don’t even know where…but I feel most people eventually come to the realization we are ourselves just spirit and so indeed we are ‘The Christmas Spirit’ too! It flows through us…it is light…or perhaps love and its pure, clear light!

So every year I feel connected to ‘The Christmas Spirit’ or ‘Self’ based on my just explained definition by some Christmas carol or the other. This year I was reminded of ‘The Christmas Spirit’ by this carol the most…the Cherry Tree carol. Here is why…

-One of the centers of focus in the song is a Cherry Tree
Trees…they ground me…I always feel centered in the Universe to be under the shade of their love…and just looking at their great, steady buttresses…well who wouldn’t feel centered? I also feel further centered when I walk under their shade with my feet touching the soil…toes digging into it…

-A pregnant woman (with child in womb)
I think most will agree that we often wish we could return to the womb…the comfort and warmth of it and the love that many are filled with from the mother while in it. And on the whole after birth…the mother-child love bond…

-A universal spirit connection
From the womb a baby’s spirit reaches out and connects with that of a tree based on the request of another spirit…its mother…and lo and behold the great and mighty tree bends and into the hand of the mother she has cherries by command! WOW! Doesn’t get anymore profound than that…and in that moment as the cherries touch the mother’s hand…three great spirits connect! WOW! Awesome!

“Oh! Look thou Joseph...I have cherries by command!”

Now let’s listen to it sung by Joan Baez who just adds to ‘The Christmas Sprit’ of it for me as she sings it straight from her spirit to mines!

Advent Calendar:Sat 5 and Sun 6 Dec 09-Trees and Elephants for Christmas!

This week on Meady's Musings Production's Advent Calendar we gave the gift of trees and elephants. So as we relax on the weekend let's have some music! Join us dancing and singing to some of our odes to trees and elephants for our Christmas fun! :)

The Grand Opening of Meady's Musings Production's Advent Calendar 2009!

It gives me much glee to kick off Meady’s Musings Production's Advent calendar today on all three blogs…yes indeed I’m resurrecting the Books and Films Corner blog too…although I’ve not posted on it since Feb of this year…thought it would be a good thing to do…and it might leave the year in good cheer! So here it is! The Purple Elephant plans to put on a Santa suit or some sort of Christmasy wear and he is such a gracious and giving elephant has even sprung some gold coins to get an outfit for his little mouse too! However he is still waiting on the seamstress you see as she has never sown for an elephant before and it’s taking cloth beyond compare! Also a nativity scene is being created for the UCP blog but again carpenters are so hard to find even in this economy but hopefully it will be created soon! Who knows it might even be created by the magic carpenter overnight perhaps the same one who worked on that miraculous staircase UCP visited earlier this year in New Mexico!

But Here ye! Here ye! Let’s call it to order in prayer! And for that I have asked my brother in UCP-Universal Collective Prayer Bro Greg as I call him but in his official capacity a Deacon. So here it is the lovely opening words of prayer by Deacon Greg Kirk:
“Divine One:

The dawning of Advent beckons people everywhere to enter into the Silence, the Silence you inhabit and pervade. In the Silence, we rediscover the gift of Your Love, enfolding us and emboldening us to live with gratitude for your Spirit, expressed in all we have been, all we are and all we will become.

Christ consciousness is the core of our being. The Light of Christ Consciousness is wisdom, love and peace. They permeate the deepest part of who we are. Journey with us during these coming Advent days. Be our Light, guide us to a deeper and richer experience of the lasting peace that lives within us and support us as we grow from seeds to trees, reflecting your Essence and offering shelter to all.

In the midst of the darkness and challenges of these times, something new is emerging, something new is being born: the possibility of community, unity and divinity. One will come to bring the fulfillment of this promise. This One includes your people everywhere. May we become one, together, in the wonder and Oneness of You.

Amen”

AND MAY WE ALL BE GUIDED TO THAT PERFECT LIGHT! Sung of course by those Three Wise Men that I’ve been waiting all year long to dance with!

Happy Epiphany Day!

Will post more later...for now just enjoy for the fifth and final time of the Advent season as we say goodbye...

We Three Kings! They're having such fun!:)



Hi again! I couldn't finish this post off this morning before work but I wanted to have it up early instead of posting on the evening...so I've now come to finish it off...

I had the most fun this Advent season with those Three Kings and for sure the YouTube video I have up today to celebrate them one last time was my fav this season and so it makes its grand 5th appearance on my blog today! Again what fun they are having! :) Maybe because this year as I plan to get my own video equipment and do some of my own vids on Youtube I will do my own praise video thanking Hugh and they for this as my Advent gift to them in 2009! :)

It's sad to say goodbye to the season but as is said in the Holy Bible to everything there is a season...

'To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.'
-ecclesiastes 3:1-8

And as this season closes I look forward to participating in Universal Collective Prayer from all traditions as they come up...I think the next big event for me will be the Hindu time of reflection and inward search through meditation of Maha Shiv Ratri...and then I will be sitting in awe at the feet of my guru-Shiv.

But for now I give it one last dance with the great men three! In Hindu tales there are always three too...so many times in Hinduism we have the three wise men ...the holy trinity... take form as incarnate ones...Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh.. Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer.Who knows maybe it was they who took form and came from the East to see the babe? Cause in the Holy Bible no one knows their details...and like in Greek tales in Hindu ones when the great ones take form it can be in any disguise under that sky...so maybe they just appeared in magic coats saw the babe (in Hinduism this is called 'Dharshan') and then just as magically they disappeared away from Herod's sight!?

But here is what the Bible does say about the Great Men Three....

'The Visit of the Magi- Matthew Chapter 2 verse 2 to 21

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magia from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christc was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’d”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the easte went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”a

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”b

The Return to Nazareth

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” '


So today in humble Universal Collective Prayer I surrender to the Universe and besiege:

As I ask on bended knee
Of these Magi Three
Protect the children
Let them not be harmed
Even though there is now war in the land
Where once a child fled from an evil man
If you must great men three
Appear once more for me
Don again your magic coats so bright
And guide us to that perfect light!


BLESSINGS TO ALL!

Advent Calendar:Christmas Eve!-Love's Pure Clear Light!

I must apologise for not blogging yesterday and you can read my full apology on my Meady's Musings Christmas Eve entry and following on that post...I'm going on the theme Love's Pure Clear Light tonight. As a wish you and yours a Happy, Holy Christmas and a Bright and Reflective New Year Filled with Love and its Pure Clear Light...here is how I express to you Love's Pure Clear Light!

The best way for me as usual to express it on this blog is by prayer in song. So tonight on the eve of the symbolic birth of Love's Pure Clear Light given to us from the Universe in the form of the Christ child. I share with you songs that to me expressed Love's Pure Clear Light! I may have shared some of them through the season already but if they are repeats they are Encores! Cause they perhaps were so good I felt to do them twice...or thrice! :) Here I go wishing you Love's Pure Clear Light!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!:) As we all make our way to Love's Pure Clear Light!

Advent Calendar:Sun 21 Dec-More John Denver!

On this day of Advent I share more of John Denver as he Christmases with the Mumpets. This song about peace again truly embraces what I envision 'Universal Collective Prayer' to be all about! :)

Advent Calendar:Fri 19 Dec- Silent Night in Languages of the Universe!

Sharing Parang music yesterday which was in Spanish made me think about Christmas music in languages other than English...then it made me recall that, in my book, one of the most beautiful and heartfelt Christmas carols is Silent Night. One of my favourite things is to hear how John Denver on his Christmas Album with The Mumpets goes into the detail of the whole story about how the carol came to be in Austria where it was first written and performed in German! How lovely, beautiful, synchronous and meant to be that whole thing was I find from John's story just like how to me many great work's of Art and Inventions seem to come to be! :)I guess just prayers from the soul. So tonight my Advent gift to you is various versions of Silent Night...Stille Nacht....Noche de Paz...and I kick it off with John Denver's explanation version! :)

Advent Calendar:Thurs 18 Dec-Parang Music!

On this day of Advent I give you Parang Music Trini style. Parang music is indeed prayer in the form of song because in its purest form it describes the Nativity scene and the joyous birth of the Christ child. Here is an excerpt of a story kept at this link on Trinidad and Tobago's National Library site:

'By Abdelkader Marquez

Trinidad Guardian

December 25th 1989

Page 6

PARANG MUSIC WHICH CHARACTERISES THE CHRISTMAS SEASON OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO HAS ITS ROOTS IN VENEZUELA BUT IT HAS DEVELOPED ITS OWN CHARACTERISTICS, WHILE ABSORBING COLOMBIAN AND EVEN CUBAN MUSIC IN ITS REPETOIRE.

SINCE A VENEZUELAN DIPLOMAT WROTE IN 1979 ABOUT PARANG, THE MUSIC HAS EVOLVED FURTHER WITH ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS, NEW COMPOSITIONS AND NEW INFLUENCES.

THIS ARTICLE EXPLAINS WHAT PARANG IS ALL ABOUT.

The word Parang represents the written equivalent to the phonic Parran, which in turn is an adulteration of the Spanish word Parranda.

Dr. Daphne Taylor explains that the Trinidadian has incorporated into the Caribbean language many words of Spanish origin by the simple procedure of eliminating from the word the last syllable or last letter.

For example, "guarap" for "guarapo" sugar cane juice; "lanap" for " la hapa" an extra portion; "alpagat" for "alpargata", sandal; and "taso" for "tasajo", dried meat; "planas" for "planaso" this term being frequently associated with regard to relations between the Trinidadian fishermen and the National Guards; and even the verb "mamaguy" for the Venezuelan idiom, "mamadera de gallo".

RELATED:

In Trinidad, Parang has various meanings, which are closely related between each other.

As a noun, it identifies a custom originating from Spanish tradition in the island, which consists in celebrations which take place from the last week in November until January 6th, even though the real season starts during the middle of October with the rehearsals by musical groups and ends after January 15th.

During this time, on radio, TV and at private parties, etc., nothing but parang is heard and this is expressed in the following Trinidadian piece: Parang por la manana.

Parang por la manana

Parang al mediodia

Parang a toda hora

Como si fuera comia

ORIGIN:

As an adjective, Parang depicts music, musical inistruments, dances, costumes, etc. all related to the season.

In the form of a verb, to parang means to wander, to travel merely for the sake of pleasure and without destiny.

Paranderos, of course, are all those who participate in the celebrations.

The origin of Parang is still a matter for discussion amongst its followers.

Some maintain that the custom was introduced by Spain during the Spanish occupation of Trinidad (1498-1797) and was adapted to the island's environment, influenced by its contact with Venezuela and kept alive by the conostant communication with that country.

Others believe that the custom came from Spain through Venezuela during the Spanish administration of both countries and continued after the capitulation, through continued communication with Venezuela.

In reality, these discussions are irrelevant since today, Trinidad Parang has its own national characteristics and is enjoyed by all despite the difficulty experienced by many in understanding the words sung in "local Spanish" to the rhythm of typical Venezuelan music, though recently, Colombian pieces such as The Caiman, La Mucura and even Cuban pieces such as El Muneco, Cuando Sali de Cuba and others, have been included in the repertoire of many of the Parang groups.

KEPT ALIVE

There can be absolutely no doubt about the influence Venezuela has had on Trinidad parang and to further compound this statement, one has only to see the names of the most popular parranderos - Paul Castillo, Clarita Rivas, Soltero Gomez, Silvestre Mata, Rita Guerra, Petronila Marcano, Marcelina Hernandez, Jose Pena, Jose Espinoza, Adrino Reyes, Luis de Leon, Casimiro Leon, Gloria Alcazar, Pedro Ramos, Paulina Lezama and many others and the same applies to the names of the various parang groups.

La Divina Pastora, La Sagrada Familia, Los Muchachos del Agua, Los Pavitos, La Libertad, Las Estrellitas, Ay Caramba, La Tropical, Los Caballeros, La Santa Familia, Los Hermanos Lara, La Estrella de Oriente, La Santa Maria, Santa Rosa, Los Amigos, Los Campaneros, Rancho Quemado.

Parang was kept alive in the hearts of Trinidadians mainly through the efforts of the older generation who maintained the tradition of parang in the outskirts of Port of Spain.'

And I leave you with the voice of Daisy Voisin of La Divina Pastora who, now deceased, is an icon of Trinidad Parang during her lifetime and will be for a very long time! And for me her voice and the Parang music is synonymous with a 'True Trini Christmas'!Hope you enjoy it too!

Guide Us to Thy Perfect Light!

Yea I know there is terror in the world...India and Pakistan are staring down each other and there are the things in Somalia, Nigeria, Thailand...AIDS threatens to wipe out Sub Saharan Africa as many may have become informed of yesterday as the UN marked World AIDS day...Africa has an adult prevalence of 5%! In a world where every other continent/region is <1% save the Caribbean region which has a prevalence of 1.1%! In other places people aren't as free as they should be all sort of things...closer to home on my island people daily try to kill each other on the roads and the murder toll thus far for the year I'm sad to share with the rest of the world is upwards of 500!

But I know there must be hope and it is Christmas time...so I've decided to take a break from loading up on all the recent sad events globally and look to that shining light of hope...I was just singing and dancing to that amazingly fun You Tube vid below courtesy of Hugh Jackman et al who I recently saw in a different light in Australia...not a bad film and good performance from Nicole Kidman too and the child actor playing the part aboriginal part white child in the film. And great to learn a bit about the wisdom of the aboriginal peoples of Australia who live, breathe and feel the land so well that they have become intuitive. Yes if you didn't guess it or check out the YouTube comments it was Hugh Jackman singing! :) That's the Hugh they are referring too...such fun! So I've decided to get back into the Christmas spirit...world worries and recessions aside...and what better vid that that! And in listening to the fun of the Magi, I remembered how they sing in the tune:

'Guide Us to Thy Perfect Light'

and so I got the title of this post!

And you know what they say when something is so much fun you got to do it again! So I'm gonna leave you with them three kings again but a different version this time and another Christmas carol that surely goes alongside the tune...The First Noel...after all:

"The first Noel the angels did say was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay...they looked up and saw a star shining in the east beyond them far and to the earth it gave great light and so it continued both day and both night...and by the light of that same star three wise men came from country far...to seek for a king was their intent and to follow the star wherever it went"

So the shepherds were looking to the east...the Magi (three wisemen) to the west and who said "East is and west is and never the twain shall meet"?!... Rudyard Kipling was wrong cause when Jesus was born east and west became as one as a star they looked upon!

So dear God please guide us from East and West...and North and South...Guide us to thy perfect light! And as the Magi had that Intent I plan to add a new Intent on my Intent profile...To Be Guided to Thy Perfect Light! :)

So now I leave you to the effortlessly angelic voice of Charlotte Church!


And well here's the thing...cause Hugh and they were so good and I can't find a single thing on You Tube as fun and lovely as it! Ladies and Gentlemen Mr. David Hobson, Mr. Hugh Jackman and Mr.Peter Cousen doing it again! Encore! :)