The Soulistry Blog

Around the middle of January a few years ago, our local hardware store was packing up all of the Christmas things they didn't sell that year. Tucked into the corner was a little wooden white tree with lovely white branches. It had a really high price tag on it...

I love the word ‘epiphany.’    Epiphanies are those "ah-hah!" moments in life when we suddenly 'understand' … 'get it’ … 'gain insight' into the nature or meaning of something (or someone) we hadn't grasped or understood previously. Many around the world are...

Long ago, it is said, that a star appeared in the sky - a star that was unlike any other. All were amazed - and perhaps, even the lambs. Years and years ago, I made this banner for Epiphany, the Season of Light - which begins January 6th for many around the world.The...

Ahhhh, words - I love them.   Every year during the Season of Epiphany (the season in Christianity that remembers the star that is said to have guided the Magi to the Christ Child), I love to choose a "Star Word" which I hope will ‘guide’ me (as a star) in the coming...

It’s Twelfth Night!  Tonight! Twelfth Night is a festival for those following the Gregorian calendar that takes place on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas (January 5th) and marks the coming of the Epiphany tomorrow - January 6th - for those following the...

Merry Twelfth Day of Christmas! We've come to the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas and it's time to  "drum possibilities" because on this day, as the song goes, the drummers were drumming. Why?  What?  Music ethnologists remind us that every culture has utilized...

Have you ever noticed a mysterious series of letters and numbers which looked like a math equation, inscribed in chalk over a doorway (or at your church, or at the home of a friend) at/around January 6th, and wondered “What is that?” It's called "Chalking the Door."...

On this day, the Eleventh Day of the Season of Christmas (part of the Twelve Days of Christmas), the Pipers were piping! I was intrigued by the story of Scottish Infantryman and bagpiper Daniel Laidlaw who became known as the Piper of Loos in the Battle of Loos in...

Merry Christmas - Tenth day!On this day of Christmas, the lords are a-leaping! Leaping?   Ahhhh, of course!   They were young.    But, what about those who never could or can no longer physically leap?  'Leaping' can involve more than 'physical' movement. Leaping can...

Merry Ninth Day of Christmas! Yes, we're still in the Season of Christmas and we've just begun a new year.   What of this New Year? What of the future?  The 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Samuel Beckett, wrote: "Dance first.  Think later.  It's the natural...

Happy New Year! A new year has begun!  People around the world are hoping, dreaming of, praying for a better year in health, finances, politics, the economy, employment relationally and an end to poverty, war, homelessness, addiction, loneliness.  What will we...

It's January 1st.  Happy New Year!   And it is also the Eighth Day of Christmas. On this day, while the 'milking' image (an image of nourishment) is front-and-centre, there are times when other images are associated with the milking image: being milked, fleeced,...

Merry Seventh Day of Christmas! When the seven swans went swimming, what did they encounter... as they skimmed the surface of the water?... as they paddled through waves that threatened to engulf?... as they tried to stay afloat on the current that was driven by wind?...

It's "Almost New Year's Eve".  And then ... a New Year begins.   How will you spend your time in the New Year?  What will be done with the 24 hours of each day for the next 52 weeks ... those precious 3,760 hours? The Greeks used two words to explain the different...

Merry Sixth Day of Christmas!  This day offers a gentle opportunity to reflect on the moments in our lives of birthing ... aka "a-laying."Consider the "a-laying" moments and situations when… a new idea was hatched… a unique thought came to mind… an alternative way of...

Fifth Day of Christmas!     ·  Have you ever wondered what the Five Golden Rings of the "12 Days of Christmas" song stood for?I have, but as there is no reference to them in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song, here is some food-for-thought about what they might stand...

Happy Fourth Day of Christmas ... the day when "Four Calling Birds" are calling.  The original 'Twelve Days of Christmas' song, written in 1780, used the old regional English word 'colly' meaning 'grimy' like a chimney sweep.   In 1909, Frederic Austin altered that...

On this, the Third day in the Season of Christmas, let's sing! I wish for you, a voice!    * A voice that would sing. * A voice that would be a voice for the voiceless in the world. * A voice that would let elected politicians know when they are not standing up for...