Gaea's

Hullo

It’s time to stop humming “We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and say Welcome to 2010 and to a little “nip and tuck” on my website.

We introduced tabs along the header to make navigation and browsing easier as well as introduced a “News” tab specifically for the monthly newsletters. I get a lot of great comments which I think get lost as comments are usually linked to a particular blog, so now there’s a widget on the right-hand side of the blog which summaries the most recent comments. We have also tidied up the newsletter subscription process. Since the update in mid December, we’ve received lots of positive comments and we’ve addressed the inevitable technical faults that come with an update. We have a few more features and functionalities that we’ll be introducing during January and February.

I see that people from around the world read my blog – a lot of readers are from the USA and UK, but I frequently see Canada, Ireland, Germany, China, Russian Federation, India, Ukraine, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Malaysia, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Vietnam, South Africa, South Korea and Mexico amongst the stats. Thank you for your interest and continued return. I spend many enjoyable hours researching and preparing my blogs.

January was established as the first month of the year by the Roman calendar. It was named after the god Janus. Janus has 2 faces which allowed him to look both backwards into the old year and forwards into the New Year at the same time. He was the “spirit of the opening”. In the very earliest Roman calendars there were no months of January and February at all. The ancient Roman calendar had only ten months and the New Year started on 1 March. Even when January (know as Januarius) was added, the New Year continued to start in March. The Anglo-Saxons called the first month Wolf Monath because wolves used to attack villages in search of food during the cold winter months. New Year’s Day is the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern times, it is the 1^st January.

The month of January is known around the world as a time to celebrate specific events. I have found reference to January being Blood Donor month, Braille Literacy Month, Hobby Month, Hot tea Month, Oatmeal Month and Soup Month.

January sees the zodiac signs of Capricorn and Aquarius. Capricorn (22 December – 20 January): Ruled by Saturn. Capricorn is a cardinal Earth sign.  Use Capricorn energy for ambitions, perseverance, loyalty and for the acquisition of money. Aquarius (21 January – 18 February): Ruled by Uranus (Saturn in the ancient system). Aquarius is a fixed Air sign which means that Aquarius energy can be used to increase independence, friendship, creativity and detachment from emotional blackmail.

With the creative and ambitious energies of Aquarius, January is a great month to make plans. So much is said about New Year’s resolutions and of course, the first day of January is a good day to set resolutions, but you could try taking some time, anytime during January, and writing your list. Find a quiet place, burn some cinnamon and frankincense incense (in a bowl perhaps), light a gold candle and write up your list of New Year’s resolutions. I’d suggest that you steer clear of the word “resolutions” if the word has negative connotations for you and that you consider your list as a list of short-term objectives. Make clear objectives that you can achieve during the course of this year and consider how you would achieve your objectives.  When you have finished your list of objectives / resolutions, you can do something special with the list. Either stick it up where you can see it, put in your purse, pocket of your favourite jacket, throw the list into the bowl to catch fire, or set the list alight in the flame of the candle but whatever you do, believe that you have set your objectives in motion.

The Festival of Imbolc comes at the end of January – the focus of the festival is new growth – bringing light into the darkness which symbolises the coming Spring. The energies of this seasonal festival brings about regeneration personally as well as for communities. Imbolc is sometimes referred to as Candlemas because the candles that would be used in Churches for the coming year were purified at the Feast of Candlemas on 1^st February. Each person was given a blessed candle as a protector of their home against storms, floods and fires. The protection also defended cattle and crops. The festival is celebrated by leaving a lit candle in each window and allowing it to burn down completely overnight. For safety reasons, leaving a lit candle is not really sensible, so electric candles can be used as substitutes.

I’ve listed some events that are celebrated during January below:

Have a wonderful month. It’s going to be a busy month for me as I’m sure it’ll be for you.

Velda