Tag: Pagan holidays

Pluto, Forgotten Women of History and Great Holiday Recipes Too!

HI!

Check out two sites today for some fun listening and reading. First, I am excited to report that we have a new podcast up on Web Talk Radio which is dedicated to my favorite planet Pluto and features a interview with the always-interesting MCV Egan. She talks about her fascinating book, “Bridge of Deaths” and how she is resolving this 70 year old mystery utilizing past life regressions among other modalities!

Listen to MCV and find out why I love Pluto at
http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2013/12/09/astrological-cook-producing-change-with-pluto/

Remember you can get downloads on your RSS feed by going to
http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/category/podcasts/fun-food-pets-and-travel/astrological-cook/feed/

If you love History then you jump over to MCV’s blog “Is History the Agreed Upon Lie” and see my 7 part series on The Forgotten Women of History.”  – Remember there are 7 entries – check out all 7 women.

http://ishistorytheagreeduponlie.blogspot.com/2013/12/forgotten-women-of-history-hetty-green.html

Happy Holidays – remember there is still time to order a copy of “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook” for a unique gift! www.signsofthetines.com

PS! The recipe I talk about this week is my Sausage and Sage Stuffing (or Dressing) but below is a great egg and breadcrumb recipe my Mom always made.

Jean Garofalo Porte’s Egg and Bread Stuffing
Serves 6 -8
Note:  Mom had a bin full of stale bread and when full she would toast the bread and then grate it into breadcrumbs on the hand-grater that I still have. I sort of do the same although I don’t eat the amount of bread that we did back then. However, I grind up the toasted bread in the food processor – sorry Mom, time moves on as does technology!
1-tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium stalks celery, diced
5 large eggs
4 cups breadcrumbs
½ cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, minced
1-teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
½ cup – to 1-cup chicken stock.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small sauté pan. Add the onion, celery, and sauté about 5 minutes until they are getting soft. (IF you are making turkey and want to dice up the giblets and add now – do so – they add great flavor.) Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl then add the breadcrumbs, parsley, salt, pepper, and thyme. Combine well. Add the onion, celery mixture and enough chicken stock so it is moist but not falling apart.  You want this to be almost cake like – not crumbly like other stuffing.
NOTE: If you have drippings from a chicken or turkey or are smart enough to save them from past meals add about 1 tablespoon of drippings now.
Turn the mixture into a greased 2 quart baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

Mom would stuff this into a veal shoulder and serve with a brown gravy but it will work for any stuffing need. 

Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday we have it all.

 Give the most unique gifts under the Sun and never have to leave the comfort of your home.

For the cook who has everything – give a signed copy of “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook.” Just order a copy from the website, www.signsofthetines.com and drop me an email at [email protected] and tell me how you want it personalized and who to send it to and your shopping is done!

If you are in the mood for a gift basket then why not an Astrological Gift Basket? You will get a wonderful basket from C and C Unique Gift baskets that is tailored to the recipients birth chart. AND they will receive a printed copy of their birth chart as well as a thumb drive with an audio analysis done by yours truly!

To order visit http://www.candcgiftbaskets.com/category_23.asp.

Want a gift for yourself? Take advantage of our December special. ANYONE who wants a 2014 yearly analysis chart to prepare for the new year – – can take advantage of our special. Order your birth chart under “birthday special” and save $5.

Have a wonderful holiday season!!

Thanks for all of your support this year.

Joan

The Astrological Dinner Party: A Great Holiday Gift and Fun Way to Kick Off the New Year

What better way to spice up your parties than by adding a little bit of stardust? Star the New Year off with a new way to entertain; the astrological dinner party. It is a wonderful new way to do a potluck that will not only assure a great variety of foods but hours of conversation as guests compare their choices with their chart signs. Invite some friends over and ask them to bring a dish that epitomizes their Sun sign*. They do not have to be astrological wizards. Everyone knows their sun signs and knows something about the energy they emit. Have them bring the food in a brown bag, with no outside markings. No one is to peek at anyone else’s’ offerings. Invite your guests to have some wine and snacks in the other room while you get the dinner ready. Remove the food from the original plates and place them in your own service. This will eliminate people knowing who brought what by recognizing someone’s china. Once you serve the dishes, have everyone guess who brought what. That healthy quinoa salad has to be from the Virgo while the Capricorn probably came armed with a chicken potpie or something else of great substance. If there are two people of the same Sun sign it is no problem. There are many traits exhibited by each sign and it will be interesting to see how they express in each person. Of course, I would encourage you to have my cookbook on hand to answer any astrological questions that might arise. If you prefer to cook the food yourself and surprise your friends with their own personalized Sun-sign dishes, you can prepare any number of meals from my cookbook. There are at least ten recipes for each astrological signs “In Signs of the Tines.” For your Libra friend create a surf-and-turf to keep them in balance. For the Aries, the warrior inspired Mongolian Hot Pot. If you are stuck with the age-old question, what should I buy for everyone this Holiday season, why not prepare an astrological meal? It is fun, personalized and something they will always remember. What greater gift can you give then to prepare a dish just for them handpicked by the stars? *For the more astro-savvy crowd ask them to cook for their rising sign! That will really spark discussions. “Signs of the Tines: The Ultimate Astrological Cookbook” is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and www.signsofthetines.com. For chart readings me Joan at [email protected]. Download my podcast Astrological Cooking at http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/astrological-cook/.

There Is Still Time to Give “The Most Personalized Gift Under the Sun”

Not sure what to give this Holiday Season? Give an Astrological Chart Interpretation – or make it even more special with a Astrological Gift Basket!

No basket is the same because no one’s chart is the same. The baskets are beautifully crafted by C and C Unique Gift Baskets where they “think outside the basket!”  Order today for Christmas delivery!

http://www.candcgiftbaskets.com/category_23.asp

Astrological Basket

For an interpretation alone without the basket order at my blog

joansastrology.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays

Hanukkah Chart

Hanukkah always falls on the same date in the Jewish calendar. It is when we mesh that calendar with the Western calendar that the days move around. This year it begins tonight….by the way, next year it starts on November 27!

The Jewish calendar is lunar so let’s take a look at the Moon tonight. The chart above is calculated for sundown, which is 4:28 PM EST today, December 8. Fittingly, the Moon is in Libra, in the 5th house. Since this is a holiday of gifts, fun and celebration, Libra – the sign of friendship and sharing with the other person is a good sign for the Moon to be in. The 5th house is the house where we express our creativity – where we have fun and are kids so be a kid tonight on Hanukkah!

Just beware of gossipy family members! The ascendant is in Gemini – the sign of communications – and it’s ruler, Mercury is in Scorpio – the sign that loves to ferret out secrets. Because Mercury is in the 6th house – the house of work and health – be careful not to tell that snoopy old aunt you hate your job or your feet hurt if you don’t want it spread around the family like wild fire. Jupiter and Vesta in retrograde on the ascendant will make people want to share a bit too much.

With Juno, the asteroid of loyalty in the 7th house, the house of intimate relationships – be sure to have lots of people who REALLY mean something to you over this year. Show and tell them how much you really love them.

And Happy Holidays all!!!

“Easter” Musings

Recently I asked a group of people where the word Easter came from. Didn’t that name always seem out of place? Not surprisingly, no one knew. Easter – it has no correlation to the day. Right? Well, if you dig back into the history of it all it clearly does. Easter is named for the Germanic and Celtic goddess Eostre. Depending on the tribe telling the story, she was either a young maiden who travelled the country side with her rabbit spreading eggs in your garden or a magical woman who transformed into a rabbit in Spring. Virgin, rabbit, eggs – yes, fertility and rebirth – they weren’t subtle back then. (Actually, there were many variations on the theme but these were the general avenues of interpretation.)

To celebrate the day of Eostre one would bake breads with the cross of the rising sun which have become translated into hot cross buns and dye eggs. Who said human beings have original ideas?

Interestingly in Sweden they celebrate Easter by celebrating witches! The children dress as the up as the witch Blakulla, make drawings and then go door to door exchanging the drawings for candy. Sounds like a take on Halloween. Interestingly, in Italy, the witch Buffana comes to the children on Christmas Eve. Witches, girls, maidens, they all find their way into someones celebration.

Anyway, back to Astrology and Easter. However, the celebration it is important to remember it all starts with the stars. The Spring Equinox, when the Sun is at the mouth – zero degrees – of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac – the sign that starts the wheel of life again – is March 21. Easter takes place on the Sunday after the first full Moon following the Equinox. Who can guess whether I was taught that little tidbit during eight years of Catholic school? Easter linked to the Equinox – linked to the Moon! Shock.

Passover too starts a day or so after the first full Moon after the Spring Equinox.

This year the full Moon was April 17, so Passover started at sundown on April 18 and Easter is April 24. 

And they both have to thank Aries the first sign of the Zodiac for it. Speaking of Aries, it is still in full force. We currently have Mars, Uranus, Lilith, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter in an Aries stellium (that is, more than five bodies in one sign.) That is a lot of raw, dynamic change energy circulating in the universe. Using it to harness change in your life, new ways of expressing yourself, a new search for love and new way to open new doors. Those people who aren’t aware of themselves or their natal planets could be feeling very angry and restless because they embody the shadow of Aries. So that potential for anger, violence and just raw emotions is still very high.

In any case, dye your eggs, plant your gardens and tip your hat to Eostre this weekend!

Why December 25?

I have often wondered if the Winter Solstice is December 21, why do we celebrate Christmas on the 25th?Why did the Christians wait for four days before having the big party? The answer is simple – seems our ancient friends were rather cautious. Yes, December 21 is the longest night of the year – but it is the next day when the day grows just a wee bit longer and a little longer the next and so on. They wanted to be darned sure that Sun was indeed returning before getting out the party hats and horns (or reasonable facsimile thereof.)

But the day December 25 was long a day of celebration in the pagan world – a day to celebrate the return of the Sun or son. The Christians didn’t have to look far for a holiday to co-opt on December 25. It was the day that Attis, the Roman son of the virgin Nana who was later sacrificed to bring salvation by being crucified on a tree and then arising three days later, was born.

The Greek god, Dionysus son of Zeus, whose body was symbolically eaten in the form of bread and wine, was also celebrated on December 25. The Egyptians placed December 25 as the birth day of Osiris, the savior-god who was resurrected by his wife and then reined over the after world. The Persians, also happy that the Sun was proving itself back to stay, celebrated the birth of Mithra, a savior who performed miracles, cured the ill and ascended into heaven in the Spring.

So go ahead celebrate the Solstice and then 4 days later the return of the Sun – or son – if you prefer. In either case, you will be carrying on a tradition that predates the current Christian incarnation by about 6000 – 8000 years. It is a great way to link yourself to nature and our collective roots.

The Sun, ruler of Leo, is at its Zenith in August – the time of Leo — but it is the cycle of waxing and waning that we celebrate in the depths of cold winter. Rejoice for the Sun (son) has returned!