Call for Coops!

In support of urban farmers and locavore choices, we are excited about this new title. Submit your coop for the 2014 Calendar.

If you or someone you know has an innovative coop design in the Portland Metro area you would like featured in our 2014 Wall calendar, email images to creative@amberlotus.com.

Seeking 12 innovative, creative coops
for our 2014 City Chickens and their Coops wall calendar.

This is your opportunity to strut your stuff – and your chickens’ – and help Portland’s own Growing Gardens organization at the same time. Be one of 12 featured coops in this beautifully photographed treasure of unique coops and their feathered inhabitants. 

Submit 3 to 6 digital snapshots (500MB or smaller) of your backyard bird sanctuary to Amber Lotus at creative@amberlotus.com 
by Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Finalists will be notified June 15. 

Accepted Entries will:
• Enjoy a professional photography shoot of their coop and hens
• Be featured in the calendar
• Receive a print quality portrait of their coop for personal use
• Be awarded with six copies of the 12” x 12” calendar featuring their coop

Featured coop owners agree to:
• Be available for a two-hour professional photo shoot in late July or early August
• Provide a clean, fresh coop on the day of the shoot
• Provide a short statement about their coop and hens

Spring Equinox

The Sacred Marriage:

The Spring Equinox celebrates both Earth and Sun, both growth and light. At this point in the solar calendar, the length of daylight equals the length of the night – the male sun balances out the female moon. After the Equinox, the balance will shift in favor of the growing Sun as he begins to make the day longer than the night.
In the lunar calendar that relates to the seasons, the Equinox also signals an important phase for the female Earth for this is the time she opens herself, ready to receive the new seed and to bring forth the plant life that has overwintered inside her. The month of April, which arrives shortly after the Equinox, derives its name from the Latin aperio, to open (as in the word aperture).
At the Spring Equinox, different threads from the solar and seasonal calendars are woven together into a single strand….daylight is equal to darkness, so the God and Goddess make a well-matched couple.
From The Magickal Year by Diana Ferguson

One Giant Leap for Julius!

2012 is a leap year, with 366 days instead of the usual 365 days.

Why?

It was the ancient Egyptians who first figured out that the solar year and the man-made calendar year didn’t always match up.
That’s because it actually takes the Earth a little longer than a year to travel around the Sun — 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, to be exact.

Therefore, as the hours accumulated over the centures, an extra day was occasionally added to the calendar, and over time the practice became more or less official.

Fractal Cosmos Wall Calendar

The Romans first designated February 29 as leap day, but a more precise formula (still in use today) was adopted in the 16th century when the Gregorian calendar fine-tuned the calculations to include a leap day in years only divisible by four – 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, etc. The Gregorian calendar is closely based on the Julian calendar, which was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. The Julian calendar featured a 12-month, 365-day year, with an intercalary day inserted every fourth year at the end of February to make an average year of 365.25 days. But because the length of the solar year is actually 365.242216 days, the Julian year was too long by .0078 days (11 minutes 14 seconds).

Following the Gregorian reform, the average length of the year was 365.2425 days, an even closer approximation to the solar year. At this rate, it will take more than 3,000 years for the Gregorian calendar to gain one extra day in error.

Another stipulation ruled that no year divisible by 100 would have a leap year, except if it was divisible by 400. Thus, 1900 was not a leap year … but 2000 was! Go figure.

Thankfully, all this intricate plotting will continue to keep us in tune with the seasons over the next several thousand years.

Valentine Fever

Throughout human history, roses have played an important role in expressing the language of love, passion, commitment and desire.- excerpt from 2013 Rose Wall Calendar.

According to tradition, this is the day when the birds choose their mates for the year. It is also the day for the blossoming of love between young women and men, and so introduces the theme of love-making and magical fertility rites that begins in February, and gathers in strength throughout Spring, continuing right through to May Day.
Valentine’s Day is named after a Christian saint, but just who he was is not clear, for there is more than one contender for the title. One Valentine was a Roman priest who was imprisoned for helping persecuted Christians, and who became a Christian himself. Although he restored the sight of his jailor’s blind daughter, he was still martyred…. on February 14, 269. Another Valentine was also a Christian martyr who, before his death, scratched a message to his beloved on the wall of his cell, ending with the words “Your Valentine.”
As a festival of love, Valentine’s Day has powerful associations with two Roman love fests. The first is the sacred day of Juno Februata, the patroness of the “fever” of love, at the beginning of February…. Then on February 15, there is Lupercalia, a festival of purification and fertility in honor of Faunus, or Lupercus, a rustic fertility god.
- From The Magical Year by Diana Ferguson

More on Embolc…

My apologies for posting a little late. February 1st was the Pagan holiday of Imbolc. That’s become an important day at our house over the years, partly because I have a lifelong fascination with holiday lore and partially because it’s a great opportunity to let the cycle of the season be our teacher – as it once was to our forbearers. You can read lots of things about Imbolc online, and I personally recommend two favorite books of holiday lore: The Magical Year by Diane Ferguson, Kindling the Celtic Spirit by Mara Freeman.

This image is featured in the Celtic Mandala, earth mysteries and mythology 2013 Wall Calendar. Selkie by Jen Delyth © 2007/2008

It is said that if the year is a woman, then Imbolc is the youthful maiden. To my mind Imbolc is about newness, youth, new growth, the first budding of spring. We’re definitely seeing those first signs here in Portland: the first buds, the first Snowdrops, and the very first blossoms on the trees.

One of the inspirations in my life around holiday lore is to use the changing season and our encounter with them as soul-crafting activities. For Imbolc we make corn dolls and set them out on the fireplace mantle surrounded by white or yellow candles. We burn white and yellow candles to symbolize purity and innocence. Just before bedtime we put our corn dolls in a basket by the front door, as a blessing to all who enter our house. We rest them on a blanket and cover them for warmth and set animal figures around them. This year it was a unicorn.

Another favorite activity is placing an article of clothing or an important item outside to be blessed by the goddess Brigit as she passes in the night. Again there’s a lot to read about Brigit, but to my mind she appears as an inspiring archetype and heroic example, as in Greek legends. She is the triple goddess of poetry, smithcraft and healing. Smithcraft is variously referred to as craft in general or wonderfully by Ms. Freeman as the ‘magical art of change.’

Happy Belated Imbolc!

From Tim Campbell – and all the Lotites

Imbolc – the awakening of spring

The Goddess Brighid
Like many Pagan holidays, Imbolc has a Celtic connection as well, although it wasn’t celebrated in non-Gaelic Celtic societies. The Irish goddess Brighid is the keeper of the sacred flame, the guardian of home and hearth. To honor her, purification and cleaning are a wonderful way to get ready for the coming of Spring. In addition to fire, she is a goddess connected to inspiration and creativity.

Brighid is known as one of the Celtic “triune” goddesses — meaning that she is one and three simultaneously. The early Celts celebrated a purification festival by honoring Brighid, or Brid, whose name meant “bright one.” In some parts of the Scottish Highlands, Brighid was viewed as Cailleach Bheur, a woman with mystical powers who was older than the land itself. Brighid was also a warlike figure, Brigantia, in the Brigantes tribe near Yorkshire, England. The Christian St. Brigid was the daughter of a Pictish slave who was baptised by St. Patrick, and founded a community of nuns at Kildare, Ireland.

In modern Wicca and Paganism, Brighid is viewed as the maiden aspect of the maiden/mother/crone cycle. She walks the earth on the eve of her day, and before going to bed each member of the household should leave a piece of clothing outside for Brighid to bless. Smoor your fire as the last thing you do that night, and rake the ashes smooth. When you get up in the morning, look for a mark on the ashes, a sign that Brighid has passed that way in the night or morning. The clothes are brought inside, and now have powers of healing and protection thanks to Brighid.

Make a Career of Living Happily Ever After …

When feeling happy is of paramount importance to you – and what you do “for a living” makes you happy –
you have found the best of all combinations.
-excerpt from Dec. 2011 Wall Calendar

Law of Attraction 2011 wall calendar is based on the work of internationally acclaimed authors Esther and Jerry Hicks. The text is paired with the wonderful art of Christiane Beauregard, whose work was featured in the deck Money, and the Law of Attraction (Hay House, 2009). Playful and inspiring, her images are a perfect complement to the message of Abraham.

2012 Law of Attraction Wall calendar

Law of Attraction art by Christiane Beauregard

Quote for the day ~ by Shunryu Suzuki

Zen Mind Wall Calendar – 2012
To be completely concentrated on what you do, 
that is simplicity. And the beauty of practice 
is that it can be extended endlessly.

Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie ~ enjoy

Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie
1 pie crust

Recipes and Tips for Your Health and Well Being

15 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) canned pumpkin pulp
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups plain hazelnut milk
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon coriander (optional)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated
1 cup hazelnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 425° F. Press crust into a 9-inch pie pan and crimp edge. Combine remaining ingredients except nuts, stirring well. Pour into pie shell and bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F, scatter hazelnuts over the top and bake for 45 minutes or until pie is done (knife blade comes out clean). Let stand for 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Serves at least 1.

From Year of Healthy Living – by Ann Lovejoy

All you need in life is a friend who has Chocolate.

Kids say the most amazing things: honest, amusing and altogether entertaining.
The Kid Quotes 2012 wall calendar captures this literal yet lighthearted point of view with a year full of quotes from everyday kids. These wise wee ones share the most sincere and silly musings on friendship, love and even marriage.
Artist Kate Harper combines playful words with festive imagery – making even the most proclaimed grown-up feel like a kid again.

2012 Engagement Calendar