Thanksgiving Blessings

May your harvest be bountiful and your hunt successful.
May your home be filled with the warmth of love, joy and mirth
during this season of gratitude.

This coming week we Americans will be celebrating Thanksgiving. A day set aside to be grateful for our country, our homes and our families. Holidays can be a stressful time traveling, planning and trying to cook the perfect meal for our loved ones. Remember though that this time is for gratitude, blessings and the harvest. Every last detail doesn't have to be perfect! If the rolls are a little burnt, the turkey dry and the center piece chipped, just laugh it off with your family and friends and be grateful for the laughter.

With refrigerators, grocery stores, freezers and preservatives we often forget the blessings of the harvest and the hunt. This is a time for feasting and celebration as the last harvest is brought in before the harsh winter turns the Earth fully dormant. It is also deer and turkey hunting season to both prepare our families for the winter by smoking and drying meat, and to thin the animal populations so that they won't starve from overpopulation during the cold winter. Life is cyclical and of necessity includes death; the death in the harvest and the death in the hunt. The old is cleared away so that the new may surface again in the Spring. This truth often brings thoughts of loved ones who aren't here to celebrate with us because they have passed. Take a moment to share an uplifting memory of those who have passed, and then let it go. Don't focus on what is gone, but remain in the present. Focus on those around you and the joy of their presence.

Also make time today to think of the people you interact with daily. Do you know what their plans are? Too many spend the holidays alone, forgotten and depressed. The loss of loved ones can be felt strongly at these times, and some can't celebrate with family because they live too far away. Ask others what their plans are. If they're not planning anything, invite them over! Friends and neighbors bless our lives with smiles and their presence each day we see them. Even if someone is less than friendly, the kindness of welcoming them into your home for a meal during a time set aside for gratitude can change a life.

As you cook, add magick to your meal by blessing the herbs before using them. As you knead the bread or stir a dish, add magickal intentions of blessings, health and joy for those who eat it. Place a piece of every item you prepare onto your altar. This is special fair set aside for the gods, fae and spirits to feast upon as a show of your remembrance and gratitude. Have fun adorning your altar with harvest colors - I add spice scented, orange candles, a brown with white embroidered leaf cloth and ceramic pumpkins. Then when all are gathered around the table remember to pause and share a prayer of gratitude before enjoying your meal. Thank the Goddess for her many blessings from the harvest, and thank the God for his many blessings from the hunt - even if your harvest and hunt took place in the grocery store as mine mostly will :)