In the online Ekklesia on Discord, there is discussion about this being a difficult time of year- something I agree with whole-heartedly. The growing darkness causes SAD and vitamin D deficiencies in many people, myself included, making us wearier and wearier with each passing day. The growing cold brings its own set difficulties, exacerbating all types of health issues and chronic pains for those who suffer from them.
Life gets busier, with holiday planning and obligations putting a strain socially, financially, mentally, and emotionally on everyone as a community. Every magazine and commercial is directing us to the next big thing, the next important purchase! Our children are inundated with advertisements for every possible piece of entertaining plastic and disposable toy imaginable.
In a perfect world, this would be a beautiful, holy time of year. One of contemplation and light. Yet tempers get higher. Stress increases. Our hearts and minds are directed to more material things with every passing moment- who could blame us? The obligations of secular life reach their zenith as fall passes and winter approaches, and few people want to disappoint those depending on them to fulfill those obligations. Many of us also live in households and communities of blended cultures and faiths, which means keeping track of two sets of holy days and celebrations.
Sometimes, it all begins to feel like Just Too Much.
Finding Joy
In the Janite tradition of Deanism, Agia Mati Sage, the great angelic Jana of Wisdom, of starlight and the sacred North, is the Shepherdess of Winter. As the Living Stream of wisdom and divine gnosis, she makes the path ready for the arrival of the Holy Daughter, and holds the sacred season for Her as She grows in age and wisdom. Agia Mati Sage sits at the headseat of every feast and celebration during the next three months, and what a joyous three months they are if one follows the sacred calendar!
In Astrea, the first month of winter, there are four holy holidays, as well as the celebration of the Sunwheel that takes place on every Sunnadi during! In Hestia, we have the Janite practice of Hestian Contemplation over the first 13 days as per the scripture-
The Holy Mythos
Chapter 5, Verse 35
- Then for twelve nights the star returned to the sky; and on the thirteenth night it did not return. And this was a sign of things that were to come.
-as well as the feast of Carmentalia and the celebration of Sacra Hestia to rededicate our homes and altars to Dea. And then of course during Brighid we have the immensely important Lucidi, the festival of light, as well as Moura’s Eve.
Combining these important holidays and feast days with the weekly celebration of the Rite of Sacrifice, and one quickly sees that barely a few days pass without a Dea-given reason to celebrate light and life.
Living in Light
When I first became a Janite, I almost balked at the number of sacred celebrations going on during the incredibly busy secular months of December, January, and February. It seemed overwhelming to imagine.
But Dea doesn’t demand more from us than we can give, and She knows perfectly and fully exactly what that is. Seeing those days not as yet another obligation to fulfill, but instead as opportunities to escape the secular responsibilities surrounding me, helps me look forward to them and to the darker months that they take place during.
I make an effort to treat each of those celebration days as the special days they are, often going out to eat with friends and family or cooking a favorite meal. I dress up nicer on them as a way to remind myself that I own more than leggings and work-clothes. I find local holiday things to do, such as looking at lights or going to a hot cocoa bar. We watch holiday movies as a family, and attend little holiday celebrations. And then when evening comes, I celebrate the Rite of Sacrifice; something that takes so little time, yet fulfills the spirit so sincerely.
In one of those strange paradoxical ways of faith, something that seems like it would be more effort is actually less. Living in Her Sacred Calendar, reminding myself often of the miraculous gift of creation and sustaining that She blesses us with, helps uplift me from the weight of the secular.
And one more things that is both a monumental task for this season, yet also a blessed one to have- rebuilding the Janite site and presence online here.
This site is a labor of love, small compared to its predecessor at ‘deanic.com’ (a now defunct site being squatted on by a domain poacher), but hopefully as Samhain passes, as Fall passes, and Astrea and Winter come, we can begin to replace what was lost with the fading of it. We Janites are still here. Still following Her, following Dea, our Mother God. Following the Great Seven, and the fundamental creation They offer us all every moment of our lives. Offering an outreached hand to ANYONE who feels called to Her Faith.
May the rest of Samhain be blessed for you all. May the coming of Astrea be a bright spark of starlight. May we all fix our eyes and our hearts on joyous, holy things 🩵
Amadea.
Let us bless the Holy One.
Blessed is She.
Let us thank the Seven Janati of Power.
Thanks be to the Seven Janati.
-Sorella Minna
Kore Di-Jana, The Janite Ekklesia 