the math of everyday faith

I can’t be the only one that struggles with this.

I’m looking at some oracle cards to help me increase my regular (probably not quite daily) practice and then I realize that each deck has approximately 45 cards. I could do one a day between holidays.

But then I realize that I don’t mind starting the Imbolc deck on the Imbolc and run it for the next 45 days, and it’s mostly the same with Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, and Mabon. But then we come to Samhain and Yule.

Samhain (All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween, All Saints’ Day, a plethora of Latino holidays in the vein of Dia de los Muertos, etc.) and Yule (winter solstice, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, etc.) are seasons unto themselves. Commercially, they start two to five months early in this country (United States) and they give a commercial presence to what would otherwise be called pagan symbology that now’s widely accepted as within the cultural norm to display and celebrate.

In a way, it’s a good point. We don’t get to December 25th and suddenly become full of the Christmas Spirit. We feel the weather getting cold and cuddle up under blankets with our hot chocolate looking for gifts for others that we love and appreciate. We ramp ourselves up to the actual celebration day in which we finally celebrate with our loved ones, using family recipes and ritual scheduled that have been developed over hundreds (or even just a few) years.

Should I feel this way about Beltane? Some of these holidays are meant to makr up the passing of time. Beltane is a day marking the barrier between spring and summer. I know I look forward to it, but should I get in the holiday mood?

Others of these holidays have a build up. Look at Ostara. Ostara is a spring celebration by with a Christian counterpart of Easter. Catholics celebrate a long season leading up to Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday in which Jesus carried the cross that became his own crucifix on which he died and then, after three days, was resurrected. This springtime holiday is often celebrated with bunnies that magically lay eggs (hence the Ostara / Eostre connection).

Getting back to my original dilemma – all of this religious math (at stark contrast with sacred geometry) makes me feel like I’m scheduling meetings to celebrate and I can’t decide if I want to start the Mabon deck on Mabon (August 1) or start now (July 20) and give myself a lead up. The latter would allow me to get in the mood for Samhain and Yule in a timely manner that feels more aligned with cultural crescendo and resulting grandissimo of celebratory verve. The former would feel better for 5 of the 8 holidays on the wheel of the year, but also leave my celebrating Yule into mid-January.

I’m leaning toward a build up and I’m actively being biased by the fact that Samhain and Yule are coming shortly. But as I wind down the last days of summer, it’s hard to move on to the first of three harvests of the year.