Well, we've made it to Moura.

 Dear Reader,

Hopefully your Moura-Eve celebrations were boisterous and filled with delight on Sunday. Yesterday was the first day of Moura and for many Moura Day is a day of fasting and quiet contemplation. For me it was a day of running errands like a chicken with it's head cut off. I was exhausted when I finally was done for the day. I wanted to post something on here, but I just had no spoons. I was barely able to string together sentences when I was chatting with my husband about when was a good time to pick him up from work.

This season/month in the Filianic calendar is a time for purification, penance, and preparation for Spring and the high holiday of Eastre. (I use the British spelling of the holiday to keep me from mixing it up with the Christian holiday. My region spells the Christian holiday Easter. I'd go with Ostara but that has specific meanings that don't fully align with Filianism.)

Moura Eve wasn't a fun day like last year. It was tense, I had aura symptoms of a migraine, and I had to tamp down a large chunk of who I am to avoid an incident with some of the extended family. This being a different religion than the rest of the family is exhausting. They want for us to behave like good Christians but we're not Christian. Sure, some of our behaviors align with what Christians consider good but there's a lot that just doesn't go there. And my kids have begun asking 'hard' questions about Christianity, like why did the Christian God destroy Sodom and Gomora. I've been using every ounce of my research into this religion and what I can remember of the theology classes I took at college. The kids shrug and go 'ok' and I have to remind them not to bring these questions up with people like their Grandparents who will get highly offended.

The migraine hit Moura Day as I was out running errands. I got home and took my medicine and laid down for a little bit. It has pushed into today and I'm struggling to get things done. At least I can string a few words together into a sentence, right?

My planned purification is cleaning house. I can't use candles now or incense because of a change in the lease from the landlord. It's a bit irritating after 13 years of that not being a problem, but such is life. There's always more than one way to do a thing. My planned penance is hand copying another version of the Clear Recital into a note book. One year I copied the Aristasian version. This year it will be the New Celestial Union Version. If there's space left in the note book, next year it will be the Madrian version as presented in the Eastminster Critical Edition (one of the earlier versions). My preparation for Eastre is going to be saying the rosary as often as I can through the month/season. 

I'm still laboring under a migraine. I'm not sure how much of what I can get done. My kids are on break from school. They have some questions about what I am doing. So, I'll be explaining that to them and give them a choice to participate in this month's ritual activities. I have a feeling Moura is going to be exhausting this year.

Regarding Sai Sushuri (aka Sai Sucri or Sushurichan)

Picture from Gagan Cambo via Pexels.com

 Dear Reader,

Most anyone with an education in Western European art or any understanding of the history of the Roman Empire will look at the image accompanying this post and immediately recognize her as Venus de Milo. Venus (or as she is known in the ancient Greek faith Aphrodite) is a goddess of love.

The Madrian community saw her as a cognate to Sai Sushuri. They recognized that both did hold sway over romantic love but also other forms of love. Sai Sushuri holds sway over platonic love, community bonds of affection, familial love, and the love that people hold for their land and livelihood. This is a limited list of the manifestation of love that Sai Sushuri and Venus reign over.

The Madrian community put greater emphasis on the love that came between a community and their respected leadership than romantic love. They also put greater emphasis on the love that is between people out of their basic humanity.

The Aristasian community adhered to these concepts as dearly as the Madrian community did before them. Somewhere in the process of the seclusion of the Madrian community and the Aristasian community's rising, a word was chosen to express the love of all: amity. Amity is a transpersonal, immersive love experience wherein one finds that there is something to love in all places of this world. It is similar to the Greek term Agape, as used with respect to love. It is a transpersonal, immersive, and expansive love for all.

The modern Filianic/Déanic community holds the concept of amity in a special place in their heart. All loves are viewed as valid and sacred, as gifts from Déa to strengthen, nurture, and comfort us in times of difficulty. Sai Sushuri is always with us, pouring this grace over us as per Déa's will. As such, Valentine's Day has been claimed by the believers in Déa as not a day to focus strictly on romantic love but a day to celebrate all forms of love and renamed Amity Day to reflect this.

Uh oh, my health is acting up again.

Picture from Pixbay via Pexels.com

 Dear Reader,

I'm having a bit of a rough time of it over here. We've safely ruled out long Covid. (That was a huge relief.) But my doctor is talking about all of my problems with sleep (nightmares, difficulty falling asleep, and difficulty staying asleep) are likely the result of sleep apnea. He has ordered some testing and I hope the results can help us figure out what on Earth is going on with me since August of 2021. My daytime drowsiness has be awful and I barely get any of my household chores done and can hardly keep up with the kids. It's been rough, like I said.

I envy that kitten in the picture. Little cutiepie sleeping peacefully. I'm hoping when we sort all this out I'll stop losing half a day, every day, to naps. Exhaustion is just rotten and makes doing things like driving to appointments a bit hazardous. But, that's what has been keeping me from posting of late. I will try to get more posts up in the near future. They may be posted in the evening or late afternoon. Either way, I'm going to try my hardest to get this blog moving again. Wish me luck, all y'all.