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.