Birth of Baha'u'llah

Well, post is a few days late- but never too late to learn so here is the post for Ba'hai holiday Birth of  Bahá’u’lláh!

Bahá'ís believe that throughout history, God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series of divine Messengers, each of whom has founded a great religion. The Messengers have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad.

For Bahá'ís, the latest of these Messengers is Bahá’u’lláh, who brings new spiritual and social teachings for our modern age. He taught that there is only one God, that all of the world’s religions are from God, and that now is the time for humanity to recognize its oneness and unite. 

Bahá’u’lláh, a title that means "the Glory of God" in Arabic, was born on November 12th, 1817 in Tehran, Iran.

For our craft I decided to make bells with the boys.  We did this since one of the sites I read that  Bahá’u’lláh had referred to himself as "the most great bell."  Find that proclamation here.

We made bells using plastic cups, thread, bottle caps and glue dots.

Supplies

Supplies

First we punctured a whole in the top of the plastic cup.

Make a hole in the cup.

Make a hole in the cup.

Then we threaded some thin yarn threw the hole in the top of the cup.

Thread the yarn through.

Thread the yarn through.

Once 2 and half inches on yarn was threaded threw we secured the end of the yarn to a bottle cap with a glue dot.  If you don't have glue dots you could used regular glue or tape.

Bottle cap secured.

Bottle cap secured.

We then looped the thread left on top of the cup to be a handle and secured that to the top with another glue dot.

Finished "bell"  Just needs some little artists to make it a pretty bell!

Finished "bell"  Just needs some little artists to make it a pretty bell!

There you have it!  An easy bell to make that "rings" softly enough to keep mom and dad happy:)

For the food I was going to make a Persian love cake.  However I need to cut back the sugar for the kids and myself after the Halloween feasting so we did a Baba Ganoush recipe instead.   This gives recognition to the birthplace of  Bahá’u’lláh through a traditional Persian dish.  Also the kids love eggplant and I love garlic so we all win:)

Ingredients:

  1. Eggplant

  2. Olive oil (about 2 tbsp)

  3. Garlic (one clove)

  4. Sesame seeds or tahini

  5. Lemon (just a squeeze for juice)

  6. salt to taste

Method:

First remove eggplant skin and slice into 1/4 inch pieces.

Cutting the peeled eggplant.

Cutting the peeled eggplant.

Grill or sauté eggplant until slightly brown on both sides.

In the pan starting to cook!

In the pan starting to cook!

Add eggplant and garlic and olive oil to blender with sesame seeds, lemon juice, and if desired salt.

Pressing the garlic into the blender

Pressing the garlic into the blender

Blend and serve.  With pita bread is good.  I may have gone ahead and ate mine with a spoon;)

Proud chef!

Proud chef!

All the information for this post was taken directly from here

 

 

 

Diwali

Diwali connects followers of multiple religions in celebrations of the victory of good over evil through the lighting of deeps or diyas (lamps) and each religion adds their own color to the Festival of Lights.

Hindu

Diwali is perhaps the most well-known of the Hindu festivals.  The word Diwali means 'rows of lighted lamps'. Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called diyas.  For many Indians this five day festival honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.  People start the new business year at Diwali, and some Hindus will say prayers to the goddess for a successful year.  Lamps are lit to help Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, find her way into people's homes.  In India Hindus will leave the windows and doors of their houses open so that Lakshmi can come in. Rangoli are drawn on the floors - rangoli are patterns and the most popular subject is the lotus flower.

Diyas lit for Diwali

Diyas lit for Diwali

Jain

Diwali commemorates the anniversary of Lord Mahavir's attainment ofmoksha, or freedom from the cycle of reincarnation, in 527 B.C.E. Lord Mahavir was the 24th and last Thirtankar of Jainism and revitalized the religion as it is today. First referred to in Jain scriptures as dipalikaya, or light leaving the body, it is said that the earth and the heavens were illuminated with lamps to mark the occasion of Lord Mahavir's enlightenment.   The day after Diwali marks the Jain New Year.

Sikh

For Sikhs, Diwali is particularly important because it celebrates the release from prison of the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind, and 52 other princes with him, in 1619.  The Sikh tradition holds that the Emperor Jahangir had imprisoned Guru Hargobind and 52 princes. The Emperor was asked to release Guru Hargobind which he agreed to do. However, Guru Hargobind asked that the princes be released also. The Emperor agreed, but said only those who could hold onto his cloak tail would be allowed to leave the prison. This was in order to limit the number of prisoners who could leave.  However, Guru Hargobind had a cloak made with 52 pieces of string and so each prince was able to hold onto one string and leave prison.  Sikhs celebrated the return of Guru Hargobind by lighting the Golden Temple and this tradition continues today.  The lesson for humanity from Guru Sahib is that one should contemplate the suffering of others before one's own and that the freedom and rights of others is more important than one's own.

For our craft the boys and I checked out some Rangoli designs through a google search.  A more obvious choice would have been to make a diya but we opted for a quick and easy craft that all three boys could enjoy.  One page with pretty designs and information on Rangoli can be found here.   We went to work on creating our own.  I let the kids use the crayola markers and make the Rangoli on the kitchen floor.  They had a blast coloring on the floor.  And I had a pretty floor for the day and very colorful sock bottoms.

All you need washable markers and tile floor.

All you need washable markers and tile floor.

All three boys getting to work.

All three boys getting to work.

One part finished.

One part finished.

For our food we made a coconut Burfi recipe.  All of my kids go crazy for coconut, but I hadn't made them a coconut dessert before.  We've had it in chicken fingers and of course smoothies and even made our own cocnut whipped cream- but this was my first real coconut bar so I was curious what the kids would think.  This recipe was incredibly fast and easy.  And the end result was very tasty.  I think drizzling a little chocolate over the top would have made these even better.  But as is they were pretty darn tasty.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup coconut flakes

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 1/4 cup water

  • 1 tbsp coconut oil

  • 8 cashews

  • pinch of green cardamon

Method:

  1. Heat coconut oil in pan and toast the cashews.

  2. Once toasted, remove cashews

  3. Add coconut flakes, sugar, and water (if you have fresh coconut you may not need as much or any water) 

  4. After heated and mixed add cardamon if desired

  5. Remove from heat and put mixture onto a parchment or foil lined pan.   

  6. Pat down to shape the dessert

  7. Add cashews to the top and cut into 8 pieces while warm. 

  8. Enjoy! 

 

Posing with the cashews in the pan.

Posing with the cashews in the pan.

Adding in the coconut

Adding in the coconut

Pressing in the cashews

Pressing in the cashews

Finished bars

Finished bars

All Saints Day

All Saints Day, the day on which Catholics celebrate all the saints, known and unknown, is an old feast. It arose out of the Christian tradition of celebrating the martyrdom of saints on the anniversary of their martyrdom. When martyrdoms increased during the persecutions of the late Roman Empire, local dioceses instituted a common feast day in order to ensure that all martyrs, known and unknown, were properly honored.

Originally I thought we would frame our craft and food around Saints that had the same birthday as the kids.  You can find what Saints were born on your birthday here.  However the Saints on the boys birthdays didn't really have stories that were easy to think of crafts for.  So I found a few popular saints that lent themselves to a cute craft and yummy sounding food. 

For our craft we made flowers and were inspired by St. Therese of Lisieux who is often referred to as "Little Flower"  According the Society of the Little Flower, St. Therese was known as the Little flower because  "St. Therese loved nature, and often used the imagery of nature to explain how the Divine Presence is everywhere, and how everything is connected in God's loving care and arms. Therese saw herself as "the Little Flower of Jesus" because she was just like the simple wild flowers in forests and fields, unnoticed by the greater population, yet growing and giving glory to God. "   For more information on St. Therese of Lisieux click here.  In addition to a flower being a fun and different craft then what we have previously done, St. Therese was a good pick because her celebration day is October 1st so we aren't too far off in celebrating both her day and All Saints Day.

I got out a bunch of stuff from the reuse drawer and craft drawer to create flowers with.

I got out a bunch of stuff from the reuse drawer and craft drawer to create flowers with.

Cutting the egg carton to create the petals.

Cutting the egg carton to create the petals.

Taping the petals to a "stem"

Taping the petals to a "stem"

Flowers

Flowers

Another version of flowers.

Another version of flowers.

For our food we made pumpkin whoopie pies.  St. Isadore was our inspiration saint for this food.  St. Isadore is the Patron Saint of Farmers.  Farming and the pumpkin patch were fresh in our minds so that was an easy in to talk to the kids about how the food tied in with the holiday, plus Halloween just here and Thanksgiving coming up we have lots of pumpkin puree hanging around the house and this seemed like a yummy way to use some of that up.  If you want more information on St. Isadore a good site is here. 

The recipe we used can be found here.  As usual I subbed some almond flour for about a third of the flour in the recipe.  I also used half butter and half oil for the recipe because I personally like the taste of butter- but like how moist the oil makes it so- half and half seemed like a nice compromise.  The kids really liked the cookies and I preferred them without the cream- I'm thinking about playing around with the recipe by adding some oats and maybe chocolate chips in the future. 

 

Pumpkin cookies baked.

Pumpkin cookies baked.

Scooping in the creamy center.

Scooping in the creamy center.

Baby approved.

Baby approved.

Samhain

Samhain, (pronounced SOW-in, SAH-vin, or SAM-hayne) is Wiccan/Pagan holiday that  means "End of Summer", and is the third and final Harvest.  It is generally celebrated on October 31st, but some traditions prefer November 1st. It is one of the two "spirit-nights" each year, the other being Beltane (which is celebrated on the same day as Samhain in the Southern hemisphere.)  Wiccans and Pagans believe it is a magical interval when the laws of time and space are temporarily suspended, and the Thin Veil between the worlds is lifted. Communicating with ancestors and departed loved ones is easy at this time, for they journey through this world on their way to the Summerlands. 

Originally the "Feast of the Dead" was celebrated in Celtic countries by leaving food offerings on altars and doorsteps for the "wandering dead". Today a lot of practitioners still carry out that tradition. Single candles were lit and left in a window to help guide the spirits of ancestors and loved ones home. Extra chairs were set to the table and around the hearth for the unseen guest. Apples were buried along roadsides and paths for spirits who were lost or had no descendants to provide for them. Turnips were hollowed out and carved to look like protective spirits, for this was a night of magic and chaos. People dressed in white (like ghosts), wore disguises made of straw, or dressed as the opposite gender in order to fool the Nature spirits. 

This was the time that the cattle and other livestock were slaughtered for eating in the ensuing winter months. Any crops still in the field on Samhain were considered taboo, and left as offerings to the Nature spirits. Bonfires were built, (originally called bone-fires, for after feasting, the bones were thrown in the fire as offerings for healthy and plentiful livestock in the New Year) and stones were marked with peoples names. Then they were thrown into the fire, to be retrieved in the morning. The condition of the retrieved stone foretold of that person's fortune in the coming year. Hearth fires were also lit from the village bonfire to ensure unity, and the ashes were spread over the harvested fields to protect and bless the land. 

This holiday was interesting to learn about because of its relation to Halloween.  Times have changed so now we dress up as cartoon characters and rather then leave food on alters- candy is given out to little kids- which made this holiday very easy to relate to the kids.

For our craft we painted rocks to tie in with the tradition of names written on rocks.  Rather then write our names on them and toss them into a fire I let the kids go rock hunting and we painted them to keep.

Paint and rocks ready.

Paint and rocks ready.

Baby painting.

Baby painting.

Posing with his rock.

Posing with his rock.

For our Samhain food we roasted turnips.  Turnips are a fall harvest food and rather then carve a turnip like the Celts we decided to eat one.    Next time I would do a medley of root veggies.  The turnips alone were not to the boys liking.  However, my mom often does root veggies roasted with a little pepper, fennel, and paprika and its wonderful!

Roasted Turnips With Ginger

Peel and cut turnips into wedges. Toss with grated fresh ginger, olive oil, salt, and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with honey and roast at 400° F until tender.  Ours took about 40 min.

 

The boys and the giant turnip.

The boys and the giant turnip.

Adding the olive oil

Adding the olive oil

  

A little honey.

A little honey.

Grating the ginger

Grating the ginger

Roasted roots with scrambled eggs.

Roasted roots with scrambled eggs.

Have a festive Samhain and Happy Halloween or All Hallows Eve!