The Feast of Divine Life
3336 Abolan 17 - The Autumnal Equinox, the Harvest Festival - the Feast of Divine Life, Cuivanya, is upon us. On the Forum, David writes that our shrines & altars are decorated for the season, bearing particular influence from the apple-month, and ciders and seed cakes are in order!
This season for me has been one of great sorrow. There have been minor incidents, but nothing on the physical plane that should equate to this all-pervasive sense of loss and terrible sadness has overcome me for days at a time this month. For no apparent reason, I spent an entire day crying, just overwhelmed with loss. I still had to go out and function - attend classes, be a part of society, before I could return safely home - and it was a constant battle to keep myself focused on the numbers and not the sensation of a broken heart. I gave in and quietly cried all the way home, grateful another was driving, thankful that none of those riding with me mentioned my distress.
There has been much on the news and in my social circles to affect anyone's state of mind: quite enough to genuinely say that the world is hurting. I don't know if this is what, in my odd form of empathy, I have been picking up on, but it has definitely not helped my emotional state, and I have found myself needing to gradually withdraw from social media and focus on more self-care. This Abolan has not been the happiest of times.
Having a holiday where the meaning, the focus is on the return to life after death, the death-life of a harvest or the end of a human life & waking again to the life beyond this world, is at once a comfort and another sorrow. Reminding myself that there is comfort and love on the other side, after the struggles and pains of life on Earth, is a kindness, but reminding myself of the death of everything including the world, however it may return - also hurts.
So at the same time, I'm feeling Cuivanya on a heart level, and I'm turning away from the intensity of it a little. Instead of more contemplation on meanings and giving myself reassurances of life after death, I focused on finding a fun recipe and baking up a tasty seed cake. I wear bright colours and jingling accessories to find the light in the darkness - which, I suppose, in its own way, is a celebration of the festival in itself.
If you will join me, then, in a minor celebration of the festival, and sharing of a tasty morsel with one's family, my baking adventures begin below.
I've had what qualifies as a seed cake a few times, but it's never been called a seed cake. It's a very British thing, and being someone from the American Southwest, it just wasn't a common visitor on our table. Looking about on the internet, seed cakes seem to usually be made with caraway seeds, but having poppy seeds in the cupboard, that is what my seed cake will be made of. And lemon! Poppy and lemon are just about the best combination in baking.
I mostly followed the recipe as directed. My butter and sugar never mixed to a point where it wasn't grainy - using the superfine granulated sugar maybe gets you there, but certainly not regular everyday sugar! I also replaced the vanilla with another tablespoon of lemon juice.
Then I popped in the oven! My sister made up a batch of lemony glaze to put on the top.
Finished!
Final verdict: delicious! Definitely a winner of a recipe. Comes out buttery and not too sweet. Everyone in my family enjoyed it, and it was a nice, if somewhat secretive, way of sharing the holiday with others.
Have a good Cuivanya everyone - however you choose to celebrate it.
This season for me has been one of great sorrow. There have been minor incidents, but nothing on the physical plane that should equate to this all-pervasive sense of loss and terrible sadness has overcome me for days at a time this month. For no apparent reason, I spent an entire day crying, just overwhelmed with loss. I still had to go out and function - attend classes, be a part of society, before I could return safely home - and it was a constant battle to keep myself focused on the numbers and not the sensation of a broken heart. I gave in and quietly cried all the way home, grateful another was driving, thankful that none of those riding with me mentioned my distress.
There has been much on the news and in my social circles to affect anyone's state of mind: quite enough to genuinely say that the world is hurting. I don't know if this is what, in my odd form of empathy, I have been picking up on, but it has definitely not helped my emotional state, and I have found myself needing to gradually withdraw from social media and focus on more self-care. This Abolan has not been the happiest of times.
Having a holiday where the meaning, the focus is on the return to life after death, the death-life of a harvest or the end of a human life & waking again to the life beyond this world, is at once a comfort and another sorrow. Reminding myself that there is comfort and love on the other side, after the struggles and pains of life on Earth, is a kindness, but reminding myself of the death of everything including the world, however it may return - also hurts.
So at the same time, I'm feeling Cuivanya on a heart level, and I'm turning away from the intensity of it a little. Instead of more contemplation on meanings and giving myself reassurances of life after death, I focused on finding a fun recipe and baking up a tasty seed cake. I wear bright colours and jingling accessories to find the light in the darkness - which, I suppose, in its own way, is a celebration of the festival in itself.
If you will join me, then, in a minor celebration of the festival, and sharing of a tasty morsel with one's family, my baking adventures begin below.
.~*~.
I've had what qualifies as a seed cake a few times, but it's never been called a seed cake. It's a very British thing, and being someone from the American Southwest, it just wasn't a common visitor on our table. Looking about on the internet, seed cakes seem to usually be made with caraway seeds, but having poppy seeds in the cupboard, that is what my seed cake will be made of. And lemon! Poppy and lemon are just about the best combination in baking.
I'll be using this recipe for my baking efforts. Below, I've added the imperial measurements to the metric.
- 250 g / Roughly 1 - 1 1/2cups cream flour or (US: cake flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 150g / 10.5 tbsp butter, softened
- 150g / 1/2 cup sugar (the measurement might convert closer to 3/4 of a cup, but I used 1/2)
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons caraway seed (poppy)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest/juice
I mostly followed the recipe as directed. My butter and sugar never mixed to a point where it wasn't grainy - using the superfine granulated sugar maybe gets you there, but certainly not regular everyday sugar! I also replaced the vanilla with another tablespoon of lemon juice.
Then I popped in the oven! My sister made up a batch of lemony glaze to put on the top.
Finished!
Final verdict: delicious! Definitely a winner of a recipe. Comes out buttery and not too sweet. Everyone in my family enjoyed it, and it was a nice, if somewhat secretive, way of sharing the holiday with others.
Have a good Cuivanya everyone - however you choose to celebrate it.
.~*~.
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