Angels on Your Shoulder

Thanksgiving 2009: history and a prayer

Tuesday November 24, 2009

Aloha,

Here in the United States we are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is usually a time for families to gather and give thanks. As I began to collect ingredients for the holiday meals I pulled out my mom's cookbook. It is all written by hand and this year i noticed little notes she'd written about where, when and how she got the recipes. She died in a car accident over 25 years ago and thanks to those notes I can feel her beside me while I am cooking.

As you might gather by now I love doing research and came up with some interesting facts about Thanksgiving.

In 1789 President George Washington proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving in honor of the United States Constitution.

In 1846 Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of a
Godey's Lady's Book magazine began a campaign to have the last Thursday in November designated as a national Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln decided that the national Thanksgiving Day would be held on the last Thursday in November.

In 1941 Congress named the fourth Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day rather than the last Thursday of the month.


The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 when the the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast.  Only half the colonist had survived the first winter and in the spring the Wampanoag Indians shared their seeds and showed the colonists how to grow corn.

Harvest celebrations had been a tradition among many Native American tribes and in Europe before the arrival of Christianity.The act of giving thanks can be both spiritual and secular. I think gratitude as an every day practice is one of the most powerfu lthings we can do for ourselves.

For this Thanksgiving I offer this short Thanksgiving Prayer:

May the love of the angels enfold you
May the angels bring you blessings beyond comprehension
May your heart be open and filled with gratitude
And may you feel the guidance of the angels now and always.

With love, gratitude and aloha,
Susan
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Comments
r4i
November 24, 2009 1:34 AM

First of all a very Happy Thanksgiving Day and Eve to you. I loved your blog and notes.Sorry for your mom. Why to take hassle of making food and all clean up stuffs for his day, better to order pizza or your favourite food and have fun for rest of the time.

r4i

Susan
November 24, 2009 2:26 AM

Aloha r4i,

Happy Thanksgiving to you too. I love cooking and enjoy the clean up, so it is all fun for me.

With a big dose of yummy food coming,
Susan

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About Angels on Your Shoulder

Susan Gregg is the author of eight books including the award-winning "Mastering the Toltec Way" and "The Encyclopedia of Angels, Spirit Guides and Ascended Masters." She has been exploring spirituality since the early 1970s and completed an apprenticeship with Don Miguel Ruiz. Her greatest passion is showing others how they can be happy and this passion has resulted in her "Food for the Soul" podcast.

Currently, she lives on the Big Island of Hawaii where she is an avid gardener, hiker, and writer. She often spends time playing with the four-legged friends she's rescued or swimming with the wild sea turtles and dolphins.

About the Art

The angel image in the header art above and the Pele image below are from Susan's book, "The Encyclopedia of Angels, Spirit Guides and Ascended Masters." The images are used with permission from Fair Winds Press.


About Pele
Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of the volcano as well as the goddess of transformation, passion, vitality and creation. Pele is a powerful force on the Hawaiian islands. Shortly after I moved to Hawaii, a friend suggested I have my property blessed. I asked Pele if I could live and work on her land. She graciously agreed, so I always take time to thank her and ask for her blessing in my endeavors.

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