Who...is La Befana?

The story goes that as the Magi made their way west following the Star, they stopped one night at the home of a lone woman, living on her own or widowed we do not know, and asked a favor. Depending on the story, they asked to water the camels, or asked to stop for the night on her land, or perhaps asked to buy any fresh food she had to supplant what dried supplies they had brought with them. This elderly woman was famous in the area she lived for her cleanliness, and she indeed was once again cleaning her small cottage when the Magi stopped by. Legend has it that she was quite rude to them, and may have even refused their request, or given to them what they asked with bad grace.

 

Yet the Magi treated her respectfully and told her the story of the Child they were looking for. She was too busy scrubbing something to even look up at the Star. Some hours after the Magi left and she'd finished scrubbing, she thought about what they had said about the Child and felt ashamed. She dressed in traveling clothes and stout boots and found a big bag into which she put some toys (whether she bought them or they were her grown children's toys no one knows), looked up in the sky, and began following the Star, too.

 

Alas, she never caught up with the Magi, and felt so badly that now yearly she travels from home to home on the eve of the Epiphany still looking for the Christ Child. She looks carefully into the face of every child she sees, but since he or she is not the Child she is looking for, she leaves them a toy or a book or something else special instead.

In Italy this gift giver is known as "La Befana," "Befana" coming from the word "Epiphania," from the feast of the Epiphany on January 6. She's portrayed as a typical old Italian woman in a long skirt, cloak, and slippers or shoes, and she rides a broom like a stereotypical witch to get around to search all the children of the earth on Twelfth Night, so she is frequently referred to as "the Christmas witch." La Befana used to be the only gift giver in Italy until the advent of "Babbo Natale," Father Christmas or Santa Claus. So now some lucky Italian children get gifts both on Christmas and Epiphany, and should they live in northern Italy, they often get a visit from "Santo Nicolo," St. Nicholas, too!

This custom also exists one other place, in Russia. There our gift-giver is known as Baboushka.

 

"La Befana Vien Di Notte" Song 

 

Italian Rail's The Legend of La Befana 

 

La Befana: The Witch of Christmas 

 

The Befana Tradition 

The Legend of La Befana 

Happy Candlemas!

Wait, isn't it "Groundhog Day"?

Well, yes, but the Groundhog Day custom came from Candlemas.

Candlemas is (from Wikipedia):

"also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ and the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Christian Holy Day commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. It is based upon the account of the presentation of Jesus in Luke 2:22–40. In accordance with Leviticus 12: a woman was to be purified by presenting lamb as a burnt offering, and either a young pigeon or dove as sin offering, 33 days after a boy's circumcision. It falls on February 2, which is traditionally the 40th day of and the conclusion of the Christmas–Epiphany season. While it is customary for Christians in some countries to remove their Christmas decorations on Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve), those in other Christian countries historically remove them on Candlemas. On Candlemas, many Christians (especially Anglicans, Methodists, Lutherans, Orthodox and Roman Catholics) also bring their candles to their local church, where they are blessed and then used for the rest of the year; for Christians, these blessed candles serve as a symbol of Jesus Christ, who referred to Himself as the Light of the World."

Robert Herrick, the late 16th-17th century poet, wrote the following verses about Candlemas:

1. Down with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the mistletoe;
Instead of holly now upraise
The greener box for show.

2. The holly hitherto did sway,
Let box now domineer,
Until the dancing Easter day,
Or Easter's Eve appear.

3. Then youthful box which now hath grace
Your houses to renew,
Grown old, surrender must his place
Unto the crisped yew.

4. When yew is out, then birth comes in,
And many flowers beside,
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin,
To honour Whitsuntide.

5. Green rushes then, and sweetest bents,
With cooler oaken boughs,
Come in for comly ornaments,
To readorn the house.

6. Thus times do shift;
Each thing his turn doth hold;
New things succeed,
As former things grow old.

(If you can't imagine keeping your Christmas decorations up until February 2, remember these customs began in countries where winter was bleak and cold. Bringing greenery into the house—especially greenery that might have bright berries like holly and mistletoe—and decorating fireplace mantels, picture frames, doorways, and windows would have added a cheery air to a dark season. Furthermore, fire-lit homes, while looking cozy in photos, without the backup of central heat or at least a stove, were still quite cold. Historians estimate those cozy images you see of "the little house on the prairie" or other pioneer homes don't pass on the reality that the temperature inside that house was only about 55°F! No wonder they wore long woolen underwear!)

However, the groundhog tradition comes from these old verses about the holiday:

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won't come again.

or

If Candlemas Day be dry and fair,
The half o the winter's to come and mair;
If Candlemas Day be wet and foul,
The half o the winter's gone at Yule.

German tradition postulated a badger that came out of his burrow on February 2 and either cast a shadow (dry and fair) or did not cast a shadow (rainy, or at least cloudy), and this sign meant the same thing. When Germans first migrated to the United States, they did not see badgers, so the custom was transferred to the woodchuck, commonly known as the groundhog.

Many people read this backward: that the groundhog seeing his shadow means spring is coming, and not seeing his shadow means winter is sticking around. But it is indeed the other way around: if he sees his shadow, the winter chill is continuing and will soon "blow itself out" and spring will come early. If he sees his shadow with the weather being sunny and dry, winter is "taking a breather," then is sure to come back stronger than ever.

Vintage Carols and Poems: "The Carnal and the Crane"

A Nativity parable.

[Note: a "carnal" is a French term for a crow.]

As I pass'd by the river side,
    And there as I did reign [run],
In argument I chanced to hear
    A Carnal and a Crane.

The Carnal said unto the Crane,
    If all the world should turn,
Before we had the Father,
    But now we have the Son!

From whence does the Son come,
    From where [or when] and from what place?
He said, In a manger,
    Between an ox and ass.

I pray thee,1 said the Carnal,
    Tell me before thou go,
Was not the mother of Jesus
    Conceived by the Holy Ghost?

She was the purest virgin,
    And the cleanest from sin;
She was the handmaid of our Lord
    And Mother of our king.

Where is the golden cradle
    That Christ was rocked in?
Where are the silken sheets
    That Jesus was wrapt in?

A manger was the [or his] cradle
    That Christ was rocked in:
The provender the asses left
    So sweetly he slept on.

There was a star in the West land,
    So bright it did appear,
Into King Herod's chamber,
    And where King Herod were.

The Wise Men soon espied it,
    And told the King on high
A princely babe was born that night
    No king could e'er destroy.

If this be true, King Herod said,
    As thou tellest unto me,
This roasted cock that lies in the dish
    Shall crow full fences three.

The cock soon freshly feathered was
    By the work of God's own hand
And then three fences3 crowed he
    In the dish where he did stand

Rise up, rise up, you [or my] merry men all,
    See that you ready be;
All children under two years old
    Now slain they all shall be.

Then Jesus, ah! and Joseph,
    And Mary, that was so pure,
They travell'd into Egypt,
    As you shall find it sure.

And when they came to Egypt's land,
    Amongst those fierce wild beasts,
Mary, she being weary,
    Must needs sit down to rest.

Come sit thee down, says Jesus,
    Come sit thee down by me,
And thou shalt see how these wild beasts
    Do come and worship me.'

First, came the lovely lion,
    Which Jesus's grace did spring,
And of the wild beasts in the field
    The lion shall be king.

We'll choose our virtuous princes
    Of birth and high degree,
In every sundry nation,
    Where'er we come and see.

Then Jesus, ah! and Joseph,
    And Mary, that was unknown,
They traveled by a husbandman,
    Just while his seed was sown-

God speed thee, man! said Jesus,
    Go fetch thy ox and wain,
And carry home thy corn again
    Which thou this day hast sown.'

The husbandman fell on his knees,
    Even upon [or before] his face:
Long time hast thou been looked for, [or talked of,]
    But now thou art come at last.

And I myself do now believe
    Thy name is Jesus called;
Redeemer of mankind thou art,
    Though undeserving all.

The truth, man, thou hast spoken,
    Of it thou may'st be sure,
For I must lose my precious blood
    For thee and thousands more.

If any one should come this way,
    And enquire for me alone,
Tell them that Jesus passed by
    As thou thy seed did [or had] sow.

After that there came King Herod,
    With his train so furiously,
Enquiring of the husbandman
    Whether Jesus passed by.

Why, the truth it must be spoke,
    And the truth it must be known;
For Jesus passed by this way
    When my seed was sown.

But now I have it reapen,
    And some laid on my wain,
Ready to fetch and carry
    Into my barn again.

Turn back, says the Captain,
    Your labor and mine's in vain;
It's full three quarters of a year
    Since he his seed has sown.

So Herod was deceived,
    By the work of God's own hand,
And [or No] further he proceeded
    Into the Holy Land.

There's thousands of children young
    Which for his sake did die;
Do not forbid those little ones,
    And do not them deny.

The truth now I have spoken,
    And the truth now I have shown;
Even the Blessed-Virgin
    She's now brought forth a son.

Embrace the Winter!

Merry Midwinter, Gillian Monks
I awarded this book the ultimate accolade: after reading the electronic version, I ordered the "real" book. So this is technically a re-read, although I notice that when I read anything electronic it doesn't feel like I've really read it.

Monks, who describes herself as a Quaker and a practicing Druid (I didn't think that was possible!) has written a great book about celebrating all of the winter holiday season, from Hallowe'en/Samhain all the way through Candlemas, as our ancestors did. She traces the history of all the wonderful customs of the season, from decorating with evergreens (greens which represented both the spirits of nature and the "ever green" eternal love of the Son of God) to celebrating female bringers of light like Saint Lucy and Frau Holle to the connection of the winter solstice to the establishment of Christmas by the Christian Church on a day that was already celebrated as a religious holiday (the Saturnalia of the Romans, the feast of Mithras by the Persians, and ceremonies for the Egyptian Osiris and the Greek god Apollo). And of course she addresses feasting, gift giving, the origins of some of the gift givers, including the now-ubiquitous Santa Claus, snow. As she states "Midwinter has always been a time for people to set aside their differences, lay down their weapons, and come together in a sense of community and celebration."

Her coziest chapters include some of her personal memories of each of the holidays marking the winter season; she once lived along a country road and had the pleasure of gathering her own winter greens like holly and mistletoe. Plus there are family recipes and DIY crafts, but the thing she emphasizes most of all is simplicity and anticipation of each phase of the season: not to rush any part of the winter season, but to enjoy each aspect of it, from the fun of Hallowe'en to the days building up to Christmas, and then not to let Christmas just stop at 11:59 p.m. on December 25, but to celebrate the entire twelve days of Christmastide and even the January days leading finally to Candlemas/Imbolc on the second of February by walking in wintry woods or enjoying the cold weather, and enjoying days doing crafts indoors when the weather is inclement. She firmly believes in the philosophy of "there is no bad weather, only inadequate clothing" and invites you not to bemoan the loss of summer warmth but to embrace the wintry chill. I loved this whole attitude of enjoying all the seasons, not overspending but making some Christmas decorations out of items found from nature (her example which goes throughout the book is having found a large branch just as the leaves were changing and bringing it inside to fasten in a container; she allows the leaves to fall off it naturally, and supplements it with items like acorns and berries in the fall, then tinsel and ornaments and winter-themed items at Christmas, then removes the tinsel and ornaments and just leaves the winter themed items until spring comes and the wood is ready to be recycled into firewood), and also of not allowing Christmas revelry to be trapped in a 24-hour period as our modern society dictates.

At the back of the book there is an extensive calendar of autumn and winter celebrations you can observe, like St. Catherine's Day devoted to reading and learning, St. Cecilia's Day with an emphasis on music, Feast of Fools Day on December 29 when you can go out with tomfoolery, Distaff's Day after Epiphany celebrating your work life, etc.

"Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve"

by Robert Herrick

Down with the rosemary and bays,
      Down with the misletoe ;
Instead of holly, now up-raise
      The greener box (for show).

The holly hitherto did sway ;
      Let box now domineer
Until the dancing Easter day,
      Or Easter's eve appear.

Then youthful box which now hath grace
      Your houses to renew;
Grown old, surrender must his place
      Unto the crisped yew.

When yew is out, then birch comes in,
      And many flowers beside;
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin
      To honour Whitsuntide.

Green rushes, then, and sweetest bents,
       With cooler oaken boughs,
Come in for comely ornaments
        To re-adorn the house.
Thus times do shift ; each thing his turn does hold;
New things succeed, as former things grow old.

"Farewell to Christmas"

Noël is leaving us,
Sad it is to tell,
But he will come again,
Adieu, Noël.

His wife and his children
Weep as they go.
On a gray horse,
They ride through the snow.

The kings ride away
In the snow and the rain,
After twelve months,
We shall see them again.

French Epiphany Carol, quoted in Celebrate the Wonder

"The Three Kings"

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Three Kings came riding from far away,

Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;

Three Wise Men out of the East were they,

And they travelled by night and they slept by day,

For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.

The star was so beautiful, large and clear,

That all the other stars of the sky

Became a white mist in the atmosphere,

And by this they knew that the coming was near

Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.

Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,

Three caskets of gold with golden keys;

Their robes were of crimson silk with rows

Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,

Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.

And so the Three Kings rode into the West,

Through the dusk of the night, over hill and dell,

And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,

And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,

With the people they met at some wayside well.

“Of the child that is born,” said Baltasar,

“Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;

For we in the East have seen his star,

And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,

To find and worship the King of the Jews.”

And the people answered, “You ask in vain;

We know of no King but Herod the Great!”

They thought the Wise Men were men insane,

As they spurred their horses across the plain,

Like riders in haste, who cannot wait.

And when they came to Jerusalem,

Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,

Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;

And said, “Go down unto Bethlehem,

And bring me tidings of this new king.”

So they rode away; and the star stood still,

The only one in the grey of morn;

Yes, it stopped—it stood still of its own free will,

Right over Bethlehem on the hill,

The city of David, where Christ was born.

And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,

Through the silent street, till their horses turned

And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;

But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,

And only a light in the stable burned.

And cradled there in the scented hay,

In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,

The little child in the manger lay,

The child, that would be king one day

Of a kingdom not human, but divine.

His mother Mary of Nazareth

Sat watching beside his place of rest,

Watching the even flow of his breath,

For the joy of life and the terror of death

Were mingled together in her breast.

They laid their offerings at his feet:

The gold was their tribute to a King,

The frankincense, with its odor sweet,

Was for the Priest, the Paraclete,

The myrrh for the body’s burying.

And the mother wondered and bowed her head,

And sat as still as a statue of stone,

Her heart was troubled yet comforted,

Remembering what the Angel had said

Of an endless reign and of David’s throne.

Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,

With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;

But they went not back to Herod the Great,

For they knew his malice and feared his hate,

And returned to their homes by another way.

Two Readings for Advent and Christmastide

Goodness and Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas, edited by Michael Leach, James Keane, and Doris Goodnough
Preparing My Heart for Advent, Ann Marie Stewart
When I saw these both at the same book sale, I figured it was fate. Here was something I could do for Advent and Christmastide, one reading a day until Christmas from each.

Alas, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was still juggling too many things. I skipped the books totally last year after starting the second one, and waded in with good intentions on November first. One would have ended on Sunday, the other on Monday, but since this weekend will be busy I just sat quietly today and finished the readings from Christmas Day onward. Perhaps next year.

Goodness and Light is a small book with one essay a day starting November 1 and finishing on St. Distaff's Day (January 7). These range from poetry to essays to a couple of short stories, one of which, Cheever's "Christmas is a Sad Time for the Poor," I didn't think was really representative of the rest of the theme. However, "Papa Panov's Special Christmas" was quite welcome. Some of the essays are by religious figures who were missionaries put into prison; some are totally unexpected, like one from Anne Rice who became a born-again Christian after writing her famous vampire books. There are some well-known names here: Maya Angelou, Pope Francis, Annie Dillard, even one by Ghandi, but it's the sometimes small ones that captured my attention, like "Holy Innocents" for the 28th of December, or "Salvation Army Santa Claus Rings His Bell."

Preparing My Heart for Advent is partially a Bible study and workbook. You begin on November 1 reading from the Bible and doing the daily exercises. These readings of the old and new Testaments explain the background behind the coming of the Messiah: the prophecies, the history, the primary and secondary figures in what we call "the Christmas story," hymns, etc. From December 1 through Epiphany there are daily devotions, each with a Bible verse, a Reflection and finally a Response (prayer).

If you are looking for a more spiritual experience at Christmas, both these books are recommended. If you wish to delve a little more into Biblical study, the second book would be an appropriate choice.

Now Is the Time to Take It Slowly

Each year about this time, I pick up the following three books:

• Celebrate the Wonder: A Family Christmas Treasury by Kristin M. Tucker and Rebecca Lowe Warren
• Unplug the Christmas Machine by Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli
• The Christmas Survival Book by Alice Slaikeu Lawhead 

These are three volumes about preparing for the holidays—not the shopping/cooking/crafting experience, but getting the most out of the celebration. While Celebrate the Wonder includes crafts and recipes and "Custom Inspection" check-ins to inspire to you to perhaps adapt a new tradition, all three books address common themes:

1. People expect too much from Christmas, based on commercials, idealized films, and photo spreads in magazines.
2. A belief if you don't spend lots of money and buy "appropriate" gifts, you are not celebrating properly.
3. People expect troubles (family, financial, etc.) to go away at Christmas, and everything will be perfect.
4. Your Christmas must be perfect or it's not really Christmas.
5. Too many people are overscheduled at Christmas, whether it be for family visits, church events, or Christmas experiences (like The Nutcracker, cooking certain foods, etc.).
6. Women do all the work at Christmas and men feel left out; sometimes children also feel left out.

Celebrate the Wonder and Survival Book have a strong, but not overpowering Christian flavor that will be negligible to people who celebrate the more secular side of the holiday, but all three advise similar things: if a tradition does not make you happy, consider dropping it or revising it (visit relatives at a different time of year or don't bake so much or bake early); spread Christmas festivities over the entire Christmastide season (December 25 through Epiphany, January 6) rather than cramming it into one or two days;  ideas for gifts that are ecologically or ethnically thoughtful or nonstandard (gifts of time, family gifts, nontraditional gifts like a museum membership, park pass, etc.); the idea that you cannot change others, you can only change yourself or your perceptions; scheduling events so that you, your spouse, and any children are not overwhelmed; and toning down the influence of television and media on Christmas expectations.

The Survival book also has an occasional tongue-in-cheek look at holiday excesses, like chapter one's vision of an idealized holiday vs. Christmas reality, and some humorous drawings. Both this book and Unplug the Christmas Machine have exercises you can do to improve your celebrations. Celebrate the Wonder has beautiful pencil drawings opening each chapter and an idea for an activity for every day leading up to Christmas to inspire you to think up events of your own.

I believe all these books may be out of print, but you may want to find them at a reasonable price. While not necessary to have all of them, the trio provide a nice overview of getting the most out of Advent, Christmastide, and Epiphany, and will prompt you to do more reading and less rushing.

First Sunday of Advent: Never Enough Time

I've loved Christmas seemingly forever, from the days when I made my own ornaments out of cardboard and the foil saved from chocolate Easter eggs and gum wrappers, and painstakingly broke apart walnuts and glued the empty shells back together, gilding them with Testor's gold and silver enamel paint and sprinkling them with different colors of glitter. (All of these ornaments are still on my feather tree.) I still look forward to decorating with anticipation, although it seems each year the boxes get heavier!

What makes me sad is that each year it's a race to get everything done. There are cards to be sent and gifts to be mailed and decorations to go up, and no matter how early I begin, I never catch up. I want to do everything. It's not a chore, but that clock keeps chasing me. This year I am behind because of a ridiculous cold.

I think what bothers me most is that I also like to do "Christmas-y" things at Christmastime: visit the stores in downtown Marietta, go to see "An Atlanta Christmas" as done by the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, drive up to Chattanooga to see what's going on at McKay's Books (and to have some yummy chicken soup from City Cafe), attend the Apple Annie Craft Show at the Catholic Church of Saint Anne. I keep wanting to do other things, too: perhaps go to the Botanical Garden, or back to the History Center, or drive through Madison, GA, which is a picture-perfect antebellum town that puts on the dog for the holidays. But, like the decorating and the mailing and the cards, all these things have to be done before Christmas. Well, okay, a craft show pretty much has to be held before Christmas...but it frets me that I can no longer do some of the things, like the Christmas walk around the city, or the McKay's trip, or going to Madison or the monastery, in the week between Christmas and New Year's. I know that no one's done the Twelve Days of Christmas properly for years, but I remember things being slower to turn around "way back when."  Sure, there were sales galore on December 26, but all the Christmas decorations stayed up until New Year's, with black-and-silver and black-and-gold New Year's Eve decorations dotting the still festive streets and store aisles. There was still one week left to enjoy the Christmas season, another week to savor the leftovers and enjoy the presents and admire the outdoor decorations and the colorful lights.

Now by the time afternoon comes on December 26, everything's ripped up, put in a corner and marked "clearance," and everything has turned pink, heart-shaped, and chocolate. (Next thing we know there are "if you love her you will buy her expensive jewelry" commercials.) We're chivvied, rushed, and left bereft as Christmas just clicks off like a light switch at midnight. Good grief, can't we at least get past New Year's Day without hearing from Valentine's Day? I miss the Aste Spumonte ads and the displays of party hats and noisemakers and paper horns and blowouts, and the reports on the news about resolutions.

It's one place where the "slow movement" and "mindfulness" should come back. Till then I'll have to retreat into my leftover Christmas magazines and reread my Christmas books and enjoy my own lights—everything here stays up until Epiphany!

Christmas in the Country

The Country Diary Christmas Book, Sarah Hollis
PBS's Masterpiece Theatre initially chugged along with costume epics like The First Churchills, but its breakout moment came as people got immersed in the life of the Bellamy family in the Edwardian-era Upstairs, Downstairs. 1970s' Downton Abbey, Americans who couldn't tell Edward VII (the portly one) from Edward VIII (the one who abdicated) and thought Brits were all upper-class twits were crazy for the program and its characters, especially parlourmaid Rose (Jean Marsh) and her fellow servants. Suddenly Edwardian-era things were all in demand. In the meantime, a member of Edith Holden's family cherished an illustrated nature diary the young woman had kept in 1906. Edith's watercolors of birds and plants, combined with diary notations and quotations, was finally published in a facsimile edition in 1977 as Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. Snapped up by Upstairs, Downstairs fans, the book spun off blank books, notepaper, china, etc. Another of Edith's diaries emerged in the 1980s and was published as Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady.

Author Sarah Hollis compiled several other books based on Edith's book, and I don't remember when and where I found this one, probably on the remainder table at Borders, but it's been a cherished part of my Christmas library and Christmas reading for years. It's an irresistible combination of winter entries from Edith's diaries, and paintings (including some by Beatrix Potter), engravings, poetry, essays, excerpts from books, Edwardian-themed Christmas cards, recipes, small crafts, and other Edwardian-era items that make you feel you are back in a wood-paneled, gaslit home accented with the heavenly scent of candles, evergreens, polished wood, and Christmas goodies cooking in the kitchen. It's perfect bedtime reading for Advent and Christmastide: warm, soothing, nostalgic. If these are the things that mean "Christmas" to you, find a copy of this book. A Christmas classic!

Happy Epiphany!

Why Christians Celebrate the Feast Day

Epipany and Theophany Around the World

The Vatican's Epiphany of the Lord, celebrated this year on Sunday, January 8

What ARE The Twelve Days of Christmas?

Epiphany by Janet McKenzie

Just what are the twelve days of Christmas? Well, the commercial community will have you believe they are the twelve days before Christmas, during which you need to spend, spend, spend to make sure you give your family and friends their due gifts. It's a cynical slap at what used to be twelve days of merrymaking between Christmas Day—the first Day of Christmas—and January 5, which is celebrated as Twelfth Night. (Those in Shakespeare's time knew this, hence his play, "Twelfth Night," as the merrymaking reaches its peak.)

January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany, generally regarded as the date on which the magi from the east found the child Jesus. (The Bible makes no mention of three "kings" or three of anything at all, except the gifts that are mentioned: gold, frankincense, and myrrh—and these may be symbolic. The magi or "wise men" are never said to be kings, and they do not arrive at the stable along with the shepherds—the translation clearly indicates a house, and Jesus is described as a "young child," not a baby. They may have reached the family several years after his birth, which explains Herod's order to kill all male children up to two years old.)

Even then, Christmastide is not over for many segments of the population. Scandinavians celebrate until January 13, "Knut," when they dance around the Christmas tree and then plunder its contents (since the tree is often decorated with cookies). Eastern Orthodox Christians still use the Julian calendar, so Christmas falls on January 7 and Epiphany (Theophany) is not until the 19th.

Even further in the past, folks left up their Christmas greenery until Candlemas, February 2. But, after that, it's bad luck to keep it up. (This may come from sensible reasoning: Christmas greens back then were fresh, and the longer they remained up, the drier and more flammable they became!)

* * Wikipedia Entry * *

Star of Wonder

On the first Christmas, Joseph and Mary and the Baby Jesus were visited not only by shepherds, but by three kings, who brought the baby gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Well, not quite. The visitors who brought these gifts are not present in Luke's gospel, which features the shepherds. The story of the visitors is from Matthew's gospel, and says, in fact, that the Holy Family were living in a house and most translations say Jesus was a child, not an infant. So it is probable that the visit took place later than the birth in the stable.

The visitors are never identified as kings, but as astrologers, men who study the stars for portends, also known as "magi," magicians. Nor are strictly three identified. No mention is made of how many magi visited, or whatever other gifts are given; only mentioned are the gold, frankincense, and myrrh (which, scholars tell us, are symbolic gifts: gold for godhood, frankincense for priesthood, myrrh, which was used on bodies of the dead, predicting His crucifixion), so tradition makes it three.

✯ Epiphany 2016

✯ Readings for Epiphany

✯ Reflections for Epiphany

✯ Epiphany at Cute Calendar

✯ Reflections on Epiphany 2016

✯ Three Kings Day

✯ King Cake

Farewell to Christmas

Epiphany Surprises

First up—sleeping for eight whole hours! Won't get to do this again until next Sunday.

And a final Christmas treat, toast with clotted cream.

Now it was time to get back to the routine, so we were off to Kroger to buy supplies for work lunches and ordinary supplies. On the way out we spotted what was left of the Christmas things: bags of bows and rolls of wrapping paper. I hadn't intended to buy any more of either, but these bows were different: there weren't any golds and silvers, and more other colors than red and green: blues, purples, magentas, plus white. I grabbed three bags at $1.20 each.

There's a type of chocolate milk James is able to drink at Walmart, so we stopped there to get it and came out with all sorts of other things: handheld breakfasts for him, meat ravioli (you don't usually see meat ravioli), an extension cord I needed, etc., and in a big bin of marked-down Blu-Rays we found Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. So that's what I watched this afternoon after getting my bag ready for work and putting up the groceries while James retreated to the "man cave" for a bit. Looks scrumdiddlyumptious in Blu-Ray, and, I found, even slightly appropriate for Epiphany, because Veruca sings about wanting "a bean feast," which, it is believed, derives from the bean that is put into the Twelfth Night cake!

And now I'm watching The House Without A Christmas Tree again, just because (and because the music has been going through my head for ages).

Oh, look, here's an article from 2011 that talks about the film and interviews Lisa Lucas.

Epiphany

The Bible tells us two versions of the Christmas story. One is the familiar version from St. Luke, which almost everyone knows from its being quoted by Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas. This contains the birth of Jesus, Mary's laying the Christ child in the manger, the angels and the shepherds.

It is from St. Matthew that the other familiar part of the story comes to pass. Here are the Wise Men (the "Magi," which in those days meant "magicians" or more probably astrologers who studied the stars) who follow the star, who are detoured by King Herod, who finally find the Christ child, and who "depart home in a different direction" without giving information to the king.

From these two pieces of scripture we get the image that is in every nativity set, and even in things like Rankin-Bass' Little Drummer Boy: the shepherds and the "Kings" all at the stable at once, the learned visitors offering gifts while sheep mill about. But the Bible doesn't even make mention of a stable, just a manger, no ox, no ass (these come from another Biblical passage) and there is no indication that the two different groups of worshipers met. Indeed, St. Matthew even mentions that the Magi have come to a house to meet the child. Nor does the Bible mention how many Wise Men—three are listed only because of the three symbolic gifts they bring: gold for kingship, frankincense for priesthood, and myrrh for death. And they are certainly not stated to be Kings.

Nevertheless, Epiphany commemorates the visit of the Wise Men to the young Jesus, and is one of the reasons gifts are given at Christmas. In some cultures, Christmas is strictly a religious observance, and gifts are given only at Epiphany, to commemorate the event, especially in Spanish-speaking countries. However, with the popularization of Christmas as a gift-giving holiday, there are often now two gift-giving days.

The Italians and the Russians have another character who figures in Epiphany gift giving. The story has several versions, but the basic one is that the Wise Men stop enroute to ask an old woman for directions, telling her of the great miracle. She is busy cleaning house and does not want to bother with them. In some versions she is quite brusque with them. Later, she feels badly about having treated them so shabbily, and is also curious about the Christ child. So she gathers gifts for the baby and follows the Magi. However, she never finds them, and goes from house to house, looking for the miraculous child. Not finding Him, she still leaves a gift behind for each child in the house.

In Italy this old woman, often referred to as a "strega" (witch), is called La Befana (Befana being a version of "Epiphania"). In Russia she is known as Baboushka.

Well, I've felt a bit like La Befana all day! I've been cleaning for our party, starting downstairs. The library had been vacuumed recently, but I gave it another going over, and then cleaned the bathroom. This is just in case the younger folks at the party get bored with us old geezers comparing how many days we have till retirement (or openly envying Anne and Betty, who have already retired) and wish to retire themselves, to play a game or just shoot the breeze. I also vacuumed the downstairs hall and the stairs to the foyer, then got the cheap little Cyberhome DVD we have in the spare room going with the television in case the girls want to watch a DVD. From there I cleaned the bedrooms, and also finished cleaning the hall bathroom, which is the company bathroom. Willow had her bath last night (a half-hour task that is more exhausting than vacuuming) and I had to collect the hair left around the drain screen and then tackle the potty. Later vacuumed the dining room and part of the living room, put the seat cover back on James' Laz-Y-Boy (Willow sleeps in it and it was well-furred), then took a deep breath and vacuumed the foyer (again) and the rest of the stairs. Still have to clean off the sofa and the coffee table, but that pretty much involves putting all the magazines in a crate and sticking them in the bedroom. :-)

The Feast of Epiphany

Well, officially Christmas is over. It is the Feast of the Epiphany, when it is said that the Magi/Wise Men (not the three Wise Men, since the Bible never specifies how many there were; three has become traditional due to the three gifts named, gold, frankincense, and myrrh—some cultures say there were twelve Wise Men) reached the child Jesus to present gifts to him. (Again, the Bible does not state the Wise Men arrived at the stable in Bethlehem. In fact, it mentions that they found the child, not necessarily still a baby, in a house.)

Since we got the bad news about BJs yesterday, I was there first thing this morning—in fact, even before they opened, gathered with a bunch of people mourning the store—to make sure that I did get things for the party. I had been told, and so did some of the others waiting at the door, that the merchandise would be on discount. That didn't happen, but I did get the party stuff, and also some extra items, like tea and mushrooms, then came home.

So I've been tidying up for the event, mostly washing the floors upstairs and in the foyer, and also sweeping downstairs. Before Christmas, I used the vacuum cleaner, which is supposed to be rated for both floors and carpet, on the foyer to get it as clean as possible. The wretched wheels left streaks on the foyer floor, and I was hoping scrubbing it again would help. It didn't. I am really annoyed.

This afternoon I sat down to watch a film called The Perfect Gift. Apparently this is one of a string of Christian films about a stranger who helps lead people back to God. In this one, a spoiled girl, Max, obsessed with the fact that no one remembers her birthday because it's on Christmas, and her overstressed executive mother, are expecting a sad holiday: earlier in the year Dad walked off with some chippie from his health club and they have had to sell Max's horse and move into a small apartment away from her school. Max and her mom live next door to Tony, who is a minister at a small church where the head pastor has lost his way. Tony is trying to rebuild the church's nativity stable when an itinerant man (who bears a remarkable resemblance to Jesus) offers to help him with it.

I think you can guess what happens next, but I rather enjoyed the whole thing. These small Christian films are sometimes very didactic, or, even worse, sanctimonious. Sometimes they even resemble elementary school plays, with stilted lines and unbelieveable characters. This was all very natural. The little girl and her mom didn't go through clichè histrionic revelations, and the handyman spoke in a soft, but ordinary voice and didn't have a figurative halo over his head. (Okay, they did make him glow a little at the end, which I thought was overkill. We get it.)

After that, I watched A Wind at My Back Christmas, a sequel to the Canadian series which is running on the Inspirational Channel. I know about this series from my late friend Dana, who used to talk about it all the time. The series is the Depression-era story of Honey Bailey and her three children, who return to her late husband's home town after his death because she can't care for them on her own. Unfortunately her mother-in-law hates her, mostly because she's Catholic, and has the two older boys live with her and the little sister fostered by a childless couple to spite Honey. However, things work out: Honey marries a teacher and gets her children back, and the series follows their adventures in the small mining town of New Bedford, Ontario.

In the Christmas movie the oldest boy, Hubert "Hub," is attending college where he has become involved with Anna Schiller, a refugee girl from Austria whom he helps with anti-fascist meetings. He takes Anna home with him for Christmas when he discovers she is Jewish and has come into Canada illegally (Canada did not accept Jewish immigrants), and is being hunted by the Mounties. His mercurial younger brother Henry ("Fat"), who wants to become a Mountie despite his family not taking him seriously, assumes antagonism the moment Hub gets home, and his old pal Maisie, who has a crush on him despite the fact she knows he wants to go into the priesthood, of course is dismayed to see Anna in his company. In the meantime his mother is urging her husband to get back to his writing. When the RCMP comes to New Bedford looking for Anna, Hub knows what he has to do. This was a great period piece taking place in 1938, and I enjoyed all the character interactions despite not having seen all the backstories.

Farewell, Christmas

It never seems to last long enough—not just Christmas, but that whole golden season that starts with a glimpse of fun to come: DragonCon, Yellow Daisy Festival, even Blue Ribbon Affair, as small as it has gotten. Then the air starts to chill and the real fun starts: the Apple Festival, vacation, preparing for Thanksgiving and then for Christmas, days that go by in a twinkling on enchanted wings.

Our party is Saturday, and of course a few bright lights will shine: Valentines Day, Atomicon, Timegate on Memorial Day weekend, but otherwise it's all downhill from here. First it will get warm, then the pine pollen will choke us for weeks and blanket the landscape with its dirty, gritty yellowness, then the flowers will bloom along with allergies...and then it will be...ugh...summer and then, even worse, end of fiscal year (misery doubled).

Pretty lights. Pretty tinsel. Pretty music. Lights, fun, frolic. Cool, sweet air.

Ah, well, maybe the snow will come through tomorrow...

Epiphany

Christmastide has always been a time for gift-giving. While most think this references the gifts of the Magi to the infant Jesus, gift-giving at New Year's was already an established custom started by the Romans. "Strenae," sweet cakes and small trinkets like thimbles and needles, were the usual gifts.

In some of the northern countries, St. Nicholas was the gift giver and arrived on the eve of his saint's day, December 6. Due to the gifts received by Jesus and connected with his birth, the most common gift day is December 25.

But in many of the warm countries, the gift-giving day is the feast of the Epiphany, when Biblical record tells us the Magi found Jesus, His mother Mary, and His foster father Joseph. The nativity story is actually in two parts. The one which Linus quotes in A Charlie Brown Christmas is from Luke, which tells of the journey to Bethlehem, the angels announcing the birth to the shepherds, and the visit of the shepherds themselves.

The visit of the Magi, or Wise Men (or "kings," although the Bible never says they are royal), occurs in Matthew, and does not happen concurrently with the birth/shepherd story (as has been presented in many stories, including Rankin-Bass' iconic Little Drummer Boy). Matthew, in fact, states that Jesus and his family are not in a stable, but in a house, and that Jesus is a small child, not an infant. The number of Magi is not mentioned either; they are usually numbered at three because of the three gifts mentioned. There could have been more gifts: the gold, frankincense and myrrh were symbolic of Jesus' kingship, priesthood, and death.

The gift givers vary by country. Most Spanish-speaking countries are given gifts by the three "kings." In Syria, the gift-bringer is actually the smallest camel in the kings' caravan.

Both Italy and Russia have a twist on this story. Italy's traditional gift-giver is La Befana, although most modern Italian kids ask for gifts from "Babbo Natale," their version of Santa Claus. "Befana" is a corruption of "Epifania." The Russian version is named "Babouscka." She is usually portrayed as looking a bit like a kindly Hallowe'en witch, with tattered clothing and old shoes because she has been traveling for so long.

So the story goes, elderly Befana, like most traditional Italian women, was cleaning her house. The three kings stopped at her house for directions. After offhandedly pointing the way out to them, Befana is in a hurry to get back to her cleaning. They ask her if she does not want to come with them to see the infant King. No, no, she says, I have to finish my cleaning.

The kings leave (in some versions of the story, she misleads them, but the star shows them the true route) and Befana finishes her cleaning. She now feels guilty, gathers up gifts for the new little King, and hurries after them. But she never catches up with them. Instead she visits every home where there could be a child, and, not knowing if this is the correct one, leaves a gift. (Sounds a bit like the Flying Dutchman...)

The feast of the Epiphany officially ends Christmastide. Some legends say all greens and decorations should be out of the house by this date. However, Candlemas (February 2) is known as the last day for the burning of the Christmas greens.

In Norway, the official ending of the Christmas season is January 13, St. Knut's Day.