New Year's Eve, The Seventh Day Of Christmas 2024

 

"Good Health" 1911                                  Heines Kalmsteiner

Welcome to the seventh day of Christmas 2024, the last day of the year. That means it's also New Year's Eve. We bookend our post tonight with two fine examples of the work of the superb illustrators and graphic artists who were part of the Wiener Werkstatte, a Vienna Succession movement in the early 20th century in Europe.


In much of Christian Europe this day is also known as Silvester or the Feast of Sylvester. Some of the more interesting iterations of celebrating the arrival of the new year occur in the Celtic nations of Wales and Scotland. In Wales "New Year's Eve" translates to "Nos Galan," a day to pay off all debts, visit from house to house (first-footing) to sing carols, exchange gifts, drink a refreshing beverage or two, and enjoy mincemeat pie and rice pudding. The great musical tradition of Wales has provided us with the melody for the most appropriate carol for the day, Deck the Halls. A wide variety of lyrics emerged over the last three centuries. The video below provides one example and a partial translation. The video concludes with the more familiar Deck the Halls lyrics written in 1862.

Cold is the man who can't love,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

The old mountains of dear Wales,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

To him and his warmest friend,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la,

A cheerful holiday next year,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Cold is the snow on Mount Snowdon,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

Even though it has a flannel blanket on it,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

Cold are the people who don't care,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la,

To meet together on New Year's Eve,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

The day is known as Hogmanay in Scotland. It's a nice blend of old and new elements including fireworks, bonfires, torchlight processions, partying, and the driving out of trolls. The many features of Hogmanay will be repeated throughout this day as the new year sweeps across the face of the planet. Virtually all the these activities will involve the gathering of family and friends. Whether they celebrate among millions or simply with immediate family there will come a time to end the celebration and look forward to the sun rising on the first new day of the new year. In the western world, perhaps any place touched by British traditions, that gathering will end with the singing of Robert Burns's poem, Auld Lang Syne, set to an ancient Scottish folk melody. At least three centuries before Burns's lyric became popular, there was another song shared among departing English, Irish, and Scots friends on the eve of the new year. We offer The Parting Glass to you tonight as we ring out 2018 and ring in 2019 as a year of hope overflowing with blessing and goodwill for all.

Happy New Year 2025!

Happy New Year, Postcard 149       Karl Dellavilla, ca. 1908

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
theviennasuccession.com

Text:
bbc.co.uk

The Sixth Day Of Christmas 2024

We're only half way through Christmastide, the traditional celebration of the season that lasts over twelve days beginning with Christmas Day. December 30 is a relatively quiet day in the liturgical calendar; therefore, we have an opportunity to enjoy a different kind of Christmas celebration, the Boar's Head Feast. The feast we know has its origin in legend almost 700 years ago at Oxford College Cambridge. Today the feasts occur across Great Britain and the United States particularly on university campuses and among Episcopal congregations.

Boar's Head Gaudy, The Queen's College, University of Oxford

The perfect musical accompaniment for the feast is the Boar's Head Carol. This interesting macaronic song - meaning one consisting of several languages - dates from 15th century England. The presentation and feast it describes likely have pagan associations as do many of our traditions. In the U.S. interest in the restoration of this whole pig roast, complete with apple, appears to be growing. Here is a bold treatment of the carol by Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior:

The boar's head in hand bear I,

Bedeck'd with bays and rosemary.

I pray you, my masters, be merry

Quot estis in convivio (As many as are in the feast)

Caput apri defero (The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Giving praises to the Lord)

Caput apri defero (The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Giving praises to the Lord)

The boar's head, as I understand,

Is the rarest dish in all this land,

Which thus bedeck'd with a gay garland

Let us servire cantico. (Let us serve with a song)

Caput apri defero (The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Giving praises to the Lord)

Caput apri defero (The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Giving praises to the Lord)

Our steward hath provided this

In honour of the King of Bliss;

Which, on this day to be served is

In Reginensi atrio. (In the Queen's hall)

Caput apri defero (The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Giving praises to the Lord)

Caput apri defero (The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Giving praises to the Lord)

The boar's head, as I understand,

Is the rarest dish in all this land,

Which thus bedeck'd with a gay garland

Let us servire cantico. (Let us serve with a song)

Caput apri defero (The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Giving praises to the Lord)

Caput apri defero (The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Giving praises to the Lord)

My dad loved the Christmas season and instilled in me an appreciation for the twelve-day festivity of Christmastide. I instilled that appreciation in my children in hope that they would understand the joy to be found that begins with Christmas Day and ends with Epiphany, the celebration of the rebirth of Jesus in baptism. I think it's a far better way to observe the liturgical season rather than the stressful, contemporary , and highly commercial "one and done" approach we have today. I trust you will agree and if so moved by tradition introduce the celebration of Christmastide to your friends and family.






Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
The Queen's Colleg on X

Text:
wikipedia.org
boarsheadfestival.com

The Fifth Day Of Christmas 2024

In our exploration of Christmastide this year we have reached the day when followers of Catholic and Anglican traditions celebrate the Feast of Thomas Becket. During the reign of Henry II, Becket was confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. A long-standing dispute over church authority led to his murder by four of the king's knights on December 29, 1170, inside Canterbury Cathedral.

Leaf from Carrow Psalter, ca. 1250, depicting Thomas Becket's assassination

The carol of the day comes from a 15th century manuscript that survived Henry VIII's attempt to obliterate all memorials to Becket. This setting was composed by Stephen Barker for the 2020 Canterbury Medieval Festival and the 850th anniversary of Becket's murder in the cathedral.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
wikipedia.org, Carrow Psalter leaf, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Public domain in the United States.

Text:
catholicculture.org
wikipedia.org

The Fourth Day Of Christmas 2024

On this day of Christmas we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The Innocents are the young male children of Bethlehem killed by King Herod in his attempt to eliminate the threat to his power from a newborn King of the Jews.

Massacre of the Innocents              Peter Paul Rubens, ca 1611

Music for the day is the "Coventry Carol" , a song from the mystery play, The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. Guild plays in Coventry, England, date to the 14th century but the documentation of their contents did not appear until the mid 1500's.

In the play, an angel appears to Joseph and tells him to take Mary and the Child to Egypt to escape Herod's slaughter. Immediately thereafter three mothers from Bethlehem enter with their children and sing the carol.

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Lullay, thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,

For to preserve this day

This poor youngling for whom we do sing

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his owne sight,

All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!

And ever mourn and sigh,

For thy parting neither say nor sing,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

The Third Day Of Christmas 2024

December 27 is the Third Day of Christmas and the feast day of Saint John the Evangelist and Apostle. John was one of the Twelve. He stood at the foot of the cross at the Crucifixion. At the direction of Jesus, he cared for Mary until her death. Most Bible scholars credit John with the authorship of the Gospel of John, three Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation.

St. John the Evangelist                             El Greco, ca 1600

Music for the day is Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata, Sehen welch eine liebe hat uns der vater erzeiget, BWV 64. The title translates as "Mark ye how great a love this is that the Father has shown us." Bach wrote this piece for the Third Day of Christmas in 1723 during his first year in Leipzig. Those who would like a translation of the libretto can find one here.

The Second Day Of Christmas 2024

Stoning of St. Stephen Paolo Occello, ca. 1435

Today is December 26, the second day of Christmastide. On this day in the western church we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, an early church deacon and the first Christian martyr. His death in the name of charity had led this day to be associated with the distribution of food and other essentials to those in need. A thousand years later stories about the life and death of another generous Christian, Wenceslas of Czechoslovakia, would eventually lead to the writing of a mid-19th century Christmas carol that would forever link the two martyrs.

Here is some quiet music for the end of a day in which many of us reflect on and recover from the festivities of the previous day as well as look forward to the remaining days of Christmas, if not the season of Christmastide itself.

Sources:
Photos and Illustrations:
commons.wikmedia.org; the painting is located in the Duomo Prato, Italy.

John Marin: Blazing The Path To Moderism

 

Blue Sea                                                        John  Marin, 1945

In 1969, I first saw paintings by John Marin (1870-1953) when my history professor, David Grimsted, took his class to the Phillips Collection (Dupont Circle, Washington) for an exploration of American culture through the artist's eye. Not sure how much history was absorbed that day but I left with a deep appreciation of John Marin's work that is still going strong after 50 years. Marin's style largely influenced my interest in the watercolors of the Southern artist, Walter Inglis Anderson, a decade later. By that time visual arts had taken on a far more significant role in my career, a role never imagined, but one I came to appreciate and enjoy.

Marin was born on this day in Rutherford, New Jersey, in the midst of the nation's struggling recovery from the Civil War. He was trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Anderson attended there 1923 - 1928) then spent a few years searching for his muse in Europe before returning to his home country where he continued perfecting his technique in watercolors. He was almost forty before his serious breakthrough into the art world that included an exhibit at the famous Armory Show of 1913. A decade later he had attracted the attention of major collectors including Duncan Phillips whose world-renowned collection of modern art would form the core of the Phillips Memorial Gallery, now known as the Phillips Collection.

Lower New York From The Bridge         John Marin, 1914

The period from 1870 to 1920 was a transitional one as the United States evolved into the world's leading economy. As one of the first modernists in American art, John Marin had a strong influence on the transition of painting and illustration well into the 20th century. I enjoy his balance of realism and abstraction, the opacity of color, and the fact that he interpreted a sense of place incorporating both nature and its cultural overlay.

For more information on the techniques that made Marin so significant, here is a brief video, "John Marin's Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism," produced by the Art institute of Chicago:

How to paint the landscape: First you make your bow to the landscape. Then you wait, and if the landscape bows to you, then, and only then, can you paint the landscape.

                                                John Marin

Lower Manhattan                                                  John Marin, 1920

It's Old Man Winter's Favorite Season

Today is the first day of Winter and the shortest day - less than twelve hours of sunshine -  of the year in the Northern hemispere That event as well as the coot evening temperatures will be more than enough to awaken thoughts of sub-freezing temperatures, howling winds and depths of drifting snow measured in feet. 

In Henry Purcell's 1671 semi-opera, King Arthur, the spirit of Winter is depicted as Cold Genius, a frozen old man who much prefers dormancy under snowdrifts to an invitation to celebrate the coming of Spring.

What power art thou Who from below Hast made me rise Unwillingly and slow From beds of everlasting snow See'st thou not how stiff And wondrous old Far unfit to bear the bitter cold I can scarcely move Or draw my breath I can scarcely move Or draw my breath Let me, let me, Let me freeze again Let me, let me Freeze again to death Let me, let me, let me Freeze again to death...

Much of the nation won't have long to wait Cold Genius's favoite weather. Personally I don't look forward to cold temperatures, ice, assorted freezing slop, and black snow lining city streets for the next three months. On the other hand, the thought of lengthening days that arrived with today's solstice brings a big smile to my face. This rebirth of the sun has brought happiness to humans for quite a long time.

The Newgrange Tumulus in County Meath, Ireland, is a nice illustration of this long-standing respect for the rebirth of light and warmth to a culture. The burial mound has a passage that aligns perfectly with the winter solstice sunrise. People have observed the illumination of the keystone at Newgrange for over 4500 years. That's long before Stonehenge and the Giza pyramids existed.

The winter solstice is also know as Midwinter is some circles. Here is unquestionably the song of the day, In the Bleak Midwinter, a perfect blend of nature and the "coming of the light" in the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

In the bleak mid-winter

Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron,

Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

Snow on snow,

In the bleak mid-winter

Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him

Nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away

When He comes to reign:

In the bleak mid-winter

A stable-place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty,

Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim

Worship night and day,

A breastful of milk,

And a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, whom angels

Fall down before,

The ox and ass and camel

Which adore.

Angels and archangels

May have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim

Thronged the air -

But only His mother

In her maiden bliss

Worshipped the Beloved

With a kiss.

What can I give Him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

I would bring a lamb;

If I were a wise man

I would do my part;

Yet what I can, I give Him -

Give my heart.

For the next six months the sun will climb a bit higher every day in the Northern Hemisphere. We won't notice heat from the "rebirth" of the sun until a month or so into this cycle. While the lengthening days can give us hope that the "dead season" will soon come to an end, we can still enjoy the experience of a world at quiet rest.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

Newgrange aerial photo, gaia.com
Newgrange plan and section, public domain illustration, William Frederick Wakeman, Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Heritage (1903), archives.org

A Southern Preacher's Kid Observes His World

Erskine Caldwell (1903-1987) was an only child, a "PK," a preacher's kid. His family moved frequently throughout the South until he was fifteen when they settled in Wrens, Georgia. Still, his father often preached on large circuits, necessitating plenty of travel. In fact, the elder Caldwell traveled so regularly that his son could determine his destinations by the odor of coal smoke on his suit. In time, father took son on many of these journeys. The peculiarity, poverty, and injustice of the Depression era South was embedded in Erskine Caldwell's memory and he soon began writing about it. His observations had little to do with remnants of "the late unpleasantness" - the Civil War - that often gripped the region. Instead, Caldwell wrote of the raw realities of the human condition in the South. This, and his crusade for improving conditions, did not sit well with many Southerners. The dislike was enhanced because he was writing "in absentia," having left the South before 1930. Furthermore, his subject matter often placed him in conflict with censors across the country.

Caldwell had a long career as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, but he is best known for Tobacco Road (1932), God's Little Acre (1933) and other works from the 1930's. An adaptation of Tobacco Road played on Broadway for eight years - a record at the time - beginning in 1933. A "sentimental burlesque" adaptation directed by John Ford in 1941 contributed to the stereotyping and ridicule of poor white Southerners. Caldwell greatly disliked the film. God's Little Acre remains one of the most popular novels in the U.S. with over ten million copies in print. A 1958 film version is considered the best presentation of Caldwell themes on film.


Here are the opening scenes from Tobacco Road (1941) and the theatrical trailer from God's Little Acre (1958):

Caldwell, who was born on this day in 1903, is an interesting blend of 20th century authors. He is Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, D.H. Lawrence, Christopher Isherwood, Joseph Mitchell, and a reflection of other modernists. Readers who seek more than discourse on the happy veneer of the human condition will enjoy Caldwell's interpretations. A good place to start is Deep South: Memory and Observation, a collection of travel essays written in 1968.

Read more about him in this entry from the New Georgia Encyclopedia. The volume is also the source of a quotation and other information in this post.

A Dream Beyond Time Comes True

On this day in 1903 at Kitty Hawk on the outer banks of North Carolina, the 27-mph wind was harder than they would have liked since their predicted cruising speed was only 30-35 mph. The headwind would slow their ground speed to a crawl but they proceeded anyway. With a sheet they signaled the volunteers from the nearby lifesaving station that they were about to try again.

Now it was Orville's turn. Remembering Wilbur's experience, he positioned himself and tested the controls. The stick that moved the horizontal elevator controlled climb and descent. The cradle that he swung with his hips warped the wings and swung the vertical tails, which in combination turned the machine. A lever controlled the gas flow and airspeed recorder. The controls were simple and few, but Orville knew it would take all his finesse to handle the new and heavier aircraft. At 10:35, he released the restraining wire. The flyer moved down the rail as Wilbur steadied the wings. Just as Orville left the ground, John Daniels from the lifesaving station snapped the shutter on a preset camera, capturing the historic image of the airborne aircraft with Wilbur running alongside.

The Wright Flyer begins its first successful flight, December 17, 1903

Again, the flyer was unruly, pitching up and down as Orville overcompensated with the controls. But he kept it aloft until it hit the sand about 120 feet from the rail. Into the 27-mph wind, the ground speed had been 6.8 mph, for a total airspeed of 34 mph. The brothers took turns flying three more times that day, getting a feel for the controls and increasing their distance with each flight. Wilbur's second flight - the fourth and last of the day – was an impressive 852 feet in 59 seconds.

This was the real thing, transcending the powered hops and glides others had achieved. After four years of research and development the Wright machine had flown.

Monuments spanning the 120 feet of the first flight

On completing the flight the brothers walked four miles to Kitty Hawk and sent their father a telegram:

Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty one mile wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas

Their pilot-controlled, sustained and powered flight by a heavier-than-air machine would soon change the world.

For comprehensive information on this historic event visit the National Park Service's Wright Brothers National Memorial web page.


Credits:

1903 photograph, unrestored version: Library of Congress
Monuments photo; text: National Park Service, Wright Brothers National Memorial

The Third Sunday In Advent 2024: A Time For Rejoicing

Madonna in the Rose Garden Stefan Lochner, ca 1448

Prepare the way by proclaiming good news. The early church gave the title "Gaudete" to the third Sunday in Advent. The word simply means, "Rejoice!" When you are joyful about something, you share that good news. Think of the custom of the family Christmas letter. Many families will send out letters during these holidays, summarizing the joyful family news of the past year: the birth of a grandchild, a new job, etc. If such joyful events are considered worthy of sharing, how much more the goo news that the Son of God came into our world to save us from sins! Moreover, he is coming again to take believers to an eternity of glory. That is good news believers need to hear again and again. It is a message that we with joyful faith yearn to share with a world that is in desperate need of some good news.

The joyful nature of this Sunday is illustrated by the lone, rose-colored candle on the Advent wreath. It hints of the joyful birth that we are soon to celebrate.

For the seekers of antiquity among our readers here is the chanted Introit - with translation below - from which this Sunday gets it name:

 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.

                            Phillipians, 4:4-6: Psalm 85(84):1


May your day be filled with rejoicing!




Sources


Text:
The opening quotation appeared in the 2013 Gaudete Sunday Bulletin, Abiding Grace Lutheran Church, Covington, Georgia..

Joel Chandler Harris: When Uncle Remus Told His Tales

Today is the birthday (1845) of the beloved Georgia journalist and writer, Joel Chandler Harris. He was born in Eatonton and raised by his single mother and other benefactors to love reading, writing, and humor. At sixteen he was employed at the nearby Turnwold Plantation as a print setter for what was likely the nation's only plantation newspaper, The Countryman. Under the guidance of owner Joseph Addison Turner, Harris read from the plantation's large library over the a period of four years. He also observed life on the plantation including its rich culture of oral traditions among the slaves.

After a decade of employment with several papers in central Georgia and Savannah, Harris joined the staff of the Atlanta Constitution in 1876. It was here that he linked a Lippincott's article on black folklore to his Turnwold Plantation experience and the Uncle Remus character he had created for his feature writing. The rest was history, described here in R. Bruce Bickley's Georgia Encyclopedia article on Harris:

For the next quarter-century, Harris lived a double life professionally. He was one of two associate editors of the premier newspaper in the Southeast, helping readers interpret the complex New South movement. He was also the creative writer, the "other fellow," as he termed himself: a prolific, committed, and ambitious re-creator of folk stories, a literary comedian, fiction writer, and author of children's books. Harris published thirty-five books in his lifetime, in addition to writing thousands of articles for the Constitution over a twenty-four-year period. Along with his first book, Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, the most ambitious of the Uncle Remus volumes is Nights with Uncle Remus: Myths and Legends of the Old Plantation (1883). This book comprises seventy-one tales that feature stories told by four different black narrators, including Uncle Remus.                                                  

Harris also left his impact on major literary figures to come. Rudyard Kipling, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Ralph Ellison, and Toni Morrison all responded to the legacy of Brer Rabbit and the tar baby that Harris had helped popularize. Fellow Eatonton writer Alice Walker protested, however, that Harris had stolen her African American folklore heritage and had made it a white man's publishing commodity.

Harris died on July 3, 1908, of acute nephritis and was buried in Westview Cemetery, West End, Atlanta. Obituary writers were not exaggerating when they eulogized this celebrated middle Georgia writer as "the most beloved man in America." Only Harris's friend and admirer, Mark Twain, who died two years later, surpassed Harris in popular reputation at the beginning of the twentieth century. Harris's retelling of the story of Brer Rabbit and the tar baby remains one of the world's best-known folktales, and his complex legacy as a literary comedian, New South journalist, folklorist, fiction writer, and children's author continues to influence modern culture in a surprising number of ways.

As noted in the quotation, Harris's place in the history of folklore is not without its controversy. Historically there has always been a struggle in the sphere of anthropological studies with cultural preservation and destruction as well as ownership. In Harris we have a written legacy from black oral tradition as viewed though the author's personal lens. It isn't perfect but it does preserve universal themes and lessons in their cultural context. Furthermore his work in part inspired a resurgence of interest in storytelling and performance in a number of cultural niches. If anything that interest is far stronger today than it was a century ago and much of it under black ownership. I can certainly encourage and appreciate that as well as Harris's contribution. I also trust that the magic of storytelling will remain a rich tradition in the American experience and beyond.


Sources

Text:
R. Bruce Bickley, Joel Chandler Harris, Georgia Encyclopedia, georgiaencyclopedia,org

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2024

Today marks the 83rd anniversary of the Imperial Japanese Navy's attack on the U.S. Navy's base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Below is Pearl Harbor as it appeared on October 30, 1941.

Below is a photo taken by a Japanese pilot 38 days later on December 7 during the torpedo attack on Battleship Row visible on the far side of Ford Island.

There were almost 4000 casualties that day including 2400 dead.

The attack led to a war effort that included 16,000,000 American men and women in uniform. The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that around 66,000 of these veterans survive. Soon, the relics, memorials and ceremony will be all that is left to testify to America's greatest generation at war. If we are to survive, we need to remember them now and in the future for what they did to crush evil in the world.

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 2004


Today the youngest of the sixteen surviving veteran of Pearl Harbor would be 100 years old. Many of them can no longer travel and according to officials only two will attend the ceremony along with perhaps thirty World War II veterans.

Did You Survive The Night Of The Krampus?

Some kids - few I'd guess - still hear about receiving a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking as reward for a year of bad behavior. So much for gifts as a sign of grace at Christmastide. On the other hand given the state of behavior of too many children indictrinated with the Marxist concept of class struggle and its extension of diversity, equity, and inclusion could mean we are a bit overdue acknowledging the idea that "everyone gets a trophy" really means "no one gets a trophy." Perhaps it's time to restore some form of reward - punishment if you will - for the erosion of good conduct.

We don't have to create something new for this plan. Some years ago I stumbled on an Old World solution that's been around for centuries in many central and eastern European cultures. To boot, the solution to bad behavior has been associated with the most benevolent and generous of figures, Sinterklaas, or as we know him today, Saint Nicholas or Santa.

That's right, for a thousand years in much of Europe, Santa Claus hasn't always been the only one coming to town! 

So who or what is the other half of the holiday team? His name is Krampus. Unfortunately, he is extreme to the point of terrifying for children. In fact, an unexpected visit from this visage in the dead of night would insure obedience from most rational adults. And the night of December 5, the Night of the Krampus, is devoted to his visit.

St. Nicholas and Krampus, Arnold Nechansky, Wiener Werkstatte, 1912

I first discovered Krampus through an interest in post cards. When I began looking at cards from central Europe, especially those printed by the magnificent Wiener Werkstatte in the early decades of the 20th century, I noticed that two figures often appeared on the Christmas cards depicting a visit to a welcoming family. One was a traditional Saint Nicholas character dressed in ornate flowing robes and carrying a bag of gifts. The other was a shabbily dressed rather grotesque if not devil-like creature carrying a bundle of switches and a bag. The intention of the visit was to leave a nice gift for the good children or a lump of coal for the "behaviorally challenged." While good children enjoyed their presents moderately bad boys and girls could expect a swat or two from the switches. The worst cases went into the bag and carried off to who knows where or what.

Do understand I'm not advocating whipping, kidnapping, and cooking as a corrective for youth beyond the bounds of civilized coexistence. Rather, I'd just like a little balance for all the feet jabbed into my Economy Class back between Atlanta and anywhere, the screaming tantrums endured at finer restaurants, and the toxic aerosol clouds projected my way by sneezing toddlers. Yes, it is time to modernize the deliveryman and bring on the coal acknowledging of course that the traditional Krampus needs plenty of modification to work as a present day disciplinarian.

As I mentioned earlier, last night - the eve of Saint Nicholas Day - is the Night of the Krampus. Although this night for European adults has taken on an almost Halloween-like character often fueled by alcohol, it remains a fascinating, ancient story of the dichotomous nature of our existence. Those who understand that good does not stand without evil, just as there are no mountains without valleys, can learn more about the Krampus tradition here.

In closing, here is a glimpse of a traditional visit from Weinachtsmann and Krampus in Breitenberg, Pfronten, Germany, not far from the borders with Czechia and Austria. It's very likely that similar visits have occurred in this and other valleys across the continent for a thousand years. The interpretations may evolve over time but the message remains the same. Good boys and girls get fine rewards, others not so much.

Hope you've been good this year. Any childen missing from your neighborhood this morning?




Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
https://www.theviennasecession.com/a-history/

Text:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/71999/9-facts-about-krampus-st-nicks-demonic-companion

Celebrating Repeal Day: Acknowledging The Failure Of Legislating Morality

From 1920 to 1925, he worked for members of Congress out of an office in the Cannon House Office Building until he was arrested. After a brief hiatus, he returned to serving his loyal customers from 1925 to 1930 only this time he worked from the Russell Senate Office Building. His name was George Cassiday. He was known as "the man in the green hat" and his business was supplying members of Congress with booze during Prohibition. I'd like to say this "booze for me but not for thee" hypocrisy was unacceptible, but tens of milions of Americans also had no issue with ignoring such risible law making. It was after all the decade known as the Roaring Twenties when just about everyone enjoyed the American experience.  

Reason TV has a brief article and five-minute history about Mr. Cassiday and his most interesting job. I'm left to conclude that the period 1920-30 had to be one of the happiest decades in history for our esteemed statesmen on Capital Hill.

And why are we discussing this story today? Today is Repeal Day, celebrating the 91st anniversary of the passage of the Twenty-first Amendement to the United States Constitution and the end of Prohibition. Our thirteen-year (1920-1933) attempt to end alcohol consumption in the United States was a disaster at every level and an object lesson in the futility of legislating morality. 

H.L. Mencken (r) celebrates the end of Prohibition, Rennert Hotel, Baltimore

And it so happens that one of my favorite musical compositions, Carmina Burana, addresses the pervasive nature of alcohol in western civilization. Those unfamiliar with the piece will enjoy the translation below the link. It's a wonderful lesson from the 10th to 13th centuries illustrating why the control of alcohol consumption is a rather frustrating endeavor. This is a fine performance conducted by the composer. I suggest you pour your favorite beverage, find your best earphones and comfortable chair and enjoy the meaning of the day, in moderation, of course. 

Carmina Burana 

Carl Orff, 1935-36

II. In the Tavern
Part 14: When we are in the tavern


When we are in the tavern,
we do not think how we will go to dust,
but we hurry to gamble,
which always makes us sweat.
What happens in the tavern,
where money is host,
you may well ask,
and hear what I say.
Some gamble, some drink,
some behave loosely.
But of those who gamble,
some are stripped bare,
some win their clothes here,
some are dressed in sacks.
Here no-one fears death,
but they throw the dice in the name of Bacchus.
First of all is to the wine-merchant
the libertines drink,
one for the prisoners,
three for the living,
four for all Christians,
five to faithful dead,
six for the loose sisters,
seven for the footpads in the wood,
Eight for the errant brethren,
nine for the dispersed monks,
ten for the seamen,
eleven for the squabblers,
twelve for the penitent,
thirteen for the wayfarers.
To the Pope as to the king
they all drink without restraint.
the mistress drinks, the master drinks
the soldier drinks, the priest drinks,
the man drinks, the woman drinks,
the servant drinks with the maid,
the swift man drinks, the lazy man drinks,
the settled man drinks, the wanderer drinks,
the stupid man drinks, the wise man drinks,
The poor man drinks, the sick man drinks,
the exile drinks, and the stranger,
the boy drinks, the old man drinks,
the bishop drinks, and the deacon,
the sister drinks, the brother drinks,
the old lady drinks, the mother drinks,
this man drinks, that man drinks,
a hundred drink, a thousand drink.
Six hundred pennies would hardly
if everyone drinks
immoderately and immeasurably.
However much they cheerfully drink
we are the ones whom everyone scolds,
and thus we are destitute.
May those who slander us be cursed,
and may their names not be written in the book of the righteous.


You can enjoy the Latin poem and this English version together at the You Tube link.

Cheers!

A Mother's Birthday

Last year on the anniversary of my mother's birth, I opened the post with a paragraph saying that her family's deep lineage in the western Virginia mountains had been lost to history. Thanks to a cousin's genealogical research I can report this year on her 110th birthday that much of her family history is no longer lost. Her paternal ancestory in the New World began 1628 in the Plymouth Colony. From there the family line moved to Harford County, Maryland, by 1700, followed by Tidewater Virginia during mid-century, and the Virginia frontier (now West Virginia) around 1800. 

Her parents married a century later and raised seven children on their family farm on the eastern edge of the Allegheny Front a few miles from the Potomac River. One weekend in 1931 she and her four sisters went to skate and dance at the local lodge armory. It was a common practice among families, but especially attractive among young people as a way to have fun with old friends and make new ones as well. She struck up a conversation with the young lodge member who was selling tickets. That conversation grew into a two-year courtship that ended in marriage in 1933. Their conversation continued for more than forty years.  

On the farm in 1932

 

With my birth she became a full time mother and homemaker, but still found time to enjoy her church family, reading, gardening, nature, frequent visits with her large family, and vacations on Pattersons Creek in Burlington, West Virginia. She was taken from this world far too early after a long illness. There's no question that I miss her and I'm sorry she did not live to enjoy her daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. Still, I feel her goodness has been with us helping to shape our family over the years. Wouldn't have it any other way. She was a great mom, full of faith, love, compassion, a wonderful sense of humor, and dedication to family and friends.


Happy birthday, Mom! See you later.

Advent 2024

The word, "advent," comes from the Latin "adventus," meaning "arrival." Today in the western Christian tradition there are two arrivals on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, that of a new church year as well as its first season, Advent. The journey through the season anticipates both the birth of Jesus Christ as the Light of the World, his presence among believers today, and his return at the Last Judgement.

As we enter into the season of Advent today and that of Christmastide beginning December 24 it is time once more to explore almost two thousand years of words, music, and visual arts created for this holy time.

The Descent of Peace                                      William Blake

I give you the end of a gold string.

Only wind it in a ball,

It will lead you to Heaven's gate

built in Jerusalem's wall.

                                        from William Blake's poem, Jerusalem

Today's music is Conditor Alme Siderum (Creator of the Stars of Night), a plainsong dating from the 7th century.

Here is some background on the hymn including its original text and an English translation. For a more detailed exploration of the hymn and its many variations over the past 1500 years, go here.