Advent Wreath

ADVENT CANDLES,
ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

Thanks to my friend Megan
for the card of PEACE

Yesterday was the First Sunday of Advent, the traditional starting point of the season of holiday anticipation. Advent Sunday is always the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is usually the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving always falls between November 22nd & November 28th, with the First Sunday of Advent falling somewhere between November 27th and December 3rd. The charming daily Advent Calendars -- featuring magical doors, tiny surprises, booklets, pictures, chocolates -- always begin on December 1st, but the weekly Advent Candles began (this year) on November 27th. The timing is perfect: another Thanksgiving has been successfully written into the family history, and now begins the the countdown to Christmas!

Ellie says:
Goodbye Thanksgiving. Hello Christmas!

In his classic "Oratorio," W. H. Auden (1907- 73) captures the outsized sense of expectation that we inevitably bring to this time of year:

"For the innocent children who whispered so excitedly
Outside the locked door where they knew the presents to be
Grew up when it opened. . . . "

Similary, Elizabeth Jennings (1926- 2001) compares the pre - Christmas excitement of a child to the post - Christmas reality of deflated expectations. Her poem moves from forethought / build - up to afterthought / let - down; and the concluding realizations ring just as true for adults as they do for children:

Afterthought

For weeks before it comes I feel excited, yet when it
At last arrives, things all go wrong:
My thoughts don't seem to fit.

I've planned what I'll give everyone and what they'll give to me,
and then on Christmas morning all
The presents seem to be

Useless and tarnished. I have dreamt that everything would come
To life—presents and people too.
Instead of that, I'm dumb.

And people say. 'How horrid! What a sulky little boy!'
And they are right. I can't seem pleased.
The lovely shining toy

I wanted so much when I saw it in a magazine
Seems pointless now. And Christmas too
No longer seems to mean

The hush, the star, the baby, people being kind again.
The bells are rung, sledges are drawn.
And peace on earth for them.

by Elizabeth Jennings

Whether or not Jennings was thinking of Advent, I like the way the final stanza echoes the characteristics of the four Advent candles:

the first candle represents hope & prophecy: "The hush"
the second candle represents peace & Bethlehem: "the star"
the third candle represents love & angels: "the baby"
the fourth candle represents joy & shepherds: "people being kind."

If you want to pull together an Advent wreath, there are numerous designs and color combinations to choose from, but all you really need are four candles that you love the look of, such as this Swedish set from my beloved, inspired and inspiring neighbor Virginia:

or this combination from 2018:

In 2016, I incorporated my brother Dave's hand - crafted Aggravation / Parcheesi / Trouble Game Board into my Advent Candle, lending to the medieval wagon wheel effect:

"The Advent wreath -- usually an evergreen wreath, with candles -- came to us directly from winter solstice celebrations when large wagon wheels were decorated with evergreens and lit candles to encourage the return of light" (p 48).

from Treat or Trick? Halloween in a Globalising World
by Malcolm Foley & Hugh O'Donnell

More Advent Ideas

More Poems by Elizabeth Jennings
This Colorful Friday
The Falling Fruit, The Certain Spring
Childhood Autumn
When I Said Autumnal Equinox
Secret Garden

More by Auden

2023

2025
Next Fortnightly Post
Wednesday, December 14th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Out of the East, Into the West

SETTING UP THE CRÈCHE
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

We have owls, a wooden pig,
a shepherd girl, and a wise woman,
who also appeared on last year's post.

Last month, I enjoyed all the pre-Christmas commentary from various sources about the proper time to place the Holy Babe in the Holy Crib. My friend Natalia led one such lively discussion:

"To all those with a nativity scene:
Baby Jesus should NOT be out right now. . .
He was born CHRISTMAS DAY.
Is it Christmas Day? Absolutely not.
Put the baby away!
Growing up, we had some neighbors who used to set up their manger scene early in the season but hide the Baby Jesus in the bread box until Christmas Day because he wasn't born yet. These days, I'm not so sure that anybody even has a bread box. Or how about a bread drawer -- that's what we had, although we did not keep the Christ Child in there!

Concerning Epiphany, my friend Megan asked if I was "slowly slowly building the manger scene and then ending on January 6th?" I had to confess that my Two Kings and One Queen were already in place, in fact, had been since the very first day. However, that's not to say that I don't thorougly admire those who have the discipline to put the Wise Travelers across the room at first, because they are still on their way, proceeding from afar.

Here is our set - up, including ice - hockey;
non-conventional perhaps, but not as odd as some!

In addition to previously posted Epiphany poems by Peter Yarrow, Elizabeth Coatsworth and T. S. Eliot; Muriel Spark and Sara Teasdale; and so many others, here are a few more in celebration of the extended season:

1. New to me this year,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's
extensive re-telling of the Journey of the Magi:

The Three Kings

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.

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)


2. This lovely lilting hymn,
sung so beautifully by Chanticleer:

Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem

O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shining afar through shadows dim
Giving the light for those who long have gone
Guiding the wise men on their way
Unto the place where Jesus lay
O beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine on

O beautiful star the hope of life
Guiding the pilgrims through the night
Over the mountains 'til the break of dawn
Into the land of perfect day
It will give out a lovely ray
O beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine on

O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shine upon earth until the glory dawns
Give us a lamp to light the way
Unto the land of perfect day
O beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine on

O beautiful star the hope of rest
For the redeemed, the good and the blessed
Yonder in glory when the crown is won
Jesus is now the star divine
Brighter and brighter He will shine

O beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine on

Lyrics by Adger M. Pace (1882 - 1959)
Music by R. Fisher Boyce (1887 - 1968)


3. And this deeply stirring favorite:

Out of the East ~ sung by Charley Pride

[lyrics to follow]

Words & music by Harry Noble, Jr.

Next Fortnightly Post
Saturday, January 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Perfect Twins: Going Out, Coming In

ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

Delilah Pierce: Twins, 1952

As I've mentioned before on my Quotidian blog,
I love it when Barbra Streisand sings:

Everything
I want to learn what life is for
I don’t want much, I just want more
Ask what I want and I will sing
I want everything (everything) . . .

I’d like to have the perfect twin
One who’d go out as I came in
I’ve got to grab the big brass ring
So I’ll have everything (everything) . . .
written by Randy Scruggs & Nikki Williams
sung by Barbra Streisand
The fact is, I do have the perfect twin, perfect in his own way. Yet, like Streisand, I've often wished for a doppelganger, a double - goer, making it possible for me to work twice as hard and play twice as long and never sleep and stay caught up with all y chores and tasks and goals and plans and expectations. One who'd go out when I came in!

Entirely without meaning to -- and not just because I'm a Gemini! -- that's what I began to see last month when I visited The Maryland Artist Collection in the University of Maryland University College Inn and Conference Center. As I glanced around the UMUC Art Gallery, twins and doubles were everywhere I looked. It's not as if the exhibit was billed as one of twinned images and double - goers; it was just an amazing coincidence!

And a timely coincidence to contemplate in January, the month of double vision! Inadvertently, these artworks invoke Janus, the Roman god of doors, choices, beginnings and endings, with two faces, one facing forwards and one facing backwards, representing time, looking into the past with one face and into the future with the other (Click For More). Could that be what lies behind the mesmerizing tendency of each of these artists to double up? Take a look:

Twin Portraits

Twin Models

Megan O'Brien: Contours and Elevations, 1995

Twin Photographs

Linda Harrison - Parsons, Tarnished Memories, 1994

Twin Jokers

Kay McCrohan: Nobody's Fool, 1997

Twin Skeletons

Gordon Fluke: Cherry Ames, Red Cross Nurse, 1994

Twin Vases

Susan Goldman: Explosion, 1998

Twin Lanterns

Gladys Goldstein: Day Lantern, not dated

Twin Artists

Herman Maril: Duet, 1973

Twin Boats

Herman Maril: Sunday at the Docks, 1938

Twin Chairs

Herman Maril: Kitchen, 1976; Vase and Lilies, 1970

Twin Trees

Delilah Pierce: Great Giants, 1974; Giant Nature's Splendor, 1982

And the best thing about my day at this exhibit?
Being able to enjoy it with my sister and her family:
Triplets: Dan, Brit, Peg!

SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS FOR MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Thursday, January 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ Delilah Williams Pierce
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogspot.com

Follow - Up ~ December 2016

Medellin, Colombia

Arranging a Window

ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

Window Over a Garden ~ by Marc Chagall, 1887 - 1985
Beloved Russian painter of both the quotidian and the fantastic
I have long admired Chagall's magical, unusual paintings, the flexible ballerinas and vividly colored violins; but I also love the usual - ness of his interiors, such as the above window scene. I am especially drawn to this sturdy, ordinary doll, dressed in her homespun clothes, perched in her toy chair perched on the table's edge, just waiting for some real life to come along and happen! The stationary kitchen table and chairs are not floating fantastically but quietly awaiting some everyday diners, such as the little person whose head appears right outside the window. The natural landscape beyond the room, the simple curtains and ceiling lamp are lovely but entirely real and expected.

I also like the way that this blue window goes perfectly with the following poem of spring by E. E. Cummings. The view is doubly mesmerizing because we get to look and stare -- just like the people in the poem -- into the room as well as out of the window to the woods beyond. If we "stare carefully" enough at the painting, we might see what Spring sees, some of everything: "a strange thing and a known thing . . . New and Old things."

We are used to the image of Spring bursting upon us, but in this poem Spring is so subtle, so careful:

Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere)arranging
a window,into which people look(while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything.

by E. E. Cummings, 1894 - 1962
Popular, unconventional American poet

Window in the Country

" . . . arranging
a window,into which people look . . . "
[See the two faces, lower right corner?]
I've had several favorite Chagalls over the years, including for a time Le Grand Cirque, which hung in the Snite Museum of Art when I was a graduate student at Notre Dame. How lucky I was to be able to wander into the art museum for free at anytime and sit on a bench in front of this exuberant painting while grading freshman essays. Alas, since that time, Le Grand Cirque, as well as a Picasso and another very small painting that I loved called The Nights of Penelope, have all been relocated to other venues.

Le Grand Cirque

In those days of proximity to these priceless treasures, it never crossed my mind that any of them were not part of the permanent collection at Notre Dame; so it was with some disappointment that I entered the Snite last Spring with my friend Megan only to discover that all my favorites were missing. Yet another incident of being met at the door by that old disheartening maxim: "You can't go home again." Turns out these words also stand true for museums -- and coffee shops!

Here I am with my friend Lisa,
wearing my Notre Dame Chagall shirt in 1987!

If I had realized that the painting was not part of the permanent collection, I would have taken better care of the shirt as a keepsake, and bought a few extras for future use or resale! Unfortunately, I had only the one, now, sadly, worn completely out. I let my sons use it as a paint shirt. I guess Chagall would be cool with that!


Le Grand Cirque, detail

SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS FOR MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Sunday, April 14th

FOR MORE SPRING PAINTINGS by CHAGALL & POEMS by CUMMINGS
Take a look at: "In Just Sweet Spontaneous Spring"
on the THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
(my blog of shorter almost daily posts)
P.S.
Previous Chagall Posts on this blog:
"Except Thou Bless Me"
"Dagmar's Birthday"

& on The Quotidian Kit:
"Jacob's Ladder"
"Except Thou Bless Me"
"Happy 448th to William Shakespeare"
"Chagall Four Seasons Mosaic"
"Life and Good"

Previous Cummings Posts on this blog:
"The Syntax of Love"
"Hominy, Horseradish, and Buffalo Bill"
"Rocky Road"

& on The Quotidian Kit
"The Syntax of Love"
"Little Tree ~ I Will Comfort You"
"Full Moon, Full Heart"
"The Trees Stand"