It's Candelmas Day

Earlier today I posted an entry (here on Blogger) in honor of this year's Groundhog Day. Now, I've just discovered another interesting fact re this holiday! According to Holiday Insights, (HI), "The (tradition of groundhogs predicting the onset of spring) is based upon Candlemas, the day that is the midpoint between Winter and Spring. A famous Candlemas poems goes:

'If Candlemas be fair and bright, 

Winter has another flight. 

If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, 

Winter will not come again.''

Here's what Wiki says re Candlemas Day (which is today): "Candlemas, also known as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus, is a Christian holiday commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. It falls on February 2, which is traditionally the 40th day 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 and Roman Catholics) also bring their candles to their local church, where they are blessed and then used for the rest of the year."

In bygone years,  I created Christmas cards based on The Feast of the Presentation, using a photo I took of a snow sculpture of the Blessed Virgin that I saw in Central Park on the first day of 2001.

My cards can be seen within the images atop this entry. And subsequently I discussed these cards in a radio interview with Karen Lewis for WBAI. The interview is posted on my website, and if you'd like to hear it, please click here.

In any event, as Wiki stated, "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," and this happens to be my practice, so I'll be removing Christmas decor from my main living area today; and storing it until next year.

My outdoor Christmas trees (that are standing in my rooftop garden) will still be standing there for a while. They are decorated with bird feeders, which I replenish constantly, and leave up until spring.

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

I no longer actively produce event program covers, invitations and the types of greeting cards described here or on my website but arrangements might be able to be made under certain circumstances. My focus is on the Words In Our Beak book series, pictured below...

MY BOOK SERIES

...whose stories are told from the point of view of Cam, a female cardinal, whose photo is on the cover of each book. Words In Our Beak’s goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop urban garden in New York City. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The books include hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.

Additionally,  I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

Star of Wonder: Who is "counter-cultural"? When IS Epiphany?

"Star of Wonder, Star of Night

Star with Royal Beauty Bright

Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to thy perfect light"

My neighbor lives in a studio apartment on the top floor of a building that is a few doors west of me and her window (where she has a small indoor garden of succulents) faces south. It looks directly into a window where someone has hung a star.

The star, we once speculated, was hung in honor of the Epiphany, which is the twelfth day of Christmas, January the sixth, and often celebrated with the familiar hymn, We Three Kings (its chorus lyrics are posted at the top of this entry). However, today, January the second, this traditional Epiphany hymn will be sung in New York City Catholic churches, where masses will be offered and celebrated for the Feast of the Epiphany, because the bishops have decided to move this feast day up to the second Sunday after Christmas. In spite of this, the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, insists it is the secular world that is the one rushing Christmas, when for me, it appears the church is rushing it too — by moving up holidays.

" . . . and so this is Christmas, and what have you done?"

During the mid-morning, today, Sunday, December 26th, the day after Christmas is Boxing Day to some, Kwanzaa to others and the second day of Christmas for me. 

As I walked to the assisted living center where I do volunteer work every Sunday morning — and where I spent part of my Christmas yesterday — as discussed in yesterday's post , snow was falling lightly, and an elderly woman pushing a shopping cart was walking up the street shouting, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! We shoulda had this yesterday! We shoulda had a white Christmas!"


What the woman may not have realized was that we were having a white Christmas. The Christmas season, for some who celebrate it in New York City, ends on January 6th, the twelfth day of Christmas, with the Feast of the Epiphany, and is honored with a parade down Fifth Avenue near East Harlem. This event is held annually, and includes animals such as camels and donkeys, in an effort to commemorate the visit of the three kings to the Christ child. It is also the day some cultures exchange their Christmas gifts.