Into the Light
To all who have been following my virtual Advent Calendar, many thanks and blessings. Tomorrow I fly to Sri Lanka to spend my holidays there. I wish the deepest joy and peace of these holy days to all of you. May peace reign on Earth and love abound in all things.Caritas abundat in omnia,de imis excellentissima super sidera,atque amantissima in omnia,quia summo Regi osculum pacis dedit.Divine love abounds in all things,most exalted from the depths to the highest stars,and she is most loving toward all,for she has given the supreme king the kiss of peace.-Hildegard von BingenAnd...
Read MoreSilent Night
Guest post by Waverly FitzgeraldSilence is the strength of our interior life. Thomas Merton When I first read that the feast day of Diva Angerona, the Roman goddess of silence, was celebrated on the winter solstice, I decided to spend the daylight hours of the solstice in silence, a custom I have maintained for many years. It requires a bit of advance preparation (warning my friends and family of my intentions, going shopping for any necessities ahead of time) but it has been well worth it. I love the way the silence changes everything. I become more aware of both the endless chatter that...
Read MoreFrom the Horse’s Mouth: Blessed Eponalia
A guest post by Miss Boo aka Queen BoudiccaThe ancient Romans and Gauls knew something that many modern day humans have forgotten. Mares are divine.The worship of Epona was popular throughout the Roman Empire. Epona was a Gaulish deity whose name means “divine mare” or “she who is like a mare.” Epona was the the only Celtic divinity to receive her own official feast day in the Roman Calendar: Eponalia, December 18, was celebrated on the second day of Saturnalia, the Roman midwinter celebration (December 17 to December 23). The patron deity of horses, ponies, donkeys,...
Read MoreSanta Lucia comes to Brooklyn
Guest post by Diane SaarinenJust before dawn, December 13th, any year: It’s always the same in our household. Sweet gingerbread cookies on a festive holiday plate, (non-alcoholic) glogg warming on the stove. I am already wearing the white flannel nightgown and red sash, frantically glancing at the clock and listening for sounds of reassuring snoring (I mustn’t wake him yet!) from my husband. I adjust my crown of candles. The candles are battery-operated. I don’t dare wear live ones – I have no Star Boys following me with a bucket of water and I am far too accident-prone.Star Boys. December...
Read MoreLussekatter & the Wild Hunt
Guest post by E P WohlfartSo dark is the night of midwinterBut behold, approaching LucyShe comes, the Good One, to us with lightShe comes with greetings of Christmas peaceShe comes with candles in her crown (Popular Swedish Saint Lucy’s Day song)On the 13th of December, the night of Midwinter in the old Julian calendar, my native Sweden is entranced by a beautiful procession of young girls and boys in white cotton gowns. The girls carry candles, the boys wear white star-embellished cones on their heads, and heading the procession is a girl with a crown of candles in her hair, and...
Read MoreMy Advent of Balance and Love
Guest post by Andrea King CollierMy first introduction to Advent was the little calendars we got at Holy Angels Cathedral School in Gary, Indiana. I am sure the nuns gave us some deep explanation about the significance of what it meant, but for us it pretty much meant the advent of Christmas break, and the countdown to Santa Claus. Nearly 50 years later, as I am pretty much burned out on Turkey Thursday, Black Friday, Small Biz Saturday and Cyber Sunday, I circle back to something more than the holiday hustle.Advent in Latin means to come to, as in to come to Christ. I think that for me, if...
Read MoreAbout Mary Sharratt
An American author living on the Silver Coast of Portugal, Mary Sharratt is on a mission to write women back into history. She is the author of Revelations and seven previous critically acclaimed novels, including Daughters of the Witching Hill, the Nautilus Award–winning Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen, The Dark Lady’s Mask: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Muse, and Ecstasy, about the life, loves, and music of Alma Mahler. When she is not writing, you can find her riding her beautiful Welsh mare.
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