Incoming Epiphany

Today's the day:  Epiphany!  Here are 3 famous Epiphanies we learned in school: Ancient Greek mathematician and physicist Archimedes famously cried out "Eureka" ' "I have found it!" from the bathtub where he realized that his volume displaced the same amount of water in the tub and he could calculate the volume of gold in a crown. Isaac Newton was sitting below an apple tree when an apple fell on his head, which caused him to develop his Universal Law of Gravitation. Albert Einstein developed his Special Theory of Relativity after arriving home one night feeling defeated. He imagined having arrived home at the speed of light, and how the light from the town’s clock tower would not have reached him in his car, even though the clock inside the car would be ticking normally. This would make the time outside the car and inside the car just different enough to be striking. We can look up epiphany on google and immediately discover the seven ways to help you have an epiphany. It starts with: Be observant.  Look around you.  But there's more. Next article is The Atlantic.  It starts with: Go for a hike or a drive.  Walk around the city.  Psychology Today tells us: When one of these amazing gifts comes to us, the way to honour it is to put it to use".  The next is another Psychology Today article that questions what is an epiphany: "By epiphanies I mean the major, life-changing revelations that have the greatest impact on our lives."  Huffington Post says there are 8 Epiphanies everyone should have.  Others have different numbers -  18, 12, 9, 8, 17, or 10 epiphanies? We can take the easy route and google images of epiphany quotes. That is where I found the one that seems to apply to today given this is the Day of Epiphany.  Epiphany Day should be everyday.

Twelfth Night of What You Will

There are quite a few variations for this penultimate day of the Twelve Days.  Ladies dancing, ladies spinning, badgers baiting, lords a-leading, dancers a-dancing, lads a-louping, bulls a-beating.  Our Twelfth Night of Christmas is tomorrow.  It is "always on the evening of 5 January, but the Twelfth Day can either precede or follow the Twelfth Night according to which Christian tradition is followed. Twelfth Night is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions, the first day of Epiphany (6 January) and the twelfth day of Christmas overlap". (source:  Wikipedia) So what about "Twelfth Night, or What You Will" - Shakespeare's play?  It is believed to have been written around 1601-02 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The first recorded performance was on 2 February 1602, at Candlemas, the formal end of Christmastide in the year's calendar.  A law student, John Manningham, who was studying in the Middle Temple in London, described the performance which took place in the hall of the Middle Temple.  The Middle Temple is a place with great  architectural history. The western part of "The Temple" was the headquarters of the Knights Templar until they dissolved in 1312.  There are many buildings in the four "Inns of Court" that are listed buildings. There has been damage over the centuries - fires, the Great Fire of London, and the Blitz. But the Halls' magnificent double-hammer beam roof remains along with the 29 foot oak High table. Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake have been known to dine in the Hall.  The buildings in the Temple itself are still held under the 1608 letters patent of James I.  The Middle Temple Hall where our performance took place was constructed between 1562 and 1572, and opened in 1576 by Queen Elizabeth I.  It was thought that Shakespeare himself was probably present for the first performance.  Our heroine in the play is Viola.  Violas and pansies are flowers that are closely related.  I've never considered how they are different.  I found this: If the flower has four petals pointing upward and only one pointing downward – you’re looking at a Pansy. If the flower has two petals pointing upward and three petals pointing downward – you’ve got a Viola.  These words, though, come from one of Shakespeare's other plays.

Between Christmas and New Year's

Here we are at the holiday between the holidays, starting with Boxing Day.  This has become a secular holiday that seems to have extended into Boxing Week with the advertising that goes with this.  

The tradition started in the UK about 800 years ago. It was the day when the alms box for the poor was opened so that the contents could be distributed to the poor.

In the 1600's we would be servants and tradespeople and would receive gifts today, known as a "Christmas box".  Our Christmas Day would have been busy, waiting on our masters.  This is the day that Good King Wenceslas looked upon the Feast of Stephen.  St. Stephen's Day is celebrated as the 2nd day of Christmas.  The Germans had an original tradition - horses would be ridden around the inside of the church during the St. Stephen's Day service. 

We are into the Twelve Days of Christmas.  This is the twelve day period that starts with Christmas day and ends on Epiphaby (Jan 6th).The 'true love' who gave the gifts was meant to represent God, the true love of the world.  On the "first day", the partridge in a pear tree is Jesus who died on the cross.  The two turtle doves of the "second day", are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.  The three French hens are faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Today's image explores the countdown of the 12 days through the language of urban grunge.