And now it is December. The nights grow long, and dark. We are taught to fear the darkness, and yet such gorgeousness emerges from it: the twinkling of stars in the distant sky, and the sparkling lights that we toss upon trees and rooflines this time of year to call those stars down here on earth.
Symbolically, we counter the darkness in our ceremonies. Advent begins now with a single illuminated candle in a ring of four; by the Sunday before Christmas, all four candles will be lit. Hanukkah will soon come, too: eight nights, and again, more and more light as we go deeper through those dark nights. Sankta Lucia on the 13th and the brightly burning candles of Christmas Eve, that silent, holy night. Candlelight continues through the Twelve Days of Christmas that follow Christmas Day, and with each night of Kwanzaa, too: each candle representing a principle of heritage. Each candle adding its light to the sum of light.
In this spirit of light comes your Convivio Book of Days calendar for December. It is a printable PDF, and we welcome you to print it, pin it, keep it as a companion to this Book of Days blog. As the month goes on, I will be writing about most of the days listed on the calendar, and then some: each day that follows Christmas Day, for twelve days, has some particular traditional connexion to Christmas. I’ve not yet decided if I’ll be writing a new post each day, as I’ve done in the past, or if I’ll write about several days at a time, for less frequent posts. If any of you have input or suggestions, I’m open. I worry sometimes that twelve posts over twelve days is too much for many folks to take in, but I worry, too, that the significance of days gets forgotten when I write about so many at one time. Whichever way it goes, my wish remains the same: that we each will hide not our light.
Our big Christmas Stock-Up Sale continues at our online catalog. $10 off your purchase of $75 across the catalog, plus free domestic shipping. Or just good old free domestic shipping with your purchase of $50.