We three kings of Orient are,
Bearing gifts we traverse afar.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star. – John Henry Hopkins
Today is the feast of the Epiphany, also called Little Christmas or King Day; as I explained in my column of one year ago today it is the day on which legend says the Magi (the “Three Kings”) visited the infant Jesus, and in the Middle Ages was the day on which Christians exchanged gifts rather than Christmas. Even after the gift-giving shifted back to Christmas Day or Eve in the Renaissance, some cultures continued to give gifts to children on Little Christmas (or more specifically, the gifts are left while they’re sleeping on Twelfth Night). In Spanish-speaking countries the gifts are left by the Three Kings, but in Italy they’re brought by a witch named Befana. She’s usually portrayed as old (and there’s a traditional picture of her in last year’s column), but modern Italy being…well, Italy, sexy Befana images like the one here have also become very common. But while Hispanic and Italian children opened their presents this morning, Russian and Ethiopian children won’t see theirs until tomorrow; for reasons also explained in last year’s column, Christmas Day in those countries falls on January 7th.
In New Orleans, today is the first day of the Carnival season; the first Carnival ball (that of the Twelfth Night Revelers) is tonight, and the others (not to mention the parades) are spread out between now and Mardi Gras, which this year falls on February 21st. That also means today is the traditional day for taking Christmas decorations down, and the first day for eating king cakes; if any of you outside the New Orleans area want to share that tradition, the recipe appears in my Twelfth Night column from last year. But remember, the cake can only be made and eaten between today and Fat Tuesday.
So, to my Italian readers, Buona Epifania! To my Spanish-speaking readers, Feliz Día de Los Reyes! To my Ethiopian readers, Melkam Gena! And to my Russian readers, S Roždestvom!
I dont know what to say, im distracted by the sexy picture you posted
Come on – it’s hot but not as distracting as the red umbrella. 😛
Good point.
I think Amy is trying to tease us 🙂
Who’s Amy? 😦
made a mistake maggie. my bad 😦
Kinda figured that, but I was just making sure. 😉
Which is wrong … because when I came into work my coworkers started asking me questions about Kim Catrall movies, and whether or not she played a vulcan in one of the Star Trek movies (she did) – but then the scene of her in Porkies popped into my mind and it’s kind of stuck there now – so it takes me like a half a second to “warp” my thoughts to the red umbrella.
Apologies to all. 😀
Since you brought it up…
I did? Well, would you look at that. 🙂
As my Dad would say … “Son I am disappoint!”
……..:( tease
King Cake – damn, you are right Maggie – it’s that time again.
This means it’s the season for me to start coming into work LATE – because someone always brings in King Cake in the morning, and I want to make sure it’s GONE before I arrive at my desk. I don’t think anyone over 40 should consume King Cake. I’m all for “fun carbs” – like Ice Cream, but King Cake is an insulin spike from hell …
WTF is wrong with this world when marijuana and hookers are ILLEGAL but King Cake is … Legal?
“Yet let’s be content, and the times lament, you see the world turn’d upside down!”
Pure evilness Maggie – posting that recipe for King Cakes. Now you will have to balance that bad Karma with an article on how to burn that stuff off from the places of the body it tends to settle!
Evil? Tut, tut! There is no such thing as “junk food”. All foods are good, in moderation. The reasons Americans get so fat are that A) They think lunch is dinner, when actually it should be just enough to get one through the afternoon; B) they think every meal should be as rich as possible, with meat as the majority rather than one component; and C) they think “exercise” is something one goes to a gym to do when actually it should be indistinguishable from anything else.
sorry i meant maggie
Maggie wrote: “To my Ethiopian readers, Melkam Gena!”
I’m a first generation Ethiopian-American, and I reply:
Maggie is my favorite Ferenge Sharmuta! (Translation: Maggie is my favorite White Whore!)
LOL! Thank you! 😀
In Ireland, yesterday was Nollaig na mBan (Women’s Christmas), the day when men take over all the household/family chores and women get to go out and party. Though it’s obviously rooted in a fundamentally sexist principle, it can still be a lot of fun 🙂
Ah, there’s the old inversion principle again! I’m glad to see the tradition is still alive somewhere! 😀
Yes, Jesus is a myth, legend, etc. Those non-Biblical historians were liars…LOL.
Oh, my. You do understand it’s possible to have legends about historical figures (like George Washington and the cherry tree), right? I suggest you read my December 23rd column.
Yes, I understand that and have for years. But, as a believer in Jesus I tend to get defensive when I see the word “myth” used towards anything in His life. The most upsetting to me is when people say He never existed as a PERSON and when that happens I bring up the non-Biblical historians 1st thing. I apologize if I upset you or anyone else, but again, seeing the word “myth” at all in connection to Him is upsetting to me. I read the December 23rd column and enjoyed it (I’m not being sarcastic here).
Even most Christians recognize that there are myths about Jesus, Buddhists that there are myths about the Buddha, etc; surely you don’t think most Muslims actually believe that Mohammed rode into Paradise on the back of a talking horse? These stories were told by simple people in a simpler, pre-scientific time, and belief in them is not required for belief in the prophet’s message.
Some Muslims DO take these things literally, OK? They take literally the thing about Paradise. And it’s also NOT a requirement for them to believe and take stuff literally also. Some do BOTH. Yes, we Christians know there’s myths out there about historical people (including Christ). I’ve known this for years, OK? I’ve done a ton of study on my beliefs and other religions also.
Laura, please don’t get bent out of shape when I point this out, but DAMN you’re defensive tonight! Did somebody kick your cat?
I mean, she probably had it coming, but hey.
I explained earlier why I get upset when I hear the words “myth”, “legend”, etc., when they’re connected with Jesus. People tend to feel defensive when those they love are said to “not be real”, etc. Also, we believers in Him get tired of: these people were “simple” in the “good old days” and that explains these things. No, it doesn’t completely explain them. Also, if things were so much simpler when it comes to spiritual things in the “good old days” then why in the world for those who are into the occult are books from the “good old days” still used for guidance, info, etc.? It isn’t just with the occult either. How can we DISPROVE that Mohammed did the Paradise thing? From what I’ve learned 1st hand (have had many experiences that can’t be fully or even explained at all by science, etc.) and have read about there’s a world of the spiritual (that people largely don’t see in every day life) that’s huge. It’s very patronizing to say that just because people lived in the “good old days” that means they were “simple”, didn’t know things, etc. Another example that contradicts this: there are continuing discoveries of technologies, objects, etc., found from “good old days” that the experts NOW can’t figure out how the people even KNEW about them back then.
Even after it was pointed out that descriptions of a myth about person doesn’t necessarily mean that the person didn’t exist, you were still defensive. It’s like you weren’t in the mood to accept explanations.
As an example of something you would consider a myth about Jesus: He went to India and studied Buddhism during the “lost years.”
No, nobody can DISPROVE that Mohammad did the Paradise thing. Or that Jesus studied with Indians during the “lost years,” or that He preached to Indians in North America after the resurrection. It’s pretty hard to DISPROVE much of anything, and so the inability to DISPROVE something doesn’t count for much.
The reason people who are into all the occultist mumbo-jumbo like the old books and such is that they wallow in nostalgia. They convince themselves that the world was once oh so much more magical than it is today, and if we could just recover that old-time wonder, the world could be oh so magical again. You won’t recover the old magic with new books, so obviously you need the old books, from back when things were more magical and cool and [cough]we’lljustignoretheracismandpolioandgenocideanddyinginchildbirthandstufflikethat[cough] and people were good and noble and [excuse me while I puke].
While there are discoveries in which it is discovered that the people from way back when had technologies we didn’t previously know that they had, there isn’t any real evidence that they had any capabilities that couldn’t be matched or exceeded today (i.e., there are still arguments about how the larger obelisks were raised, but there isn’t a one we couldn’t raise today, using things like, um, cranes).
A big reason I’m convinced the Jesus in India thing is a myth is because I’ve read up on it. You know we really agree on the “good old days”, but I think there’s 1 more positive about them (there weren’t many) I acknowledged here: at least some people knew back then the value of some spiritual writings. The occult stuff isn’t always mumbo-jumbo either…Laura beats head against wall. Just like the real miracles, etc., aren’t in Christianity. I don’t fully agree on how you see the technology, etc., found in artifacts from the good old days either, but we’ve talked about this in person so I won’t go into it again on here.
Careful with those walls, Laura! You won’t get your deposit back if you break them.
Befana was a clue on an episode of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?. She… didn’t look quite that good. Carmen did, but she’s a thief. Stole her theme song from Mozart.
To Sailor B, re: being careful with my walls: GGGRRR… 😉