Epiphanies
Last night was Twelfth Night, the beginning of the celebration that marks the ending of the Christmas season, or the end of the Yule/Solstice celebrations. Some traditions say that for each of the "12 days of Christmas" there is an omen, and that each day's omen offers a message for the 12 coming months of the new year. By the time we reach Twelfth Night, those omens have been received, we tuck them away for reflection as the months pass, and we prepare for the work of this new year that will unfold before us. In Pre-Christian ceremony, Twelfth Night, or Wassail, is the night when we re-dedicate ourselves to our calling. We all know what that calling is -- even those of us who proclaim to be clueless. We know, at our most quiet and internal moments, what voice calls to us, what dream beckons. Twelfth Night is the night to declare your dedication to that calling. There is feasting involved -- Fish, and greens and potatoes and apples...