dado potato
12-12-12, 5:48pm
This is the day when I start festivities.
A few years ago I was in a Swedish Lutheran church (Duluth or Superior... I forget which) for a candle-lit celebration. After some remarks from a retired pastor, there was a procession of Lucy and her attendants down the long center aisle. Lucy gave a speech, flanked by her attendants, and invited everyone down to a feast in the basement. Now, people who are acquainted with Swedish pastries probably don't need me to say any more.
These girls in Sweden appear to have real flame candles, but the Duluth-Superior crown was battery-powered as I recall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk0FyZqNp5Q
To me, like many people who make their home in the northern latitudes, this day is about the long cold nights, and the realization that the light (the lengthening days) will return again. St Lucy's Day, now on the calendar December 13, used to be right on the shortest day of the year.
John Donne, English poet, wrote his Nocturnal Upon St Lucy's Day, which was published posthumously in 1633. As I read it, Donne's poem is not just about the longest night of winter, it also expresses his grief over the death of his wife. Donne seems to be waving young lovers on to fetch new lust and enjoy the coming summer... But in his grief the sun will not renew. This clip is a woman reading Donne's poem with some well-selected photographic images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HiiZcOZOo
Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All Humanity
Wassail!
A few years ago I was in a Swedish Lutheran church (Duluth or Superior... I forget which) for a candle-lit celebration. After some remarks from a retired pastor, there was a procession of Lucy and her attendants down the long center aisle. Lucy gave a speech, flanked by her attendants, and invited everyone down to a feast in the basement. Now, people who are acquainted with Swedish pastries probably don't need me to say any more.
These girls in Sweden appear to have real flame candles, but the Duluth-Superior crown was battery-powered as I recall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk0FyZqNp5Q
To me, like many people who make their home in the northern latitudes, this day is about the long cold nights, and the realization that the light (the lengthening days) will return again. St Lucy's Day, now on the calendar December 13, used to be right on the shortest day of the year.
John Donne, English poet, wrote his Nocturnal Upon St Lucy's Day, which was published posthumously in 1633. As I read it, Donne's poem is not just about the longest night of winter, it also expresses his grief over the death of his wife. Donne seems to be waving young lovers on to fetch new lust and enjoy the coming summer... But in his grief the sun will not renew. This clip is a woman reading Donne's poem with some well-selected photographic images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HiiZcOZOo
Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All Humanity
Wassail!