Author Archives: John Cutrone

Feb 01 2025
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Book of Days Calendar, Candlemas, Carnevale, Imbolc, St. Brigid's Day

Carnevale, or Your Convivio Book of Days for February

It’s the First of February: Imbolc, and St. Brigid’s Day: Brigid, who bridges us from winter to spring in her subtle way. The weather may still be cold here in the Northern Hemisphere, but we find ourselves now about halfway between Midwinter Solstice and Vernal Equinox, and the acknowledgment that spring approaches is the value of St. Brigid’s Day. Spring’s first stirrings begin here.

And as it is the First of February, we’ve got a gift for you: It’s the Convivio Book of Days calendar for February. A printable PDF, as usual, so you may print it and keep it nearby to help remind you to live the ceremony of each day. The calendar is a fine companion to this blog.

Tonight, with the setting sun, St. Brigid’s Day becomes Candlemas Eve. With Candlemas, on the Second of February, Christmas and Yuletide, which have so many potential endings, do finally come to a proper close, for it is time to move on to what comes next… which is renewal, of course, and the promise of spring. Our convivial 17th-century British poet Robert Herrick reminds us that with Candlemas Eve, it is time to remove the yuletide greenery from our homes. From his poem “Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve:”

Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and misletoe ;
Down with the holly, ivy, all,
Wherewith ye dress’d the Christmas Hall :
That so the superstitious find
No one least branch there left behind :
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected, there (maids, trust to me)
So many goblins you shall see.

While the greenery should be removed by tonight, tradition would have us keep nativity scenes in our home through Candlemas, tomorrow. Candlemas, on the Second of February, is the day that candles are blessed in the church. It is also known as Purification Day, which harkens back to an old Hebrew tradition: forty days after the birth of a son, women would go to the temple to be purified. And there is that idea again: renewal––the same sort of renewal that Brigid brings us.

And so Mary went to the temple, for it was her tradition, and when she did, it was there that she and her infant child ran into the elders Simeon and Anna, who recognized the child as “the Light of the World.” This is the basis for the blessing of candles on this day, and the day’s lovely name (Candlemas), which is even more beautiful in other languages: la Candelaria in Spanish, la Chandeleur in French. In France, the traditional evening meal for la Chandeleur is crêpes. In Mexico, la Candelaria is a night for tamales and hot chocolate, while the procession and celebration in Puno, Peru, is typically so big, it rivals that of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. And at sunset on Candlemas, we’ll go through the house, through every room, lighting every lamp, even for just a few minutes. My favorite song for the day, as I tell you each year around the start of February, is an old carol called “Jesus, the Light of the World.” Is it a carol for Candlemas? Who knows. Certainly the words echo those of Simeon and Anna, the elders in the temple, so as for me, I say it is.

And so this night we thank our Christmas tree and garland for their presence with us all through Christmas, and then quietly carry them out the back door and into a corner of the yard. We thank nature for the gifts she lent to us, and we return to nature what is hers. We’ll store these things these things there in the backyard, and they will become part of the habitat: a bit of fir and cedar amongst the bamboo and the palms and grasses. And when December comes around again, on the longest night, we will use what is left of the tree as fuel for our Midwinter solstice fire as we welcome down the stars and welcome back the light. I love this bit of ceremony. For us, it connects one Christmas to the next. Most importantly, we send Father Christmas off tonight and each year with respect and dignity… and with this, we are more prepared to welcome spring as we step onto the bridge that Brigid offers us.

SHOP OUR VALENTINE SALE!
At our online catalog right now use discount code LOVEHANDMADE to save $10 on your $85 purchase, plus get free domestic shipping, too. That’s a total savings of $19.95. Spend less than $85 and our flat rate shipping fee of $9.95 applies. We have many lovely new arrivals for Valentine’s Day. CLICK HERE to shop; you know we appreciate your support immensely.

COME TO THE SHOP!
Locals: the shop is open Saturdays from 11 AM to 4 PM at 1110 North G Street, Lake Worth Beach, FL 33460. And next weekend, it’s our VALENTINE MARKET: Friday evening, February 7, from 5 to 8 PM, and Saturday & Sunday, February 8 & 9, from 11 AM to 4 PM. You’ll love what we have in store for you!

 

Our cover star image for the February Book of Days calendar is a painting called “Carnival in Venice” by Aleksandra Ekster. Oil on canvas, 1930s [Public domain via Wikimedia Commons].

 

Jan 29 2025
4 Comments
Chinese New Year

Year of the Wood Snake

The January night is at its darkest now, for the new moon is in the sky, and Chinese Lunar New Year has begun. It is the Year of the Wood Snake. Snake is the sixth of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, and here is how that came to be: When the Jade Emperor announced that the order of the zodiac animals would be determined by when they each arrived at his palace, Rabbit figured, “I’ve got this in the bag!” Rabbit knew he was fast, and he was pretty proud of his speed. Some (Ox, especially) might say Rabbit was even a little arrogant about it. Rabbit in particular made fun of Ox, who was his neighbor, for Ox, though he took great strides, was mighty slow compared to Rabbit.

On the day of the Jade Emperor’s race, Rabbit set off at daybreak. Sure enough, he was the first to arrive outside the Jade Emperor’s palace. But Rabbit hadn’t counted on having such a tough time crossing the river, which made him a bit tired, and so, as none of the other animals were in sight, he opted to have a little snooze while he waited for the others to catch up. And so Rabbit took a nap under a tree just outside the gate. Which is all well and good, I suppose… but while Rabbit slept, three other animals arrived and entered the palace. Ox was one of them, but ahead of Ox came Rat, for Rat had tricked Ox into giving him a ride and leapt off of Ox and into the palace first. Ox followed in, and behind Ox came Tiger. Only after Tiger’s entrance did Rabbit awaken from his nap… and this is how Rabbit came to be the fourth animal of the Chinese Zodiac and why Rat is first, and why Ox is second, and why Tiger is third, ahead of the rabbit.

Next came the dragon, who soared gracefully into the palace as he descended from the clouds. The Jade Emperor was perplexed as to how Dragon had not come in first in the race, for Dragon certainly had the advantage of flight. But Dragon explained: he was delayed on his journey through the sky for he could see, from his high vantage point, a fire burning in a farmer’s field, and so Dragon stopped to help the farmer by bringing rain to extinguish the fire. And, though Rabbit didn’t realize it, Dragon also stopped along the way to help Rabbit in his travails by blowing him across the river safely to the opposite shore. Touched by the dragon’s kindnesses, the Jade Emperor welcomed him in as the fifth animal of the zodiac.

Our snake was next to enter the palace, but not without a bit of surprise: With his eye on the dragon overhead, the horse was approaching the palace gate at full gallop. He knew dragon had beat him to the palace, but the horse figured he’d make it to the palace next, after dragon. He was galloping so furiously and with such speed that he failed to notice that our snake had wrapped itself around his front leg. And just as the horse was approaching the gate, our clever snake unfurled himself and became the sixth of the animals to enter the palace, just ahead of the horse, who became the seventh animal.

Later came the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig, but this year is Snake’s year, and the element associated with Snake this year is wood. If you are a Wood Snake, your characteristics are: Wise, intuitive, and elegant. People born in the Year of the Snake generally are calm and cool, with pretty decent leadership skills. You are very creative, and an excellent communicator, not to mention a good problem-solver. You are mysterious. Snakes are known to charm their way into people’s hearts, and to be honest and loyal to those who have earned their trust.

The lunar new year celebration continues on through Lantern Festival, when the full moon returns and the celebration concludes. That is on the 12th of February this year. Enjoy!

 

VALENTINE MARKET
Locals, please come to our shop for our VALENTINE MARKET on Friday evening, February 7, from 5 to 8 PM, and on Saturday & Sunday, February 8 & 9, from 11 AM to 4 PM. We’ve got great shopping in store for you, plus homemade treats: Valentine Spritz cookies, Linzer Tart Cookies, and Norwegian Riskrem (it’s Nana’s recipe for rice pudding, scented with cardamom and made with our Swedish Porridge Rice). Plus enjoy our own Löfbergs Swedish Coffee while you shop, and our Black Currant Saft or Lingonberry Saft (depending on our whim). Our regular open shop hours, aside from the Valentine Market, are Saturdays from 11 AM to 4 PM, and by appointment.

ONLINE SPECIAL: OUR VALENTINE SALE!
Use discount code LOVEHANDMADE at our online shop to save $10 on your $85 purchase, plus get free domestic shipping, too. That’s a total savings of $19.95. Spend less than $85 and our flat rate shipping fee of $9.95 applies. We have some really lovely new things in the shop for Valentine’s Day.  CLICK HERE to shop; you know we appreciate your support immensely.

 

Image: Snake Men (the men making snakes and dragons move), photographed by Tinou Bao in San Francisco, 2007 [Creative Commons via Wikimedia Commons].

 

Jan 13 2025
4 Comments
Christmas, Copperman's Day, Plough Monday, St. Knut's Day

Plunder the Tree!

In Sweden, the twentieth day after Christmas is a significant one: January 13 brings St. Knut’s Day, and for Swedes, this is the day to toss out the Christmas tree. First, it must be plundered: if there are cookies and foil wrapped chocolate ornaments still on the tree, this is the day they get gobbled up! Gingerbread houses get smashed and eaten! Every last candy cane is consumed! It is a proper and festive end to the Yuletide season.

The Swedes, who like to sing and dance around their trees when Christmas Eve comes (have you seen the 1982 Ingmar Bergman film Fanny and Alexander?) will be singing and dancing around their trees again today before the tree is plundered and tossed. The tossing, traditionally, was out the window, though these days that practice is frowned upon; it’s more common nowadays for clubs and civic organizations to collect the discarded trees. They stow them away for Walpurgis Night bonfires at the end of April. All of these things––the dancing, the singing, the bonfires––suggest to me that Sweden is a pretty decent place to live. Plus, how nice to have a proper and widely acknowledged Close to Christmas day? Here in the States, where it’s not unusual to see a tree tossed sadly on the curbside as early as the 26th of December, I’d say we could use a bit of guidance like this (not to mention a bit of celebration, too, to close the season).

This year, the 13th of January also brings Plough Monday and Copperman’s Day. Both of these obscure holidays fall each year on the Monday after Epiphany, and here we are today at that Monday. Copperman’s Day is the more obscure of the two: It is an old Dutch printer’s holiday, and on this day, the print apprentices would get the day off to do what they wished in the print shop. The resulting prints they made, of their own design and creation, they’d sell for a copper. Plough Monday relates to St. Distaff’s Day, which was last week, on the day after Epiphany. St. Distaff brings the traditional Back to Work day for the women (back to their spinning), while Plough Monday brings the traditional Back to Work Day for the men (back to the plough).

As for us in this house, we’ll be ignoring these things, for the most part. Our tree, which is still lovely and thirsty and thriving and beautiful, will remain standing in the living room, where we intend to keep it, along with all the other Christmas greenery, until Candlemas Eve on the First of February. This is a tradition just as old, I imagine, or perhaps even older than the St. Knut’s tradition in Sweden. And we’ve been back to work since last week (employers these days don’t want us taking off all the days ’til Plough Monday). And whilst I do make a Copperman’s Day print each year, it’s a rare event indeed when it actually is done on Copperman’s Day. If I get to organize my print shop tonight and set some type, that alone will be a miraculous thing. Expect the newest Convivio Bookworks Copperman’s Day print by early February (if all goes well).

However, I can tell you what we do plan on for tonight: an illuminated Christmas tree, and delightful Swedish Christmas music in the house on this long winter’s night. The songs (like “Nu är det Jul Igen,” a 500-year old Dancing Around the Tree song whose lyrics essentially translate to Now it is Christmas again and it will be Christmas until Easter –– no, that isn’t true, for in between comes Lent) are full of wonder and joy, which is perhaps not what one would expect from a land so dark and cold at this time of year. Or perhaps it is just what you’d expect. I can’t say. All I know is we intend to make it a fun night here in our home, and I encourage you to do the same.

 

Today’s chapter of the Convivio Book of Days comes to us thanks to the suggestion of Convivio friend Rachel Kopel in San Diego. We spend most Friday afternoons together on Real Mail Fridays, the letter writing social I host on Zoom most Fridays for the Jaffe Center for Book Arts. Rachel joins us, leaves sometimes for ukulele practice, then joins us again before the social is done. We’d love to have you join us, too. We meet the most interesting people at Real Mail Fridays!

Image: A Swedish penny postcard for Christmas, printed in the early 1900s. The artist is Jenny Nyström. The characters in the truck are called Tomten: Swedish elves who live in barns. God Jul (Happy Christmas).

 

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