"Keep those cards and letters coming . . . " Looking Towards Twelfth Night

As my followers know, I like the personal touch. That's why I was happy to receive a "voice-card" from my seven year old niece and nephew (which is featured at the top of this blog entry) in honor of Twelfth Night. If you'd like to "hear" this card please click on this link to take  you to where the recording can be found in my Vimeo gallery. To me, recordable cards, although I've yet to create them, are an indicator that the need for a personal touch in communication is on the rise, so why not send a card that reaches someone for the twelfth night.




"In most churches the Epiphany is the climax of the Christmas/Advent Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are counted from the evening of December Twenty-Fifth until the morning of January Sixth, which is the Twelfth Day," Dennis Bratcher writes."In following this older custom of counting the days beginning at sundown, the evening of January Fifth is the Twelfth Night. This is an occasion for feasting in some cultures, including the baking of a special King's Cake as part of the festivities of Epiphany."



Throughout the world, wherever Epiphany is celebrated on January the sixth, there is often a parade for commemorating Epiphany and the Feast of the Three King;, and tomorrow in New York City that parade will be on Fifth Avenue in East Harlem, as mentioned in a previous post.





The end of the Christmas Season has not arrived even — though the Rockefeller Christmas Tree's lights were outed on January Second. The end of the Christmas season, for many New Yorkers, is the third Sunday after Christmas, which will be January Ninth. However, some Russian cultures will celebrate on January the Nineteenth, in honor of their Orthodox roots, and some Europeans will celebrate until the Feast of the Presentation, which occurs  on February the Second.





I am aware of the celebrations of many occasions, as most of my readers and clients know, because I design cards that are about more than communication — invitations that preserve a moment in time  and event program covers that enhance an event. My creations can be found in my down-loadable paper brochure and they may also be viewed with my original art prints on my web-site where purchase information is available. 





In accordance with Thomas Mallon (author of Yours Ever, People and Their Letters which I've written about in posts that you can find by clicking here and here),I  will concede on The Morn of this Twelfth Night, that "lest we over-romanticize (card sending), letter writing, we should remember that it could sometimes be considered a drudgery. On January 14, 1958, C.S. Lewis reminded one of his correspondents, a bit churlishly, that his letter was to her the eighth one he'd already written that day, and at the end of the following year, he asked the same woman to join him in a pact that 'if we are both alive next year, whenever we write to one another it shall not be Christmas time. that period is becoming a sort of nightmare to me — it means endless quill-driving."





It is true, dear reader, the sending and receiving of correspondence can become a "drudgery," but hopefully the joy it brings to others is worth the effort. After all, the entertainer, Dean Martin, was known for ending every television episode with " . . . keep those cards and letters coming . . . " .





I encourage all of you to do what Mr. Dean Martin proposed in years gone by —keep sending cards and letters — and I promise to keep the high standards I've set for creating my cards, invitations, and event program covers. I look forward to sharing them with you.

Happy Twelfth Night!

Upcoming Feast Days: Chanukah & Advent Shattering Darkness Part Two: Advent

What I posted yesterday bears repeating especially since this is "part two" of that entry so to reiterate: "It is good to reflect on the symbols of light and hope that mark the Jewish Feast of Chanukah and the Christian Feast of Advent, a time when "Jews and Christians use the symbols of candles and lights to shatter the winter darkness."

(This quote from an excerpt of Archbishop Prendergast's speech at a testimonial dinner honoring Rabbi Erwin and Mrs. Laura Schild.) As previously noted, both of these feast days begin on different days every year, and this year Chanukah begins at sundown on Wednesday, December 1st 2010, while Advent begins today, Sunday, November 28th 2010. Chanukah's celebration lasts eight days ending on December 9th 2010, and Advent lasts until December 24th 2010. Since I am involved with making invitations and greeting cards which are often used to commemorate these holidays, I read many blogs about them and recently discovered Prendergast's speech on a blog posting by Deborah Gyapong.In yesterday's post, I wrote a little bit about the origin of Chanukah. Regarding Advent, it is a season of preparation and the beginning of the Western liturgical year. One of the practices of Advent is the use of wreaths and candles. Traditionally there are four candles, each representing a given Sunday during the four weeks of Advent. Most often purple and rose colored candles are used as seen in the image posted at the top of this entry. However, in some instances, the color blue is used. In any event, when the purple and rose colors are used, the practice is this: a purple candle is lit on the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent. The rose colored candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, in order to commemorate Laetare Sunday which is the fourth Sunday of Lent at which time a rose is used.



The purpose of this post and yesterday's post is to acknowledge that during the season of Chanakah and Advent, the followers of either feast are invited to go beyond the outward symbols of their ritual. Gyapong writes it is a time to be "an example and to give others a reason to hope and believe." My collection of cards and invitations provide a way of reaching out to others in a meaningful way during this season and beyond. Please visit my web-site for details.