I say "Nativity" and not "Post-Nativity" thoughts, because it is still Nativity. Please do not think that when the first day of Nativity has passed all that magic Nativity Snow is just plain ol' snow snow. It isn't. It may be inconvenient at times, but it is still the Snow of Nativity.Nativity lasts until the Feast of the Epiphany. Not all of it may be holiday and merrymaking (though in some parts of the Motherland it is), but all of it is the most magical season of the year. Carols are still in season and two important festivals lie ahead in the next two weeks.
The great Midwinter Festival of the Birth of the Light has always been a twelve-day season at its core (in fact it has often been much longer - its penumbra beginning in the fall and not fully ending until Luciad, the Feast of Lights, six weeks after the Solstice).
The one-day Christmas was a Victorian invention, made in a world where the wheels of industry and commerce must not be allowed to stop for more than the briefest period.
The oft-stated perception that the season "starts earlier every year" is almost a drift back to the older tradition. It is commercially driven, of course, but as stated in our recent article on Nativity, even commerce cannot help but reflect the powerful pull of the Universal Event called Nativity.
What has remained as a Victorian heritage, though, is the dead-stop on Boxing Day (Masquiday in Aristasian tradition) - though even this is in some places giving way to an extended holiday or semi-holiday from Nativity to the Day of Herthe (Christmas to New Year). It is not, however considered, at least in Protestant countries, "still Christmas".
For Filianists, it is very definitely still Nativity until the Epiphany. It is a magical, beautiful season. A time for continued celebration and a time when the subtle world and the physical world are very close.
A happy continuing Nativity to you all.
Hail to the Princess Who is born and Whose glorious showing-forth we still await!
I say "Nativity" and not "Post-Nativity" thoughts, because it is still Nativity. Please do not think that when the first day of Nativity has passed all that magic Nativity Snow is just plain ol' snow snow. It isn't. It may be inconvenient at times, but it is still the Snow of Nativity.Nativity lasts until the Feast of the Epiphany. Not all of it may be holiday and merrymaking (though in some parts of the Motherland it is), but all of it is the most magical season of the year. Carols are still in season and two important festivals lie ahead in the next two weeks.
The great Midwinter Festival of the Birth of the Light has always been a twelve-day season at its core (in fact it has often been much longer - its penumbra beginning in the fall and not fully ending until Luciad, the Feast of Lights, six weeks after the Solstice).
The one-day Christmas was a Victorian invention, made in a world where the wheels of industry and commerce must not be allowed to stop for more than the briefest period.
The oft-stated perception that the season "starts earlier every year" is almost a drift back to the older tradition. It is commercially driven, of course, but as stated in our recent article on Nativity, even commerce cannot help but reflect the powerful pull of the Universal Event called Nativity.
What has remained as a Victorian heritage, though, is the dead-stop on Boxing Day (Masquiday in Aristasian tradition) - though even this is in some places giving way to an extended holiday or semi-holiday from Nativity to the Day of Herthe (Christmas to New Year). It is not, however considered, at least in Protestant countries, "still Christmas".
For Filianists, it is very definitely still Nativity until the Epiphany. It is a magical, beautiful season. A time for continued celebration and a time when the subtle world and the physical world are very close.
A happy continuing Nativity to you all.
Hail to the Princess Who is born and Whose glorious showing-forth we still await!
I say "Nativity" and not "Post-Nativity" thoughts, because it is still Nativity. Please do not think that when the first day of Nativity has passed all that magic Nativity Snow is just plain ol' snow snow. It isn't. It may be inconvenient at times, but it is still the Snow of Nativity.Nativity lasts until the Feast of the Epiphany. Not all of it may be holiday and merrymaking (though in some parts of the Motherland it is), but all of it is the most magical season of the year. Carols are still in season and two important festivals lie ahead in the next two weeks.
The great Midwinter Festival of the Birth of the Light has always been a twelve-day season at its core (in fact it has often been much longer - its penumbra beginning in the fall and not fully ending until Luciad, the Feast of Lights, six weeks after the Solstice).
The one-day Christmas was a Victorian invention, made in a world where the wheels of industry and commerce must not be allowed to stop for more than the briefest period.
The oft-stated perception that the season "starts earlier every year" is almost a drift back to the older tradition. It is commercially driven, of course, but as stated in our recent article on Nativity, even commerce cannot help but reflect the powerful pull of the Universal Event called Nativity.
What has remained as a Victorian heritage, though, is the dead-stop on Boxing Day (Masquiday in Aristasian tradition) - though even this is in some places giving way to an extended holiday or semi-holiday from Nativity to the Day of Herthe (Christmas to New Year). It is not, however considered, at least in Protestant countries, "still Christmas".
For Filianists, it is very definitely still Nativity until the Epiphany. It is a magical, beautiful season. A time for continued celebration and a time when the subtle world and the physical world are very close.
A happy continuing Nativity to you all.
Hail to the Princess Who is born and Whose glorious showing-forth we still await!
I say "Nativity" and not "Post-Nativity" thoughts, because it is still Nativity. Please do not think that when the first day of Nativity has passed all that magic Nativity Snow is just plain ol' snow snow. It isn't. It may be inconvenient at times, but it is still the Snow of Nativity.Nativity lasts until the Feast of the Epiphany. Not all of it may be holiday and merrymaking (though in some parts of the Motherland it is), but all of it is the most magical season of the year. Carols are still in season and two important festivals lie ahead in the next two weeks.
The great Midwinter Festival of the Birth of the Light has always been a twelve-day season at its core (in fact it has often been much longer - its penumbra beginning in the fall and not fully ending until Luciad, the Feast of Lights, six weeks after the Solstice).
The one-day Christmas was a Victorian invention, made in a world where the wheels of industry and commerce must not be allowed to stop for more than the briefest period.
The oft-stated perception that the season "starts earlier every year" is almost a drift back to the older tradition. It is commercially driven, of course, but as stated in our recent article on Nativity, even commerce cannot help but reflect the powerful pull of the Universal Event called Nativity.
What has remained as a Victorian heritage, though, is the dead-stop on Boxing Day (Masquiday in Aristasian tradition) - though even this is in some places giving way to an extended holiday or semi-holiday from Nativity to the Day of Herthe (Christmas to New Year). It is not, however considered, at least in Protestant countries, "still Christmas".
For Filianists, it is very definitely still Nativity until the Epiphany. It is a magical, beautiful season. A time for continued celebration and a time when the subtle world and the physical world are very close.
A happy continuing Nativity to you all.
Hail to the Princess Who is born and Whose glorious showing-forth we still await!
I say "Nativity" and not "Post-Nativity" thoughts, because it is still Nativity. Please do not think that when the first day of Nativity has passed all that magic Nativity Snow is just plain ol' snow snow. It isn't. It may be inconvenient at times, but it is still the Snow of Nativity.Nativity lasts until the Feast of the Epiphany. Not all of it may be holiday and merrymaking (though in some parts of the Motherland it is), but all of it is the most magical season of the year. Carols are still in season and two important festivals lie ahead in the next two weeks.
The great Midwinter Festival of the Birth of the Light has always been a twelve-day season at its core (in fact it has often been much longer - its penumbra beginning in the fall and not fully ending until Luciad, the Feast of Lights, six weeks after the Solstice).
The one-day Christmas was a Victorian invention, made in a world where the wheels of industry and commerce must not be allowed to stop for more than the briefest period.
The oft-stated perception that the season "starts earlier every year" is almost a drift back to the older tradition. It is commercially driven, of course, but as stated in our recent article on Nativity, even commerce cannot help but reflect the powerful pull of the Universal Event called Nativity.
What has remained as a Victorian heritage, though, is the dead-stop on Boxing Day (Masquiday in Aristasian tradition) - though even this is in some places giving way to an extended holiday or semi-holiday from Nativity to the Day of Herthe (Christmas to New Year). It is not, however considered, at least in Protestant countries, "still Christmas".
For Filianists, it is very definitely still Nativity until the Epiphany. It is a magical, beautiful season. A time for continued celebration and a time when the subtle world and the physical world are very close.
A happy continuing Nativity to you all.
Hail to the Princess Who is born and Whose glorious showing-forth we still await!
In Astraea, the Star-month we look upward and in Herthe, the Hearth-month we look inward. Nativity is the Northern Gate of the Cosmos through which the Divine descends to earth. This is reflected in the Star Fairy coming vertically down the chimney into the heart(h) of the house, and of course by the birth of God the Daughter into the world of manifestation.
During the month of Astraea, the Divine is a star in the heaven-world, about to descend. During the month of Herthe She is born in our hearts and present in the heart(h) of our sacred households where She is born on the last Star-day.
Interestingly also is that the Feast of the Conception of the Daughter (Astraea 11th) is exactly a month from the Feast of the Epiphany, or showing-forth of the Divine Child (Herthe 11th/12th).
Especially fascinating in this context is that this is true only in terms of the Filianic calendar, even though Christians celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (of Mary, not of Jesus) on the same day (December 8th/Astraea 11th).
In Astraea, the Star-month we look upward and in Herthe, the Hearth-month we look inward. Nativity is the Northern Gate of the Cosmos through which the Divine descends to earth. This is reflected in the Star Fairy coming vertically down the chimney into the heart(h) of the house, and of course by the birth of God the Daughter into the world of manifestation.
During the month of Astraea, the Divine is a star in the heaven-world, about to descend. During the month of Herthe She is born in our hearts and present in the heart(h) of our sacred households where She is born on the last Star-day.
Interestingly also is that the Feast of the Conception of the Daughter (Astraea 11th) is exactly a month from the Feast of the Epiphany, or showing-forth of the Divine Child (Herthe 11th/12th).
Especially fascinating in this context is that this is true only in terms of the Filianic calendar, even though Christians celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (of Mary, not of Jesus) on the same day (December 8th/Astraea 11th).
In Astraea, the Star-month we look upward and in Herthe, the Hearth-month we look inward. Nativity is the Northern Gate of the Cosmos through which the Divine descends to earth. This is reflected in the Star Fairy coming vertically down the chimney into the heart(h) of the house, and of course by the birth of God the Daughter into the world of manifestation.
During the month of Astraea, the Divine is a star in the heaven-world, about to descend. During the month of Herthe She is born in our hearts and present in the heart(h) of our sacred households where She is born on the last Star-day.
Interestingly also is that the Feast of the Conception of the Daughter (Astraea 11th) is exactly a month from the Feast of the Epiphany, or showing-forth of the Divine Child (Herthe 11th/12th).
Especially fascinating in this context is that this is true only in terms of the Filianic calendar, even though Christians celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (of Mary, not of Jesus) on the same day (December 8th/Astraea 11th).
In Astraea, the Star-month we look upward and in Herthe, the Hearth-month we look inward. Nativity is the Northern Gate of the Cosmos through which the Divine descends to earth. This is reflected in the Star Fairy coming vertically down the chimney into the heart(h) of the house, and of course by the birth of God the Daughter into the world of manifestation.
During the month of Astraea, the Divine is a star in the heaven-world, about to descend. During the month of Herthe She is born in our hearts and present in the heart(h) of our sacred households where She is born on the last Star-day.
Interestingly also is that the Feast of the Conception of the Daughter (Astraea 11th) is exactly a month from the Feast of the Epiphany, or showing-forth of the Divine Child (Herthe 11th/12th).
Especially fascinating in this context is that this is true only in terms of the Filianic calendar, even though Christians celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (of Mary, not of Jesus) on the same day (December 8th/Astraea 11th).
In Astraea, the Star-month we look upward and in Herthe, the Hearth-month we look inward. Nativity is the Northern Gate of the Cosmos through which the Divine descends to earth. This is reflected in the Star Fairy coming vertically down the chimney into the heart(h) of the house, and of course by the birth of God the Daughter into the world of manifestation.
During the month of Astraea, the Divine is a star in the heaven-world, about to descend. During the month of Herthe She is born in our hearts and present in the heart(h) of our sacred households where She is born on the last Star-day.
Interestingly also is that the Feast of the Conception of the Daughter (Astraea 11th) is exactly a month from the Feast of the Epiphany, or showing-forth of the Divine Child (Herthe 11th/12th).
Especially fascinating in this context is that this is true only in terms of the Filianic calendar, even though Christians celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (of Mary, not of Jesus) on the same day (December 8th/Astraea 11th).
13. And when the voice of the Janya ceased, a silence fell that was the first true silence since the beginning of the world, and the last that shall be until it end. 14. And the children of earth watched the sky as the first rays of dawn crept across the heavens.
15. And a cry issued out of the cave, saying:
The holy Child is born from the most holy Mother;
Light has come forth from Light, Perfection from Perfection.
16. And at once the air was filled with the daughters of heaven, and the sky was ablaze with the radiance of their joy. 17. And they sang aloud to the glory of Dea.
13. And when the voice of the Janya ceased, a silence fell that was the first true silence since the beginning of the world, and the last that shall be until it end. 14. And the children of earth watched the sky as the first rays of dawn crept across the heavens.
15. And a cry issued out of the cave, saying:
The holy Child is born from the most holy Mother;
Light has come forth from Light, Perfection from Perfection.
16. And at once the air was filled with the daughters of heaven, and the sky was ablaze with the radiance of their joy. 17. And they sang aloud to the glory of Dea.
13. And when the voice of the Janya ceased, a silence fell that was the first true silence since the beginning of the world, and the last that shall be until it end. 14. And the children of earth watched the sky as the first rays of dawn crept across the heavens.
15. And a cry issued out of the cave, saying:
The holy Child is born from the most holy Mother;
Light has come forth from Light, Perfection from Perfection.
16. And at once the air was filled with the daughters of heaven, and the sky was ablaze with the radiance of their joy. 17. And they sang aloud to the glory of Dea.
13. And when the voice of the Janya ceased, a silence fell that was the first true silence since the beginning of the world, and the last that shall be until it end. 14. And the children of earth watched the sky as the first rays of dawn crept across the heavens.
15. And a cry issued out of the cave, saying:
The holy Child is born from the most holy Mother;
Light has come forth from Light, Perfection from Perfection.
16. And at once the air was filled with the daughters of heaven, and the sky was ablaze with the radiance of their joy. 17. And they sang aloud to the glory of Dea.
13. And when the voice of the Janya ceased, a silence fell that was the first true silence since the beginning of the world, and the last that shall be until it end. 14. And the children of earth watched the sky as the first rays of dawn crept across the heavens.
15. And a cry issued out of the cave, saying:
The holy Child is born from the most holy Mother;
Light has come forth from Light, Perfection from Perfection.
16. And at once the air was filled with the daughters of heaven, and the sky was ablaze with the radiance of their joy. 17. And they sang aloud to the glory of Dea. 
And the reason has to do with Nativity! What really fascinates us is the moment when the ordinary is infused with the Transcendent, when the material is touched by the Spirit whether it be in the individual soul or in the cosmos (for the two are really different levels of the same thing - microcosm and macrocosm). The Divine bolt that enters the world (in the microcosm of the House, through the chimney) lighting and warming the True Heart[h] with spiritual luminance - the only Light there really is.
In the Cinderella story, of course, the Fairy God-Mother (in this version) transforms herself and also transforms the exiled soul (Cinderella), and in this lovely scene, she is at first the Spirit in Disguise, even (partly and ambiguously) disclaiming her own power and proclaiming the magical and miraculous to be dekanai (impossible).
And the ambiguity here is the fundamental ambiguity of the impossible, paradoxical interaction of Dea with the world. For as the Scriptures say, God the Mother gave birth to a Daughter that was not separate from Her but One with Her, and the Child of Her Light. Dea came to the place where Dea is not.
So it is indeed dekanai: impossible. And at the same time, it happens every day, and must happen if the manifest universe is to survive even a moment.
That is the highest level of the truth expressed by this pure, traditional "fairy tale" (this particular one is found in just about every culture known).
But Truth operates on every level. Cinderella is a story for us, who are exiles. And the scene below is also about the true possibility of miracle and magic in every level of our lives:
And the reason has to do with Nativity! What really fascinates us is the moment when the ordinary is infused with the Transcendent, when the material is touched by the Spirit whether it be in the individual soul or in the cosmos (for the two are really different levels of the same thing - microcosm and macrocosm). The Divine bolt that enters the world (in the microcosm of the House, through the chimney) lighting and warming the True Heart[h] with spiritual luminance - the only Light there really is.
In the Cinderella story, of course, the Fairy God-Mother (in this version) transforms herself and also transforms the exiled soul (Cinderella), and in this lovely scene, she is at first the Spirit in Disguise, even (partly and ambiguously) disclaiming her own power and proclaiming the magical and miraculous to be dekanai (impossible).
And the ambiguity here is the fundamental ambiguity of the impossible, paradoxical interaction of Dea with the world. For as the Scriptures say, God the Mother gave birth to a Daughter that was not separate from Her but One with Her, and the Child of Her Light. Dea came to the place where Dea is not.
So it is indeed dekanai: impossible. And at the same time, it happens every day, and must happen if the manifest universe is to survive even a moment.
That is the highest level of the truth expressed by this pure, traditional "fairy tale" (this particular one is found in just about every culture known).
But Truth operates on every level. Cinderella is a story for us, who are exiles. And the scene below is also about the true possibility of miracle and magic in every level of our lives:
And the reason has to do with Nativity! What really fascinates us is the moment when the ordinary is infused with the Transcendent, when the material is touched by the Spirit whether it be in the individual soul or in the cosmos (for the two are really different levels of the same thing - microcosm and macrocosm). The Divine bolt that enters the world (in the microcosm of the House, through the chimney) lighting and warming the True Heart[h] with spiritual luminance - the only Light there really is.
In the Cinderella story, of course, the Fairy God-Mother (in this version) transforms herself and also transforms the exiled soul (Cinderella), and in this lovely scene, she is at first the Spirit in Disguise, even (partly and ambiguously) disclaiming her own power and proclaiming the magical and miraculous to be dekanai (impossible).
And the ambiguity here is the fundamental ambiguity of the impossible, paradoxical interaction of Dea with the world. For as the Scriptures say, God the Mother gave birth to a Daughter that was not separate from Her but One with Her, and the Child of Her Light. Dea came to the place where Dea is not.
So it is indeed dekanai: impossible. And at the same time, it happens every day, and must happen if the manifest universe is to survive even a moment.
That is the highest level of the truth expressed by this pure, traditional "fairy tale" (this particular one is found in just about every culture known).
But Truth operates on every level. Cinderella is a story for us, who are exiles. And the scene below is also about the true possibility of miracle and magic in every level of our lives:
And the reason has to do with Nativity! What really fascinates us is the moment when the ordinary is infused with the Transcendent, when the material is touched by the Spirit whether it be in the individual soul or in the cosmos (for the two are really different levels of the same thing - microcosm and macrocosm). The Divine bolt that enters the world (in the microcosm of the House, through the chimney) lighting and warming the True Heart[h] with spiritual luminance - the only Light there really is.
In the Cinderella story, of course, the Fairy God-Mother (in this version) transforms herself and also transforms the exiled soul (Cinderella), and in this lovely scene, she is at first the Spirit in Disguise, even (partly and ambiguously) disclaiming her own power and proclaiming the magical and miraculous to be dekanai (impossible).
And the ambiguity here is the fundamental ambiguity of the impossible, paradoxical interaction of Dea with the world. For as the Scriptures say, God the Mother gave birth to a Daughter that was not separate from Her but One with Her, and the Child of Her Light. Dea came to the place where Dea is not.
So it is indeed dekanai: impossible. And at the same time, it happens every day, and must happen if the manifest universe is to survive even a moment.
That is the highest level of the truth expressed by this pure, traditional "fairy tale" (this particular one is found in just about every culture known).
But Truth operates on every level. Cinderella is a story for us, who are exiles. And the scene below is also about the true possibility of miracle and magic in every level of our lives:
And the reason has to do with Nativity! What really fascinates us is the moment when the ordinary is infused with the Transcendent, when the material is touched by the Spirit whether it be in the individual soul or in the cosmos (for the two are really different levels of the same thing - microcosm and macrocosm). The Divine bolt that enters the world (in the microcosm of the House, through the chimney) lighting and warming the True Heart[h] with spiritual luminance - the only Light there really is.
In the Cinderella story, of course, the Fairy God-Mother (in this version) transforms herself and also transforms the exiled soul (Cinderella), and in this lovely scene, she is at first the Spirit in Disguise, even (partly and ambiguously) disclaiming her own power and proclaiming the magical and miraculous to be dekanai (impossible).
And the ambiguity here is the fundamental ambiguity of the impossible, paradoxical interaction of Dea with the world. For as the Scriptures say, God the Mother gave birth to a Daughter that was not separate from Her but One with Her, and the Child of Her Light. Dea came to the place where Dea is not.
So it is indeed dekanai: impossible. And at the same time, it happens every day, and must happen if the manifest universe is to survive even a moment.
That is the highest level of the truth expressed by this pure, traditional "fairy tale" (this particular one is found in just about every culture known).
But Truth operates on every level. Cinderella is a story for us, who are exiles. And the scene below is also about the true possibility of miracle and magic in every level of our lives:
