Significance is awarded in retrospect
One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been
Saturday, 6 December 2025
Friday, 5 December 2025
5 December - Krampus Night
The Feast of St. Nicholas is 6 December.
The preceding evening of 5 December is Krampus Night
when the wicked hairy devil appears on the streets.
Sometimes accompanying St. Nicholas
and sometimes on his own,
Krampus visits homes and businesses
Thursday, 4 December 2025
December 4 2025 Cold Moon
- December 4 2025 Cold Moon
This moon marks the start of the year's coldest months.
Its name was coined by the Mohawk people,
a reference to the cold winter temperatures that coincide with the last full moon of the year
To our eyes, the Moon’s disk will appear fully illuminated a couple of days before a full Moon, so start looking towards the east after sunset as it peaks over the horizon.
If you look up during the December full Moon, notice how it’s nearly at the top of the sky, tracing a long path through the night, akin to Santa’s sleigh! The winter solstice Moon takes the highest path along the sky and is above the horizon longer than any Moon—hence, it’s the longest night!
Conversely, near the summer solstice in June, the Sun is highest in the sky while the Moon has the lowest arc—hence, it’s the longest day!
This full Moon has also been called the Long Night Moon (Mohican), as it rises during the “longest” nights of the year
This name is doubly fitting because December’s full Moon shines above the horizon for a more extended period than most full Moons.
Other names that allude to the cold and snow include
Drift Clearing Moon (Cree),
Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree),
Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala),
Hoar Frost Moon (Cree),
Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee),
Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki)
Moon When the Deer Shed Their Antlers (Dakota)
Little Spirit Moon (Anishinaabe)
In Europe, ancient pagans called the December full Moon the “Moon Before Yule” in honor of the Yuletide festival celebrating the return of the sun heralded by the winter solstice
Wednesday, 3 December 2025
They hit you out of nowhere.
When bad things come, they come suddenly, without warning.
We rarely get to see the catastrophe coming, no matter how well we try to prepare for it.
We do our very best, but sometimes, it's just not good enough. We buckle our seat belts, we wear a helmet, we stick to the lighted paths. We try to be safe.
We try so hard to protect ourselves, but it doesn't make a damn bit of difference, 'cause when the bad things come, they come out of nowhere.
The bad things come suddenly, with no warning.
But we forget that sometimes, that's how the good things come too.
Tuesday, 2 December 2025
Monday, 1 December 2025
Nicholas Was ...
39 Degrees North: Nicholas Was
Nicholas Was...
older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter.
He wanted to die.
The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language, but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.
Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night.
During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave one of the dwarves' invisible gifts by its bedside.
The children slept, frozen into time.
He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas.
His punishment was harsher.
Ho.
Ho.
Ho.
December
December
Riding upon the Goat, with snow-white hair,
I come, the last of all.
This crown of mine
Is of the holly; in my hand I bear
The thyrsus, tipped with fragrant cones of pine.
I celebrate the birth of the Divine,
And the return of the Saturnian reign;--
My songs are carols sung at every shrine,
Proclaiming "Peace on earth, good will to men.
December
December is letting go,
Of all the past year's fails,
And starting anew in January,
As time again chases its tail.
I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.
A magical thing. And sweet to remember.
We are nearer to Spring than we were in September.
I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.
Ah, distinctly I remember
it was in the bleak December
Riding upon the Goat, with snow-white hair,
I come, the last of all.
This crown of mine
Is of the holly; in my hand I bear
The thyrsus, tipped with fragrant cones of pine.
I celebrate the birth of the Divine,
And the return of the Saturnian reign;--
My songs are carols sung at every shrine,
Proclaiming "Peace on earth, good will to men.
"
12 Days of Christmas - still
The Yule 12 days are of course December 20 to December 31
- 31st being New Years Eve and the Twelfth Night
The 12 days of Christmas in Christian theology is the period that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins on December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings' Day).
Christmas Day is the First Day. The Twelve Days are 25 December to 5 January, counting first and last. The Octave, or Eighth Day, is New Year's Day and the Feast of the Circumcision, the day Jesus was circumcised according to the Jewish faith. The evening of the last day is Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve, the next morning being Epiphany.
For Christian denominations such as the Anglican Communion or the Lutheran Church, the Twelve Days are identical to Christmastide (December 25 through January 5). For the Roman Catholic Church, however, Christmastide lasts longer, running through the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.For some, the Twelve Days are considered December 26 to January 6, thus including Epiphany.
Epiphany , also known as "Theophany" in Eastern Christian tradition, is a Christian feast day commemorating the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana.
In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus Christ's physical manifestation to the Gentiles. It is sometimes called Three Kings' Day, and in some traditions celebrated as Little Christmas. Moreover, the feast of the Epiphany, in some denominations, also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphanytide.
Eastern Christians, on the other hand, commemorate the baptism of Jesus (but it is also called Epiphany) in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. The spot marked by Al-Maghtas in Jordan, adjacent to Qasr al-Yahud in the West Bank, is considered to be the site of the baptism of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist.
The traditional date for the feast is January 6. However since 1970 the celebration has been held in some countries on the Sunday after January 1. Those Eastern Churches that are still following the Julian calendar observe the feast on what, according to the internationally used Gregorian calendar, is 19 January, because of the current 13-day difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The Alawites and the Middle Eastern Christians also observe the feast on January 19.
In many Western Churches, the eve of the feast is celebrated as Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve) on January 5. The Monday after Epiphany is known as Plough Monday.
Twelfth Night (also known as Epiphany Eve depending upon the tradition) is a Christian festival on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas, marking the coming of the Epiphany. Different traditions mark the date of Twelfth Night as either 5 January or 6 January, depending on whether the counting begins on Christmas Day or 26 December.
January 6 is celebrated as the feast of Epiphany, which begins the Epiphanytide season
Plough Monday is the traditional start of the English agricultural year. Plough Monday is the first Monday after Epiphany, 6 January. References to Plough Monday date back to the late 15th century. The day before Plough Monday is referred to as Plough Sunday, in which a ploughshare is brought into the local Christian church (such as the Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican traditions) with prayers for the blessing of human labour, tools, as well as the land
The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ is a Christian celebration of the circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days (according to the Semitic and southern European calculation of intervals of days) after his birth, the occasion on which the child was formally given his name.
The circumcision of Jesus has traditionally been seen, as in the popular 14th-century work the Golden Legend, as the first time the blood of Christ was shed, and thus the beginning of the process of the redemption of man, and a demonstration that Christ is fully human, and of his (parents') obedience to Biblical law.
The feast day appears on 1 January
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, or Theophany, is the feast day commemorating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Originally the baptism of Christ was celebrated on Epiphany, which commemorates the coming of the Magi, the baptism of Christ, and the wedding at Cana. Over time in the West, however, the celebration of the baptism of the Lord came to be commemorated as a distinct feast from Epiphany. It is celebrated in the Catholic Church as well as the Anglican and Lutheran Churches on the first Sunday following The Epiphany of Our Lord (January 6). Some Lutheran churches celebrate it on the Sunday before Lent,
Sunday, 30 November 2025
December
The Twelve Days of Christmas
- 20th Dec to 31 Dec
5th December
- Krampus Night
6th December
- The Feast of St. Nicholas
December 8
- Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception
20 December
- The First Day Of Christmas
December 20
- Mothers Night
Dec 21
- Winter Solstice
- The Wild Hunt
24 December
- The Fifth Day of Christmas
Christmas Eve
December 25
- Christmas Day
- The Sixth Day of Christmas
December 26
- Boxing Day
- St Stephens Day
Saint Stephen's Day
December 27
- Feast Of St John
December 28
- Childermas
- the Feast of the Holy Innocents
December 31st - Twelfth Night
Saturday, 29 November 2025
Friday, 28 November 2025
The old saying goes, "Fake it till you make it."
Because sometimes, pretending you have confidence helps you find the real thing.
When it doesn't work, when life doesn't give us second chances or dress rehearsals, you can walk away or you can go all in.
We tell ourselves we don't care.
We can try to hide our doubts and fears.
Or we can accept the unknown and dive in.
The real thing is better anyway.
Despite its complexity, the human brain can only focus on about one thing at a time.
Monotasking reduces distraction, sharpens attention, and allows us to operate at peak performance.
But a brain can adapt and thrive in just about anything.
Even chaos.
Scientists call the conscious thought needed to complete everyday tasks working memory. That memory is always there, always there, getting you through the chaos of life, one task at a time.
In some ways, that's all life really is, all the things we do strung together.
this day, this night, this moment.
This connection, this family, this friendship.
And somewhere, in all of that, sleep and wake up.
Sleep and wake up.
Sleep.
And wake up.
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