To those who celebrate, may you receive the gift of wisdom. Blessings at #Epiphany.

Sally Bosken told me all #astronomers had to have a #starofbethlehem speech ready. Thanks to her, I do.

#calendar #timekeeping #seasonoflight #12daysofchristmas #astronomy #histsci
detail from "Mary and Child, surrounded by angels" by "Master of Sant'Apollinare", photograph by N. A. Thune (CC-BY-SA 2.5), courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Epiphany is also the day for La Befana! The latest in my slightly sinister winter holiday folklore collection: the Italian Christmas witch. La Befana is a witch of Italian folklore who brings sweets & gifts to good children and coal or cinders to bad children on Epiphany Eve. She flies on her broom and comes down the chimney. It’s dangerous to watch her. She’s both grandmotherly and a witch, beloved & ridiculed. 🧵

#linocut #printmaking #Epiphany #Christmas #folklore #Befana #12daysofchristmas

Epiphany is time for my #linocut of Perchta, also known as Frau Perchta or Berchta (or Bertha in English), a figure from Alpine folklore, who visits during the 12 days of Christmas. Her name may come from “the bright one” or the German word for the feast of the Epiphany and her history is linked to white robbed goddesses like Holda who oversaw spinning and weaving or the goddess Frigg and she emerged from Germanic and 🧵

#printmaking #folklore #Perchta #winter #Berchta #12daysOfChristmas