{"id":140,"date":"2011-01-05T19:53:30","date_gmt":"2011-01-05T23:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/?p=140"},"modified":"2011-01-06T12:26:48","modified_gmt":"2011-01-06T16:26:48","slug":"the-womens-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/the-womens-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Women’s Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nWise Women Also Came<\/em> \u00a9 Jan L. Richardson<\/p>\n

This past year I was delighted to learn of a women’s tradition connected with Epiphany, which falls on January 6 and marks the end of the Christmas season. There is a custom, rooted in Ireland, of celebrating Epiphany as Women’s Christmas<\/strong>, called Nollaig na mBan<\/strong> in Irish. It originated as a day when the women, who carried the domestic responsibilities all year, took Epiphany Day as an occasion to celebrate together and left hearth and home to the men for a few hours. Particularly celebrated in County Cork and County Kerry, the tradition seems to be enjoying a resurgence.<\/p>\n

My sweetheart and I, who are celebrating our first Epiphany together in our new home (having married last Spring), share the tending (and sometimes lack of tending) of our home, so I can’t say I’m in particular need of a break from being a domestic diva, which I am not. But still, especially with Advent and Christmas always being an intense time of year for me, I love the idea of ending the season with a celebration such as this.<\/p>\n

So, to mark the occasion, I’m joining a group of girlfriends for dinner tomorrow. A couple of them are dear friends whom I haven’t seen in much too long, and the others are friends of theirs who might just be girlfriends-in-the-making for me. As I leave the Christmas season and begin to settle into the rhythms of this new year, I am looking forward to spending an evening in their company.<\/p>\n

Here on the eve of Epiphany, I am here to ask you: How might you celebrate your own Women’s Christmas? Tomorrow or some day soon, whom might you connect with for a cup of tea, a festive toast, a meal, or even a phone call? Whose company do you want to share and to celebrate as you cross into this new year?<\/p>\n

The “Wise Women Also Came” image above is a collage I created many years ago—one of the first that emerged as I was beginning to discover the artist layer of my soul. I designed it as a card for Epiphany. Some years later, I included the image in my Night Visions<\/strong> book and wrote this poem to accompany it. I offer these women and these words as an Epiphany gift for you.<\/p>\n

Wise Women Also Came<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wise women also came.
\nThe fire burned
\nin their wombs
\nlong before they saw
\nthe flaming star
\nin the sky.
\nThey walked in shadows,
\ntrusting the path
\nwould open
\nunder the light of the moon.<\/p>\n

Wise women also came,
\nseeking no directions,
\nno permission
\nfrom any king.
\nThey came
\nby their own authority,
\ntheir own desire,
\ntheir own longing.
\nThey came in quiet,
\nspreading no rumors,
\nsparking no fears
\nto lead
\nto innocents\u2019 slaughter,
\nto their sister Rachel\u2019s
\ninconsolable lamentations.<\/p>\n

Wise women also came,
\nand they brought
\nuseful gifts:
\nwater for labor\u2019s washing,
\nfire for warm illumination,
\na blanket for swaddling.<\/p>\n

Wise women also came,
\nat least three of them,
\nholding Mary in the labor,
\ncrying out with her
\nin the birth pangs,
\nbreathing ancient blessings
\ninto her ear.<\/p>\n

Wise women also came,
\nand they went,
\nas wise women always do,
\nhome a different way.<\/p>\n

For more about Women’s Christmas, visit this article published yesterday in The Irish Times: Go on, have a cuppa tea on Nollaig na Mban<\/a>. And for my Epiphany reflection at The Painted Prayerbook<\/a>, see Epiphany: Where the Map Begins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many blessings and a Merry Women’s Christmas to you!<\/p>\n

[Image and poem \u00a9 Jan L. Richardson from Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas<\/strong>. “Wise Women” prints and cards available at janrichardson.com<\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wise Women Also Came \u00a9 Jan L. Richardson This past year I was delighted to learn of a women’s tradition connected with Epiphany, which falls on January 6 and marks the end of the Christmas season. There is a custom, rooted in Ireland, of celebrating Epiphany as Women’s Christmas, called Nollaig na mBan in Irish. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-sacred-time"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p190Xv-2g","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}