Full Circle Eventi – Making Imagination A Reality

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six geese a laying . . .

I was surprisingly inspired by today’s six geese, but in a different way than the previous days. I’m going to do things a little backwards today, because my inspiration actually comes from the religious interpretation instead of the secular as it has in days past.

So here’s the scoop. Geese were among the first birds to be domesticated. Our Neolithic ancestors discovered that, rather than spending days searching for animals to kill or nests to rob, it was easier to capture them live and keep them penned by the cave. The heard or flock could be increased by having them mate. The food supply became more regular as one could just go outside and slaughter a bird or other animal in the pen for meat or collect eggs from the fowl nesting in the enclosure. Since geese were a common barnyard fowl in England and been the topic of a lot of folklore, it is natural that geese were included in the carol, Also, over time, goose became a traditional Christmas meal.

Because of their migration habits, they were often considered to be a symbol of the solar year and also fertility. Ancient Egyptians believed that a mummy’s soul rose up in the form of a goose with a human head.  The Roman goddess, Juno (rules heaven and marriages), considered the goose sacred. Why? In 387 B.C. the geese in her temple cackled and honked, warning the Romans that barbarians were close. Ever since then, the geese were honored for their protective services.   Medieval seafarers had a strange tale on the origin of the goose.  It seems that on the hull of their ships grew this long, goose-shaped barnacle.  Coincidentally, there was also an Arctic goose that migrated around England. Since this goose and the barnacle looked a lot alike, the sailors said that the goose originated from the barnacle and in some tales a seaside tree.

Why was this so important? Well, because the goose came from a tree it was suddenly all right to eat because it was then considered a ‘fruit’ and not the ‘flesh of animals.’ By the 18th century, the goose was the customary Christmas dinner.  The boar had been hunted to extinction, so it was no longer served. But, many homes served a string of sausages around the goose as a reminder of the boar in days past.

While geese were among the first animals to be domesticated, they were not, and still are not, as common as chickens in barnyards. The reason is that they are not as prolific as chickens in terms of laying eggs. While chickens lay eggs regularly, geese only lay 30 to 50 eggs per year. This limits their usefulness as egg producers and also means that it takes longer to increase the size of the flock for meat production. While geese are known to mate for life, the mating is not monogamous as the males will often mate with multiple females making for a lifetime polygamous relationship. Of course, this helps in breeding as you can cull the males for meat, while keeping a larger portion of the flock in the form of egg laying females, knowing that the remaining males can be counted on to mate and fertilize the eggs of all of the females.

It is thus interesting to note that our lover has given his true love six female geese that are currently laying eggs, thereby providing her with both a supply of eggs as well as the possibility of increasing her flock by allowing them to be fertilized and hatched. Being larger than chickens, the eggs of geese are also larger than chicken eggs. Goose eggs are also very rich tasting and are good for making deserts. So, here we are again, six days into the twelve day celebration and the focus remains on foods for the feasting.

Now as for today’s board, it stems from the religious interpretation of the 6 geese laying as the six days of creation that confesses God as Creator and Sustainer of the world.

Day 1: The heavens, the earth, light and darkness.

Day 2: Heaven

Day 3: Dry land, the seas, and vegetation.

Day 4: The sun, the moon and the stars.

Day 5: Living creatures in the water, birds in the air.

Day 6: Land animals and people

So here are the elements of the six days included in this Garden of Eden Observatory wedding.

Adding spice to your life,

Lia

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Five Golden Rings . . .

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Four Colly Birds . . .

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Three French Hens . . .

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves . . .

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree . . .

If you’re a jewelry fan, you’re going to be disappointed to learn that it’s not actually gold rings that are given on day 5.   Unlike the four collie birds in the previous stanza who just had their name changed to a different, and non-existent, species of bird, the five rings in this stanza have, in singers’ and illustrators’ minds, changed from five ring-necked pheasants to five pieces of jewelry. But more on that in a second, let’s make sure to cover the religious view on the 5 golden rings.

The 5 golden rings are interpreted as the first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch:  1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy, which gives the history of humanity’s sinful failure and God’s response of grace in the creation of a people to be a light to the world.

Now as for those pheasants, while gold rings for one’s fingers have been around since ancient times, the word ring, even today, has different meanings. Today we refer to the platform on which boxers fight and wrestlers perform as a ring, a criminal conspiracy as a ring, jewelry for fingers, toes, ears, noses and belly buttons are all referred to as rings. As a verb we ring a bell, in America our telephones ring while in England they ring people up rather than call them up on a telephone as we do in America. Given the versatility of the word ring in today’s language it is not unusual to discover that our sixteenth century ancestors used the shortened term ring to describe a ring-necked pheasant as well as jewelry for their fingers.

So once again, we have a bird reference (do you see a pattern here?).  Why the pheasant?

Pheasants have long been a popular game bird and pheasant hunting has long been a popular sport in Europe and the U.S. In medieval times and earlier hunting was reserved for the nobility. Many stories relate to peasants going cold and hungry while surrounded by a forest full of trees and game. But it was illegal to cut the trees for fuel as they were the habitat for the animals (which the starving peasants were forbidden to hunt for food) that the local lord and his friends hunted for sport. Of course, the local lord and his friends did not simply kill the deer, birds and other game (other than foxes which, in England, were killed for both sport and to keep them from raiding the chickens and other domesticated fowl that were raised for eggs and meat) but followed the hunt with a feast where the products of the day’s hunt were served.

Pheasants were a prized bird as they were both tasty and, more importantly, had long been associated with the nobility. Old legends, popular in the Middle Ages, tell of Jason and the Argonauts bringing back golden birds.

Jason and the Argonauts back in 750 B.C. sailed from Thessaly, Greece in search of the “Golden Fleece”.  During this epic journey, they landed in Phalis, acquiring not only the sorceress, Medea, but also a lot of golden birds.  The Greek word phasianornis means bird of Phasis.”  It is believed that this species of ring-necked pheasant are from the sub-species of the infamous

It didn’t take long for people to conclude that the ring-necked pheasants were a sub-species of these golden birds. Soon, eating pheasant was only for the very rich and royal, often becoming the high-point of the feast.  Many times, it was customary to swear an oath upon it before eating.

So the five golden rings in this stanza refer to five ring-necked pheasants, a dish that was sure to be served at some of the king or queen’s Twelfth Night feasts during the Twelve Days of Christmas celebrations.

Adding Spice to your life,

Lia

Nicole Ha via Stacey Tamaki’s Fun & Flirty blog

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Four Colly Birds . . .

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Three French Hens . . .

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves . . .

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree . . .

“On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Four Collie Birds . . .”

Yes, that’s right!  All these years you’ve been singing “calling birds” when it’s really colly birds.  The verse is actually a corruption of the English word colly or collie. So, we are referring to “four colly birds” or four collie birds (the words to the song were probably written before the creation of the dictionary, so the spelling of old words tends to be flexible).

But let’s get back to the religious interpretations since its meaning relates to the calling birds, before we continue to discuss the black birds. The “calling” birds as the Four Gospels: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, and 4) John, which proclaim the Good News of God’s reconciliation of the world.

What is a colly bird? It is a black bird. In England a coal mine is called a colliery and colly or collie is a derivation of this and means black like coal. For a long time in England, blackbirds have been referred to as both blackbirds (as in the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence) and colly birds as in The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Even in Tudor England these birds went by two different names so it is not so unusual that there would be some confusion three centuries and a couple of continents later.

While the name blackbird migrated beyond England, the name collie bird remained behind in England where, even there, it tended to diminish in use over the centuries. Today, many published versions of the song in the U.S. and Australia give the birds’ name as calling birds rather than collie birds.

So, the song is really saying… four crows.  But, who wants a crow for Christmas?  They did! You see, blackbird was considered a delicacy. In the children’s song “Sing a Song of Sixpence” there are 24 blackbirds backed in a pie.  Pies seem to be a real gourmet food in the peak of The Twelfth Night days and were often a sign of status and competition among the wealthy.

Dining during this time was a form of entertainment, with food presentations having fireworks, and surprises coming out of them.  But, the grandest pie of all was said to be in the year 1770 for Sir Henry Grey at a Twelfth Night celebration in London.  This pie is said to be 9 feet in circumference.

The filling was composed of two bushels of flour, two woodcocks, two turkeys, two rabbits, two ox tongues, four geese, four ducks, four partridges, six pigeons, seven blackbirds and twenty lbs. of butter!  The pie weighed 168 lbs. and was wheeled into the dining room.  Imagine the cholesterol?!

Adding spice to your life,

Lia

Martha Stewart Weddings

On the third day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me, Three French Hens . . .

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves . . .

On the first day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree . . .

“On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Three French Hens . . .”

Today was a very interesting assortment of translations. Grab a glass of burgundy today as you review the customs for The Feast of Holy Innocents.

First the religious, the three French hens stand for the three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Love (I Corinthians 13:13).

Continuing on the religious vein, Irish culture observes the Feast of the Holy Innocents. On this day Herod apparently ordered the slaughter of all first-born – making “childermas” one of the unluckiest day in folk custom. Don’t start any business ventures or journeys; to be sure don’t start anything. The “boy bishops” were de-throned on this day. But this medieval tradition has died long ago, in today’s Ireland you find no young adult taking over a bishop’s throne over the Christmas period.

Of course the belief that the song originated in France is proven for many as there are three French hens. How? The Latin name for France was Gaul, which comes from the Latin word Gallia.  This is close to the Roman word for rooster.

In the Christian religion, it is believed that a cock crowed when Christ was born as a sign that “the light of the world” has arrived.  This is why a rooster on a Christian tomb symbolizes the resurrection.

During the 18th century, large, exotic fowl from the Orient were brought back to England. These birds mated with the descendants of the Roman-breed chickens.  It is believed that the “three French hens” in the song represent a new breed. White chickens are believed to bring good luck.  And, hens are believed to symbolize motherly devotion.

So much talk of the French today draws a few yummy images for me, pastries and Burgundy wine. And while I wouldn’t want to taste it, nothing says French more than the Eifel tower. In my research, I found this funning French Hen inspiration and thought I’d share it with you as well.

Free Jokes Online

Adding spice to your life,

Lia

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves . . .

On the first day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree . . .

“On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves . . .”

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, but I am here to remind you the giving has just begun. In my many Christmas wish phone calls yesterday, I spoke with my brother and his wife who live in Spain. He reminded me that Christmas is not the “big day” for celebration the way it is in Europe, Spain to be specific. It is nearly the beginning of the 12 Days of Christmas leading up to 3 Kings Day.

Here is your nugget of cultural knowledge for today.

The gift of the Old and New Testaments are the religious interpretation of our true love’s present today.

The Green and Grey pallet for this board was inspired by the colors of the turtle dove (and of course the color of a turtle). Touches of antiquity also pay tribute with Venus and other ancient style statues.

Doves for centuries have symbolized both love and fertility.  Astarte, the Phoenician goddess of love, is said to have been hatched on the banks of the Euphrates River from an egg that was warmed by two doves.  Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, was born of water, where doves are often depicted drinking. Hence, this is why they are often seen as fountain art.  Christianity then associated doves as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

Doves are believed to mate for life.  Today, they symbolize marital devotion, faithfulness and love
forever.

Photo

Lia

On the first day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree . . .

“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a Partridge in a Pear Tree.”

There are both religious and secular interpretations of the song and I will give you both when I have it.  I will also share with you interesting customs from around the world associated with the particular day.

The Partridge in a Pear Tree is believed to represents the courage and devotion of Christ dying for his people. A mother partridge will lure predators away from her chicks, even sacrificing her life for them. The pear tree symbolizes the wooden cross upon which Jesus died.

More interesting and surprising sexual interpretations?

One tradition for some on Twelfth Night is to go around wassailing fruit trees as a kind of fertility rite.  Exactly how this is done had varied from century to century. But, in the 18th century (when the song was created) wassailing was done by pouring cider, honey, spices and pulp from a burst baked apple (all mixed in a bowl) around the trees.  The term “Wassail” is taken from the waes hael meaning “be whole” (aka be in good health).

Another folklore claims that a young maiden was suppose to walk backwards around a pear tree three times on Christmas morning.  Then she gazes into the branches. She should see the image of her future husband.

Fertility and sexuality have often been represented by fruits for centuries. The apple represents the female (perhaps going all the way back to the Garden of Eden?).  The pear is supposed to represent the male.  The male partridge is also well-known for being a lusty suitor, very fertile, and producing a lot of off-spring. (Along the same lines as the rabbit does today.) Therefore, the “partridge in a pear tree” symbolizes to some a very suggestive sexual symbolism!

In England, the red-legged partridge was commonly known to sit in pear trees. This bird was not introduced to England from France until the late 1770’s. Since the verse is earlier than that time, this is why many believe the song originates from France.

Adding spice to your life,

Lia

Froeliche Weinachten Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand

Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo Feliz Navidad
Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan Sretan Bozic

Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Shub Naya Baras
Meri KirihimeteSawadee Pee Mai

Maligayan Pasko! Joyeux Noel
La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia

Boze NarodzenieChung Mung Giang Sinh

Merry Christmas

Photo: “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” shot by Steven Meisel for the December 1998 issue of Vogue.

Be it the Muppets or children singing, one of my favorite Christmas carols has always been “Twelve Days of Christmas.” So in honor of our first Christmas here with you, I’ve decided to share with you imagination boards inspired by each of the days. But in true Full Circle Eventi fashion, I will also share with you stories behind the twelve days following December 25. To get us started, here’s a little bit about the big picture of the Twelve Days.

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” first appeared in a children’s book titled, Mirth Without Mischief in England way back in 1780. In this book, it appears to be a memory game, rather than a Christmas song. (But, then some could say that the song itself is like a memory game.) The object of the game is to have the first player start out reciting the first verse, with each of the following players repeating previous versed and then adding one. If a player missed a verse or made some kind of error, then he/she would have to give a kiss or some kind of food to someone else. This game soon grew to be very popular at Twelfth Night parties.

Although the first published version of this song was in England, there are three older versions of the song in French, and one other version from Scotland. Therefore, with some people, there remains
debate on the origin of the song not necessarily being English, but French.

In 1842, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song was first recorded by James O. Halliwell.  Boys with blackened faces wearing animal skins accompanied him. (Twelve Lords A-leaping will explain this dance.)

So, how did the idea of 12 days begin?   Why not the Ten Days of Christmas or the Fourteen Days of Christmas?  It all goes back to the early 4th century Christian church, which believed that January 6 (Epiphany) is the date that Christ was baptized, representing the birth of Jesus’ soul.  This was more important than December 25th to them, regardless of the Winter Solstice at the time.  It took a few hundred years; but, by the 6th century, the Christian emperor, Justinian, proclaimed Christmas as a public holiday, with 8 days of feasting.  Then, by the 9th century, King Alfred of England increased the celebration from 8 days to 12 days. He declared December 25th – January 6th, with the twelfth day falling on January 6. Note: This means the actual night would be the day before on January 5. Confusing, I know.

As with all cultures, as the king or society prospers, so do the celebrations. This held true for Christmas also.  The Middles Ages was the peak era for celebrating Christmas.  Then in 17th century England, Oliver Cromwell, under the Puritan Commonwealth, overthrew the king and totally abolished Christmas!

In the Western church, Epiphany is usually celebrated as the time the Wise Men or Magi arrived to present gifts to the young Jesus (Matt. 2:1-12). Traditionally there were three Magi, probably from the fact of three gifts, even though the biblical narrative never says how many Magi came.  In some cultures, especially Hispanic and Latin American culture, January 6th is observed as Three Kings Day, or simply the Day of the Kings (Spain: la Fiesta de Reyes, el Dia de los Tres Reyes, or el Dia de los Reyes Magos; Dutch: Driekoningendag).  Even though December 25th is celebrated as Christmas in these cultures, January 6th is often the day for giving gifts. In some places it is traditional to give Christmas gifts for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Since Eastern Orthodox traditions use a different religious calendar, they celebrate Christmas on January 7th and observe Epiphany or Theophany on January 19th.

The Twelfth Night is January 5th, the last day of the Christmas Season before Epiphany (January 6th). In some church traditions, January 5th is considered the eleventh Day of Christmas, while the evening of January 5th is still counted as the Twelfth Night, the beginning of the Twelfth day of Christmas the following day.  Twelfth Night often included feasting along with the removal of Christmas decorations. French and English celebrations of Twelfth Night included a King’s Cake, remembering the visit of the Three Magi, and ale or wine. You may also recognize the King’s Cake as part of the southern US observance of Mardi Gras.  In some cultures, the King’s Cake was part of the celebration of the day of Epiphany.

By the 16th century, some European and Scandinavian cultures had combined the Twelve Days of Christmas with (sometimes pagan) festivals celebrating the changing of the year. These were usually associated with driving away evil spirits for the start of the New Year.

Slowly, Christmas returned to society during the Restoration period, but not in such a gala manner as during the Middle Ages.  It wasn’t until the end of the 18th century in England that a growing interest developed for the past, one of them being the Twelve Days (of Christmas celebrations).  By the time the Industrial Revolution hit England, the Twelve Days came to a decline due to the increase in work days. No one had time for 12 days of celebration any more. Does anyone today for that matter?

The popular song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is usually seen as simply a nonsense song for children with secular origins. However, some have suggested that it is a song of Christian instruction, perhaps dating to the 16th century religious wars in England, with hidden references to the basic teachings of the Christian Faith.  They contend that it was a mnemonic device to teach the catechism to youngsters. The “true love” mentioned in the song is not an earthly suitor, but refers to God Himself. The “me” who receives the presents refers to every baptized person who is part of the Christian Faith. Each of the “days” represents some aspect of the Christian Faith that was important for children to learn.

There are differing viewpoints on what The Twelve Days of Christmas represent. They vary from cultural, social, political to religious. I’ll go through them as the song gives them, starting with the pear tree. The religious meanings are at the end of the page in a table. As I was going through each item, I felt there was a common theme of “fertility” in most of these items. This really surprised me! So follow along as we journey through the Twelve Days of Christmas, and continue to spread the joy of the holiday season! Make sure to let me know what you think!

Adding Spice to your life,

Lia

I’m so excited. I hope you are too! Like a kid in a candy store, it’s time for some more inspiration and I can’t think about anything but Christmas right now! I have some exciting things to share with you all with Christmas in mind. So let’s get started with the Christmas color palate board right away.

Red and Green is a hard color combo to create without being reminded of Christmas décor gone bad. But I know it can be artfully crafted with key placed pieces, carefully selected hues, and a bit of imagination. Of course, red is a traditional choice of bridal wear in Indian and Asian cultures, but who says they should have all the fun with color? Take a peek at this palate of reds and greens to set you in the Merry Mood.

Coming up? Get ready for the 12 Days of Christmas!

Lia

I was recently researching another project when these amazing had crafted favors/party boxes fell into my lap. I am always looking to bring you the most unique and special gifts and accessories. These simple paper crafts make great gifts for members of your wedding party, or if you are really looking to splurge, for you entire guest list!

Denise Sharp, of d.sharp, creates these one of a kind paper masterpieces on order. She has been featured numerous times in Martha Stewart Weddings and Seattle Brides. Each work is a unique combination of papers and embellishments. Let us know what you prefer.

In addition to the favor and gift boxes, d.sharp creates alternative décor for your wedding cake. Thinking outside the box with cake topers and decorations as unique as the couple themselves.

Check out more items available at d.sharp and let me know what lights your fire!

Lia