Christmas Countdown Characters #13

M is for Magi ..
While children here are waiting excitedly for Santa Claus to arrive on Christmas Eve with presents, some children will expect gifts from the Magi, probably better known as the three wise men or the three kings. The word 'magi' (magus) is an ancient word referring to practitioners of astrology, alchemy and other esoteric knowledge. The most current use of the word is applied to the men who according to the gospel of Matthew visited the baby Jesus soon after his birth. Most of the details about the Magi are in an earlier post, featuring Caspar, one of the Magi. - Christmas Countdown Characters #3, so in this post, I will focus on the Hispanic tradition of "Dia de Reyes" (Day of the Kings) which honours these Christmas icons.

Twelve days after Christmas, the Epiphany, is called Three Kings Day which is celebrated in Latin America, Spain, and in Hispanic communities of the United States .Traditionally, there are special church services and children receive gifts on this day, from the three wise men , Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar.
"In the days preceding Three Kings Day, children write letters to the Magi requesting a toy or gift that they would like. On the night of January 5th, the figures of the Wise Men are placed in the nativity scene. In Mexico, children would traditionally leave out their shoes with a bit of hay in them to feed the camels of the Magi . When the children wake up in the morning, their gifts will have appeared in the place of the hay." (from http://tudecidesmedia.com)
There is no doubt that the Three Kings hold a significant place in the celebration of Christmas in the culture of Hispanic nations... even Disneyland holds a colourful and joyous festival day to celebrate Dia de Reyes

And here is some Christmas humour from an unknown source.

What would have happened if there had been three wise women instead of three wise men? They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole and brought practical gifts.

Comments

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Countdown to Christmas 15 - Diamonds Forever!

How much would you pay for a Christmas fruitcake? The world's most expensive fruit cake has been estimated at $1.65 million. Yesterday, I wrote about the less than positive term "Christmas cake as it is applied to unmarried women, so again it amazed me that in Tokyo, this most exquisite and expensive Christmas cake was created. It took six months to design and another full month to construct. The beautiful cake is fully edible ... that is except for the 223 real diamonds used as decoration. This cake was part of an exhibition called Diamonds: Nature's Miracle and was one of 16 exhibits showcasing creative ways with diamonds . Apparently, the cake was auctioned, fetching $1.65 million US. While there have been other very expensive diamond encrusted cakes since this one in 2005 with estimated values of up to $75 million, this Japanese designed cake was the forerunner of the extravagant diamond studded wedding cakes in the higher price r...

#the100dayproject : Inspiring Women Days 1 - 4

#The100DayProject is a *free* global art project that takes place online 🎨 E very year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate . The idea is simple: choose a creative project, do it every single day for 100 days, and document and share the process online. 2026 is my 8th year of participating. I have stitched daily observations, painted my egg cup collection, collaged postcards and envelopes, written poems, explored colour palettes .... this year I am researching, sketching and stitching 100 inspiring women. Fortunately I purchased a piece of beautiful linen, with preprinted outlines of 100 women ... just one issue - the figures are tiny (height 6cm /2.5 ins) My first week started tentatively ... I thought I would start with Empress Wu, after whom I named my creative activity. This is when I discovered how difficult it is to applique and stitch on these very small figures - I used tweezers to put pieces of fabric down, tried t...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog