Epiphany

Announcement: You may now take down your Christmas tree. The twelve days of Christmas are over. The Magi have officially arrived.

Ok, maybe you’ve already taken down your tree. But you may remember from my post on Holiday Traditions that, in my family, we always celebrated Epiphany. (With the camels and Magi making their way slowly across the room to the creche, finally arriving at the manger on January 6^th.) If you celebrate Epiphany, then traditionally Christmas decorations stay up through the full twelve days of Christmas.  

I’m curious, if you left yours up, did you do that because of Epiphany or because you like having them up and aren’t ready to take them down? Or for some other reason? I have a friend that is turning her tree into a bird feeder. Such a clever idea! Read how to do this here.

Ah, but Epiphany! A word that almost always requires an exclamation point. An event which arrives early in a month that is still more about reflection than action. Which is to say, you may have a great idea but it still needs time to come to fruition. There is still time needed before it can be put into action; there are still plans to be made and much to be considered.

Remember, the Magi saw the star and it still took them twelve to fifteen months for it to lead them to Jesus. First, there were preparations. It’s not like they just jumped on their camels like cowboys in a western. And there were stops along the way. Remember how they knocked on King Herod’s door and asked for directions to the new king of the Jews? Yeah, definitely a misstep there. And that happens to all of us. Even when following a star, we can make some wrong turns.

Epiphanies are wonderful – and – they still require work.

An epiphany alone won’t get you anywhere. An epiphany is just the beginning. An epiphany is just a romance that requires a huge amount of attentiveness to make the relationship last. Yet, without the epiphany, nothing is new. We are in the same place (emotionally, intellectually, spiritually). Epiphany is the spark that moves us forward. Ephiphany is possibility.

May this day be one of introspection, hope, and even joy for you.

Happy Epiphany!

Forgive the poor formatting of the poem below. WordPress doesn’t hold proper formatting, alas. And yes, there will probably be some words you’ll have to look up. Resulting in yet more epiphanies. 🙂

REGARDING EPIPHANY

The Thesis

Epiphany is

                        the 12 days journey

            the 12 times 12 times 2

Not

                        the sudden manifestation

            the dawning of sight

                        the return of the light

That                

was the easy part.

The Discourse

Epiphany is

                        an episiotomy

            an epistemic episode

                        an epitaph on extinguished epithelium

            an epoch of equivocal equity

                        eradicating Erebus

            erewhile ergastic

                        erotic and erratic and eruptive.

Epiphany is

                        exhilarating

            exasperating

            ex-communicating

                        not explicative.

            It is      exploding

                        exploring

                        expressing and expounding.

            It is      extending

            extemporaneous

            exteroceptive and extreme,

            extrinsic

            extraordinary

            extruding, exuding and exuberant.

The Conclusion

Epiphany is

                        the sight once seen:

                        the memory     the journey      and      the returning;

                        the spiral upward toward

                        the light, spiked with snakes

                        and ladders;

                        the deja’ vu;

                        the resting too;

                        the falling, the crawling, the weeping,

                        the leaping, the seeing, the meaning,  and,

                             the forgetting.

The Love Song

Epiphany!  O, Ephiphany!

            esteemed, ethereal Epiphany!

I am estranged from my ethos

            and esurient.

Espouse yourself to me!

Meet me at the estuary where your Etesian ether

            will etch my everything  entirely –

            ensign me with your essence

That I might wait patiently

            until you come again.

– Jan Kristen Peppler

Originally published in Between Literary Journal, Vol. 18, Beyond (2015)