Two Christmas traditions – those around the birth of Jesus and Santa who brings gifts to all – contain strong elements of magic.
Singer-songwriter Looee Arreak performed ‘He shall feed his flock’ in Inuktitut in Against the Grain’s production of ‘Messiah/Complex.’
(Messiah/Complex: Introducing Looee Arreak (NU)/YouTube)
Two arts companies’ creative choices in interpreting Handel’s ‘Messiah’ for our times provide an opportunity to consider future directions for classical music.
The answers are there if you look for them.
Yogendra Singh
Whether you love it or hate it, Christmas music is unavoidable during the holiday season. But what makes a Christmas number one, and why is the music of yule so meaningful?
Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece, 1432. Virgin Mary detail.
Wikimedia Commons
In the New Testament, there is nothing about Mary’s birth, death, appearance, or age. What we do know about the mother of Jesus is, in fact, quite surprising.
The Feast of the Bean King, painted by Jacob Jordaens around 1640-1645.
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
We tend to romanticise the Christmas season, that time of year when we gather with friends and family, feast and be merry. But for most of its history Christmas has been a time of sordid behaviour.
Bridget deals with a ‘pervy’ uncle and advances from her boss in Bridget Jones Diary (2001).
(Working Title Films)
The next time there’s a scene that makes light of gendered violence, pause and ask: what is really being shown here? Is this really all that funny or is it minimizing actual violence?
One page fragment was found in West Germany in a shop adjacent to stalls selling spiced wine and cuckoo clocks in a busy Christmas market.
(Shutterstock)
Don’t expect meditation to provide Christmas miracles. But if you start learning how to meditate now, your holidays may be a bit less stressful and perhaps a little more meaningful.
Blackwood’s main claim to fame is its magnificent dark and durable timber. But let me introduce you to the tree, a stunning wattle with Christmas-green foliage.
If you aren’t a fan of holiday shopping, you aren’t alone.
Dave Einsel/Getty Images
Trees that produce resin for frankincense and myrrh – used for thousands of years in healthcare, worship and trade – are facing collapsing populations.
Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences, BA (Hons), MSc, PhD, CPsychol, HE Cert (Couns.), PG Dip (Couns.), FHEA, FRGS, MBACP (Accred), University of Bristol
Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity