May the Circle Be Unbroken

In the deep, darkest, coldest part of the winter comes the light - a message of hope through eternity.  I have been thinking about recent highly magnified Hubble telescope images that show three pillars of dust, and the birth of new stars beyond.  Am I the only one whose meditations lead me to link these images to the Three Wise Men following the Star to Bethlehem - to a perfect moment in time and place, a little enclosed space, to witness to the birth of the energy that is our universe? Where does the Light of Love and Life come from? Are words enough to convey such a deep and profound mystery?  Can a human mind even comprehend the immensity of its message?

My husband brought in our Diduch-Grandfather to our Sviata Vecherya feast last night - the eve of Christmas by the Eastern Christian tradition.  Is it possible that the ancients had glimmers of these same images - deep in their meditative quests for understanding? Twelve meatless dishes, kutia, borsch, holubtsi, varenyky, mushrooms of all sorts, fish of several types, stewed fruit - dishes made of simple ingredients.  Watching the stars, learning to see beyond them....  Like life, Sviata Vecherya is time consuming, layered with flavours of the field, the forest, the rivers, and the orchard.  Layered with the flavours of joy, sorrow, passion and inquiry!  What a delicious meal!

Khrystos Razhdayetsia - Slavimo Yoho!! 

Kutia - Ukrainian Wheat Berry and Poppy Seed Pudding

amk2012

Ukrainian Christmas Eve Supper, Святя Вечеря,  is a feast beyond one's imagination.  Layers and layers of history, from times of antiquity give meaning to each and every aspect of the meal. Imagine preparing meals in times long past.  Imagine drawing water, harvesting each nutritious morcel from nature, waiting, the pace and rhythms of life.  Imagine the "shadows of forgotten ancestors" as they return for the feast!

Kutia  кутя is a very primitive dish.  Essentially boiled wheat, sweetened with honey and dressed with poppy seeds - it has acquired a mystical symbolism. The creamy, milky, earthy liquor of the boiled wheat is the juice of earth's fertility.  Each grain lives to maturity, is sacrificed and consumed to provide life anew.  Honey-bee spun sunshine,  jelled nectar of the flowers is sweetness, love of life, promise and fulfillment.  And the alluring, almond scent of sweet creamy ground poppy seeds hints of dreamy sleep, deep dark and mysterious repose, the door to eternity.  

The intimate, rich and embracing flavor of this prehistoric pudding is a mystical veil of tradition that hovers between today and the ancient past - how many generations?  One part physical nature, one part sweet spiritual joy, and one part dark night - kutia symbolizes a lifetime!

Kutia  кутя is traditionally the first course in the Ukrainian Christmas Eve meal Святя Вечеря after a fast of 40 days.  Even in pre-history before Christianity, there was a Winter Feast that featured Kutia.  Even then, fasting was a proper way of preparing oneself for a feast - reserving the most important foods to share the magical moment of feasting together as a family!  Even then, a variant called kolyvo коливо without the bitter-black poppy seeds was served at funeral gatherings - but sweeter, joyfully anticipating the life-after.

Delivering a Love Letter-Koliada 2013

The candle is lit, the table is set, the family welcomes the "diduch дідух - spirit of the the ancestors" and sits to a Holy Supper much like the Jewish Seder - Sviata Vecherya Святя Вечеря.   Feast on kutia кутя, the mysterious, sweet pudding of Neolithic origin or earlier? Rejoice, we continue to survive! We have lived to see the light of eternity in the darkest night of winter - and rejoice!

By the Julian Calendar, January 6 and 7th each year are the dates of Eastern Orthodox Christmas.  For the one quarter of Albertans for whom Ukraine is spiritual, ancestral homeland, it is Rizdvo Різдво, here on the prairies again!

After a forty day fast, a ritual feast of ancient dishes remind the family of past challenges, threats to survival.  A menu of "hard-time" foods, meat-less, dairy-less, nothing hunted, no bloodletting, but the incense of innocence, a New Baby Born.  Let's feast on the Good News!  Life is now better!   The Lamb will be fat!  We will drink the cup of eternity! A life of milk and honey is upon us! Even death will be filled with a satisfying aroma of anticipation!   Sing!  Isn't that Good News?

Christmas Carols tell the story, carolers arrive at the home.  If He knocks, will you open the door?  The ritual song, a recited greeting , and the hosts share their feast of food and drink with the travelers.

Tryzub Ukrainian Dance Ensemble is ready to carol in your home on the evenings of January 6, 7, 2013.  For more information please contact  info@tryzub.ca.

Some carols to enjoy in the meantime  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpK_QxMfwvc