Two Epiphany Poems by Jan Richardson

Jan Richardson is one of my favourite devotional writers/artists/poets.  Attached are her poems for Epiphany and the New Year: For Those Who Have Far To Travel and Epiphany Blessing.  The picture is also hers, entitled "Wise Women Also Came" based on the custom, rooted in Ireland, of celebrating Epiphany (January 6, which brings the Christmas season to a close) as Women’s Christmas. Called Nollaig na mBan in Irish, Women’s Christmas originated as a day when the women, who often carried the domestic responsibilities all year, took Epiphany as an occasion to celebrate together at the end of the holidays, leaving hearth and home to the men for a few hours. Celebrated particularly in County Cork and County Kerry, the tradition is enjoying a revival. Women’s Christmas offers a timely opportunity to pause and step back from whatever has kept you busy and hurried in the past weeks or months. As the Christmas season ends, this is an occasion both to celebrate with friends and also to spend time in reflection before diving into the responsibilities of this new year - to rest, to reflect, and to contemplate where you are in your unfolding path. Mindful of those who traveled to welcome the Christ child and who returned home by another way, a Women's Christmas tradition allows us to turn our attention toward questions about our own journey. 

Her Epiphany Blessing is based on the traditional Epiphany chalk house blessing, but looking instead at the coming year as the house in which we reside

I hope you find these two poems as meaningful as I do. 

Blessings,

Val