The Time Between the Years

     

Hello to all my friends in Chelmsford, many of whom I had the great pleasure to see last month. Whether we chatted at the Cathedral Christmas Market or shook hands at the Civic Society talk, it was a delight meeting you!

And since we are friends now, I can be honest: writing this January column has been truly rough as it has required diligence during Twelfthide, one of Germany’s most unproductive seasons. Even for disciplined Swabians, the “time between the years” as it is known in German, is a blissful time of socially sanctioned idleness and domestic retreat. After the hubbub of advent, life comes to a halt on December 25^th and, with the exception of those hitting the slopes, stays shut down until Epiphany.

If we look closer, this winter cocooning is not some modern Tik-Tok trend but rather an ancient practice delivered up from pre-Christian times. It is enmeshed with the suspicions surrounding the solstice which held that evil spirits were underway in these short, dark nights. To get through unscathed, one must keep one’s house tidy and oneself tightly under wraps. Forbidden were physical labor and loud noises which might draw the attention of demons rushing through the forests. And while a quiet enterprise, laundering was to be avoided as those very spirits could easily get entangled in washing hung up to dry.  Even the weakened sun itself was not to be provoked which meant, by some primitive logic, that circular chores were also taboo such as sewing, spinning or threshing.

Delicate cleaning and the use of incense were, on the other hand, allowed as the time between the years was also a time of spiritual cleansing when the veil between this world and the next was at its most fragile.

From my vantage point at my cozy desk on this frosty January morning, I can safely say that these rituals, so seemingly archaic, are actually of tremendous value in modern times.  When the clanging machinery of school and work shifts loudly back into gear on January 7^th, we who have truly rested will be ready to face whatever challenges the New Year has in store.