DECEMBER ADVENT POSTERS

DECEMBER 24 ADVENT CALENDAR ~ YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS

Last day for the CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTERS.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas. An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS. All posters are my creations ~ please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

By Francis P. Church, first published in The New York Sun in 1897. [See The People’s Almanac, pp. 1358–9.]

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

‘BUT I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of site,

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night’

*

*

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) 

Chestnut’s roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yule tide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like eskimos
Everybody knows
A turkey and some misletoe
Can help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that santa’s on his way
He’s loaded with toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mothers child is going to spy
To see if reigndeer really know how to fly
And so I’m offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
All thought it’s been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you

They know that santa’s on his way
He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mothers child is going to spy
To see if reigndeer really know how to fly
And so I’m offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
All though it’s been said many times many ways
Merry Christmas,
Merry Christmas,
Merry Christmas to you

 ”The Christmas Song” (commonly subtitled “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” or, as it was originally subtitled, “Merry Christmas to You“) is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Torméand Bob Wells.

DECEMBER 23 ~ INSPIRATIONAL ADVENT CALENDAR ~ IVY

 CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

Advent meaning ‘the coming’, is a month full of expectation,

anticipation and preparation for Yule / winter solstice and Christmas

Please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Holly, Ivy and other greenery such as Mistletoe were originally used in pre-Christian times to help celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival and ward off evil spirits and celebrate new growth.

The colours of the Holly and Ivy, green and red are traditionally associated with Christmas.

Celtic meaning of ivy deals with:

• Growth

• Renewal

• Connection

• Friendship

• Opportunity

Evergreens have been used to decorate homes since Pagan times, when they were believed to be a symbol of eternal life. Evergreens were considered magical due to their ability to retain signs of life during winter, and producing berries like holly.
Evergreen plants, like ivy and holly, were brought into the home during the Winter Solstice – a celebration of light and rebirth. Ivy was the symbol of Bacchus – god of wine and merriment.

Ivy also represents fidelity, wedded love and friendship. Also, a sprig of ivy of white tendrils means that one is anxious to please, and symbolizes affection.
The holly was traditionally thought to be masculine (prickly and tough) and the ivy feminine (clingy and heart-shaped), bringing balance and harmony, a yin and yang, to the home – also promising fertility to the household.

It is also a symbol of vibrancy as the druids admired its bright green hue. Often, sprigs of ivy would be woven into chain necklaces or head adornments to represent clarity of thought as well as celebrate the vitality of nature surrounding them.

The ivy gets its symbolism of connections and friendships because of its propensity to interweave in growth. Ever furrowing and intertwining, the ivy is an example of the twists and turns our friendships take – but also a testimony to the long-lasting connections and bonds we form with our friends that last over the years.

Another tribute to friendship as well as the test of time is the ivy’s ability to grow in challenging environments. The ivy is incredibly durable and can withstand harsh conditions. This is symbolic of our ability to stick by our friends no matter what.

The ivy is also a symbol of survival and determination for the same reasons. It seems to be virtually indestructible and will often return after it has suffered damage or has been severely cut back. This is an example of the human spirit and the strength we all have to carry on regardless of how harrowing our setbacks may have been.

Ivy grows in the shape of a spiral. This has long been considered a sacred symbol for:

• Consciousness

• Development

• Expansion

• Rebirth

Lasly, most ivy has five-pointed leaves which makes it a symbol of protection as it signifies the harmony of the elements unified by common bonding energy.

Quotes about IVY

False friendship, like the ivy, decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new life and animation to the object it supports. ~ Richard Burton

When the ivy has found its tower, when the delicate creeper has found its strong wall, we know how the parasite plants grow and prosper. ~ Anthony Trollope

“Here’s to holly and ivy hanging up, And to something wet in every cup” ~ anonymous toast quote

“True Friends like ivy and the wall, both stand together, and together fall.”

The Christmas Holly

The holly! the holly!  oh, twine it with hay –
Come give the holly a song;
For it helps to drive the stern winter away,
With his garment so sombre and long.

It peeps through the trees with its berries of red,
And its leaves of burnished green,
When the flowers and fruits have long been dead,
And not even the daisy is seen.
Then sing to the holly; the Christmas holly,
That hangs over peasant and king;
While we laugh and carouse ‘neath its glittering boughs,
To the Christmas holly we’ll sing.

The gale may whistle, the frost may come
To fetter the gurgling rill;
The woods may be bare, and warblers dumb,
But holly is beautiful still.
In the revel and light of princely halls
The bright holly branch is found;
And its shadow falls on the lowliest walls,
While the brimming horn goes round.

The ivy lives long, but its home must be
Where graves and ruins are spread;
There’s beauty about the cypress tree,
But it flourishes near the dead;
The laurel the warrior’s brow may wreathe,
But it tells of tears and blood;
I sing the holly, and who can breathe
Aught of that that is not good?
Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,
That hangs over peasant and king;
While we laugh and carouse ‘neath its glittering boughs,
To the Christmas holly we’ll sing.

Eliza Cook ( 1818-1889 )

The Holly and the Ivy Lyrics

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The Holly bears a blossom 

As white as lily flower

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Saviour
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas Day in the morn.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly and the ivy
Now both are full well grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

Charles Dickens

Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green,
That creepeth o’er ruins old!
Of right choice food are his meals, I ween,
In his cell so lone and cold.
The wall must be crumbled, the stone decayed,
To pleasure his dainty whim:
And the mouldering dust that years have made
Is a merry meal for him.
Creeping where no life is seen,
A rare old plant is the Ivy green.

Fast he stealeth on, though he wears no wings,
And a staunch old heart has he.
How closely he twineth, how tight he clings
To his friend the huge Oak Tree!
And slyly he traileth along the ground,
And his leaves he gently waves,
As he joyously hugs and crawleth round
The rich mould of dead men’s graves.
Creeping where grim death hath been,
A rare old plant is the Ivy green.

Whole ages have fled and their works decayed,
And nations have scattered been;
But the stout old Ivy shall never fade,
From its hale and hearty green.
The brave old plant, in its lonely days,
Shall fatten upon the past:
For the stateliest building man can raise
Is the Ivy’s food at last.
Creeping on where time has been,
A rare old plant is the Ivy green.

December 22 Inspirational Advent Calendar ~ Winter Solstice

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

Advent meaning ‘the coming’, is a month full of expectation,

anticipation and preparation for Yule/ winter solstice and Christmas

Please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Once the Winter solstice arrives (Dec 22nd),

the days will begin to lengthen again and

the sun will grow stronger and brighter….

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories”

Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail”

“I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood.” Bill Watterson

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. 
Albert Camus

It snowed and snowed, the whole world over, Snow swept the world from end to end. A candle burned on the table; A candle burned. 
Boris Pasternak

But see, Orion sheds unwholesome dews; Arise, the pines a noxious shade diffuse; Sharp Boreas blows, and nature feels decay, Time conquers all, and we must time obey. 
Alexander Pope

Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. 
Victor Hugo

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. 
Anne Bradstreet

Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me. 
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen. 
Willa Cather

And for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms. 
William Bradford

O Winter! ruler of the inverted year, . . . I crown thee king of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturb’d Retirement, and the hours Of long uninterrupted evening, know. 
William Cowper

Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind,
As man’s ingratitude. 
William Shakespeare

One kind word can warm three winter months. 
Japanese proverb

DECEMBER 21 INSPIRATIONAL ADVENT CALENDAR ~ CHRISTMAS TREE

 CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: 

the presence of a happy family

all wrapped up in each other.  ~Burton Hillis

Christmas Tree History and Interesting Facts:

Many believe that the first Christmas tree was originally used back in the 8th century in Germany. An English missionary, Boniface, was said to be the first to introduce a decorated fir tree. Evergreens were taken into homes at that time because it was believed that they had protective and magical powers by the Pagans, as they remained green during the winter. Decorations for the trees became popular during the 18th Century. Originally, there were white or red decorations symbolising innocence and knowledge, also paper flowers, sweets, candles, gingerbread shapes were used. The first tinsel was made from stretching real silver into long strips.

The Christmas tree tradition had spread to other northern European countries by the 19th century.  Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, first brought the Christmas tree to the UK. Glass baubles became available and the first electric lights were patented in 1882.

• There are approximately 25-30 million Real Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year.

• There are close to 350 million Real Christmas Trees currently growing on Christmas Tree farms in the U.S. alone, all planted by farmers.

  The most common Christmas Tree species are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine. 

  

December 20 Inspirational Advent Calendar ~ The Holly

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

Advent meaning ‘the coming’, is a month full of expectation,

anticipation and preparation for Yule / winter solstice and Christmas

Please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Green groweth the holly,
So doth the ivy.
Though winter blasts blow never so high,
Green groweth the holly. 
King Henry VIII 1522

The Christmas Holly

The holly! the holly!  oh, twine it with hay – 
   Come give the holly a song;
For it helps to drive the stern winter away,
   With his garment so sombre and long. 

It peeps through the trees with its berries of red,
   And its leaves of burnished green,
When the flowers and fruits have long been dead,
   And not even the daisy is seen.
Then sing to the holly; the Christmas holly,
   That hangs over peasant and king;
While we laugh and carouse ‘neath its glittering boughs,
   To the Christmas holly we’ll sing.

The gale may whistle, the frost may come
   To fetter the gurgling rill;
The woods may be bare, and warblers dumb,
   But holly is beautiful still.
In the revel and light of princely halls
   The bright holly branch is found;
And its shadow falls on the lowliest walls,
   While the brimming horn goes round.

The ivy lives long, but its home must be
   Where graves and ruins are spread;
There’s beauty about the cypress tree,
   But it flourishes near the dead;
The laurel the warrior’s brow may wreathe,
   But it tells of tears and blood;
I sing the holly, and who can breathe
   Aught of that that is not good?
Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,
   That hangs over peasant and king;
While we laugh and carouse ‘neath its glittering boughs,
   To the Christmas holly we’ll sing.

Eliza Cook

During December as the winter solstice approached, and when the bright red berries appeared on the holly our Celtic ancestors decorated their homes with sprigs of the evergreen shrub. It was believed that holly brought magical protection for homes against witches and lightning strikes. 
At this time of the year the Romans gave holly wreaths as gifts during the Saturnalia – a celebration sacred to Saturn, and we continue to decorate our homes with cheerful holly …’deck the halls with boughs of holly‘

Inspirational Quote Christmas Advent Calendar ~ December 19 ~ Teaching

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

Please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Inspirational Quote Christmas Advent Calendar ~ December 18 ~ INVISIBLE WORLD

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

DECEMBER 17 INSPIRATIONAL ADVENT CALENDAR ~ CHRISTMAS MEANING

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER. 

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS. 

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. - Dr. Seuss

Inspirational Quote Christmas Advent Calendar ~ December 16 ~ Best Presents

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

All posters are my creations ~ please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Inspirational Quote Christmas Advent Calendar ~ December 15 ~ Missing Home

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

All posters are my creations ~ please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!