Welcome to the Christmas issue of Imaginarium!
We are almost at the most wonderful time of the year. In this issue we will celebrate the birth of Christ and the rise of the Sun-king, as celebrated in pre-Christian societies. So we will learn about Yule, Saturnalia and the return of the Sun-king to earth. We will also learn how all of this carved out the traditions about Santa Claus. How did St. Nicholas, the children's favourite old man turn into the popular old man in red garments?
Our favourite mythologist, Evangelia Papanikou, will take us on a journey through Cavafy's poetry and the terror that kallikanzaroi spread on the advent nights.
In this issue we will also be exploring the beauty of fairy tales. What symbols are underlying them, what are the signs of fairy tales and what do they suggest?
And speaking of fairy tales we will admire the vintage Christmas photo shoot of Olga Lobacheova from Russia, who will to us talk about her art and the magic of the lens and her life.
The painter of the month is Annie Stegg who with her light brushstrokes on her canvas, creates ethereal beings bathed in moonlight.
The Imaginarium also this month hosts the Christmas Imaginarium and its creator,, Russell Ince, talks to us about this wondrous world of his as well as his new book!
And because you've whetted your appetite for Christmas treats we'll be getting into the kitchen and making Christmas recipes from all over Europe.
Of course, as every month, we will organise our activities around the Moon and her travels in the sky. Based on her, we will also make beautiful and tasty recipes for face, body and hair, and we will discover all the old spells of the winter solstice in the witch's cabinet.
And because people on the winter solstice not only cast spells but also made predictions, Mari Anne Kord will analyse the year ahead for each sign of the zodiac.
In this issue we also host our dear Vasilios Takos from the STA astrology school, where he talks to us about the wonderful art of horary astrology.
This issue also features an article on Bernadette Brady's research on the star of Bethlehem through the prism of cultural astronomy.
We'll learn the secrets of Jupiter, a planet that in astrology is also considered a bit...Santa Claus, while the beloved Fiona Beth will be brewing tea to talk about the Wheel of Fortune in tarot.
Finally, we will grab our brooms, as we do every month, and travel to magical Vienna where we will see Christmas markets and learn all the Christmas customs of this dreamy city and its province.
