I've been offering prints on a (sort of) monthly basis and for the Yuletide period I'm delighted to share with you an old favourite, Morning Star. This is your chance to collect part of a limited edition at a specially reduced price. Once the month ends, so does the offer.
The singing of “Morning Star, O Cheering Sight” is a longstanding, heartwarming Christmas Eve tradition in Moravian congregations, something I experienced every year attending a Moravian school in Derbyshire. A young person from the congregation is invited to lead the singing, which features a call and response. The song, written by Johann Scheffler in 1657, is sung antiphonally with solo and congregation. As the song comes to a close, worshipers hold up their lighted beeswax candles, filling darkened sanctuaries with a warm and festive glow. The final line invites the congregation to “fill our hearts with light divine,” and is often sung during Christdingle services - another Moravian invention.
Although clearly Christian in its message, this was probably one of the most formative magical ritual experiences I encountered - steeped in folk tradition and community. 'Morning Star' also has other connotations of light bringer (Lucifer) and most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise.
Single colour (black) linocut
Hand printed on 145 gsm Zerkall paper in cream with deckled edges.
approx 30cm x 30cm
Special Yuletide Limited Edition of 25
