At this time of year when the days are cold and the nights are long (and even colder!) many of us turn to fire, food, and festive celebrations to help get through the winter. In this episode, Christine and JJ warm their souls by describing the symbols and celebrations of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Winter Solstice. From socially distanced latke-making and Yiddish hip hop line dancing in neighbourhood alleys, to fire breathers and giant puppets of years gone by, we pack a lot of joy and warmth into this first of two holiday episodes.
At this time of year when the days are cold and the nights are long (and even colder!) many of us turn to fire, food, and festive celebrations to help get through the winter. In this episode, Christine and JJ warm their souls by describing the symbols and celebrations of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Winter Solstice. From socially distanced latke-making and Yiddish hip hop line dancing in neighbourhood alleys, to fire breathers and giant puppets of years gone by, we pack a lot of joy and warmth into this first of two holiday episodes.
Talk description to me with Me Christine Malec and JJ Hunt.
Christine Malec:Hi, I'm Christine Malec.
JJ Hunt:And I'm JJ Hunt. This is talk description to Me where the visuals of current events and the world around us get hashtag in description rich conversations.
Christine Malec:It's the holiday season and welcome to the first of two holiday episodes. Next week, our episode will be released on Christmas Day, the 25th. And it's going to be quite nice. In the normal course of events, JJ and I would never have thought to do anything other than record face to face in the same room. Of course, in a pandemic, that has not been the case. And so next week, what you're going to hear is a binaural recording. So headphones recommended of JJ and I face to face out in the real world. And we're walking around a commercial Toronto neighborhood talking about Christmas decorations, and we got to be in the same space face to face as it should always have been. So it's a lovely episode. And by normal recording means that you get to hear the whole thing in stereo. So listen with headphones. It's quite a sweet, festive episode. And we really enjoyed it. And so today, we're going to talk about some of the other holidays at this time of year. And that sort of the common theme I think, for all the holidays that happen around this time of year is light and at least here in the Northern Hemisphere The days are quite short. Light is at a premium it's pretty cold. And we we use holidays as ways to remind each other that the light is returning. So JJ, I think we're going to start with Hanukkah. Is that right?
JJ Hunt:Yeah, yeah, Hanukkah, the celebration of lights observed over eight nights, a quite a lovely holiday. Have singing songs and telling stories and lighting the menorah and eating, eating eating. So yeah, this year, the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah is from the 10th to the 18th, I believe December 10 to 18th. And it's it's one of those holidays that is celebrated in lots of different ways by different families and people in different denominations. But I thought we could start by just describing some of the most well known icons of the celebration. So specifically the menorah. Of course, this is the most recognized symbol of Hanukkah. This is the menorah is a candelabrum with nine branches. Most have a flat base, and then all nine candle holders in a row. I mean, the menorahs look like all cut, they're all different kinds, but this is the standard menorah, so nine candle holders in a row with the central one which is the helper candle that's raised a little bit higher than the four candles on either side. So imagine if you will a tall straight candle stick so a tall straight a candle holder standing on that base, that's the helper. And then there are little candle holders on either side of that tall straight candle holder stick and those two holders are connected by a U shape. Alright. And then there are holders on either side of those that are also connected by a larger U shape. And this u this second U shape dips under the first one. And this is the pattern that repeats until there are four on either side with these concentric u shapes each one a bit dipping lower than the last that are in those are all connected to the candle stick in the center. So that's the that's the most classic menorah that's the menorah. If you send a menorah icon or emoji, that's what the menorah is going to look like. That's the classic and what you do is you light the central helper with a magic or lighter and then you use that central candle that helper to light the other candles one per night. And the candles themselves, they tend to be very small and plain and simple. They're designed to only burn for half an hour. And and yeah, like I said lots of different versions of manure they don't all look like that. They're everything from simple wooden menorah to large giant public, like electric displays and neons and steel, they are a central part of each evenings celebration. So that's the menorah. And then there's the dreidel. So the dreidel is is a spinning top, and it's got four flat sides, the most common cradles, they have a rounded point on the bottom. And in the little short stick on the top that kind of looks like a lollipop stick, like just an inch or two of lollipop stick. And then you use that stick to spin the dreidel, and it falls with one side facing up because I've got four flat sides. And on each of those sides is a different Hebrew letter. And so whatever letter comes up, that means a different, you know that there are different ways to gamble with it or play with it. And actually, I learned that if you search for a dreidel online, Google actually gives you a digital dreidel that you can spin over and over and over again with a click of a button. So that's kinda neat.
Christine Malec:Oh I love that! That's so sweet. Now, I had reason to call JJ last night spontaneously. And he answered his phone at an outdoor Hanukkah celebration, which I thought was awesome. What can you tell us about that?
JJ Hunt:Well, lots of people doing you know, whatever celebrating they have to do outside these days. That's the only way we're able to do so, certainly in Toronto, and I know that's the same in lots of other places. And so some very good friends of ours have Hanukkah parties every year. And it's a latke party. You know, eating is a huge part of the celebration. And making latkes is just a great fun, warm activity. And so this year, they had their Hanukkah party entirely outside. And in fact, there is, in their family, an outdoor element to their latke parties every year, because frying potato pancakes inside can really stink up the joint.
Christine Malec:Yeah, it's true. It really can.
JJ Hunt:So, they usually run an extension cord out into their backyard, and they set up an electric frying pan. This is an old school electric frying pan; square with really high sides. And you know, a little temperature setting guage, it's totally old and clunky and wonderful. They run a series of extension cords into the backyard, and my friend puts on his latka frying jacket that he only brings it out to fry latkes. And it's this weathered army green canvas parka. And then you know, normally what happens is the kids are inside playing, running around ,and you know, being crazy and eating cookies, and the grown ups all hang out outside in the backyard, gathered around this warm electric frying pan with our furry hats with ear flaps on, and we pass around a bottle of vodka. They sometimes make a vodka that's infused with beets and horseradish, so it's this dark red color. And he's got this lovely set of silver shot glasses that I think came down from his grandfather. They're really beautiful. They're almost no bigger than thimbles, smooth silver shot glasses. And you know, we pour shots of horseradish and beet vodka and eat tester latkes right out of the pan, and occasionally a full plate will get passed into the house for the kids. That's the normal year. This year, the kids weren't inside, they were outside with all of the adults. The kids were in a laneway that's right beside the house. And they were playing, and having races, and line dancing. So this blew my mind. I noticed that all the kids were line dancing and I said to my friends, "Okay, what is up with these teenage girls line dancing?" I'd never seen this. And he was saying that in middle school they're looking for different activities in gym class that the kids can do together without touching. And line dancing has become a very popular activity in gym class.
Christine Malec:Oh wow!
JJ Hunt:I hadn't heard of this. And so all of these kids, again, in winter coats, they got a cell phone and they were calling up different songs and dancing. So two rows of three or four kids all spaced out, socially distanced, and they were trying out the different line dances that they've been learning in school to all the songs on their cell phones. Oh, we were killing ourselves laughing. And meanwhile, the adults are over at the frying pan, making latke after latke after latke, passing them to the kids. Just a just a ball, it was just a ball. And then we and then the menorah came out. And we lit the menorah. Now this is a party that has a lot of non Jewish people at it. So most of us didn't know the prayer readings or the songs that a cantor might might sing. So my friend, he had found a online some archival prayer readings. Some really beautiful prayer readings. So we hooked up a Bluetooth speaker, set it on a folding chair, and we listened to these archival prayer readings while they were lighting the menorah. And, I mean, it was super cold, right? Like it was something like minus seven Celsius, which for those who are hooked on the Fahrenheit system that's like 19 degrees Fahrenheit. We were getting very, very cold. The vodka was helping but not enough. So we then found some, we found a Yiddish hip hop playlist on YouTube so we could dance a little bit until our phone batteries gave out in the cold.
Christine Malec:Tee hee hee.
JJ Hunt:It was a chilly night. But lovely. You know, there were
Christine Malec:The outdoor life is so, there's something lots of people who were walking by, even in the cold, just to kind of get bid exercise, walk their dogs or whatever. Lots of waving and hellos from people in the neighborhood. And folks would stop by for a quick latke. And it was really nice. That's the kind of celebrating often happening in backyards. This hap ened to be on a front porch and aneway. So it was even more ublic, even more celebratory. It was really quite lovely. really beautiful about it. And so last night on my street, there was someone with a megaphone, and it was 10 or so people and they were doing the prayers, the candle lighting prayers, and there was some singing and and you just, you didn't see that in the you know, the pre COVID world. And I'm not, you know, it's bittersweet. But the outdoor life that's happening, street life, is quite, quite sweet. So we're going to talk about Kwanzaa too. What can you tell us about that? It's something I don't actually know much about
JJ Hunt:Kwanzaa is a fascinating holiday, because it's an amalgam of various celebrations from different parts of Africa. And I'm the same Chris, I don't have a history with Kwanzaa, I don't know it very well. So I did a little bit of research. It is a distinctly African American celebration. So essentially, you've got a population of people whose cultural ties were ruthlessly severed. And the holiday that they were given to celebrate is the holiday of the dominant society. And so in 1966, an African American professor of African Studies, a man by the name of Maulana Karenga, he created the holiday of Kwanzaa by pulling from different celebrations from all across Africa, so that African Americans would have a holiday of their own that kind of came from the roots of Africa. And so because of this, because of the way it's been created and pulled from different cultures, you end up with a with a really interesting mix of ideas and symbols for this holiday. So it's a seven day celebration. And each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to a principle of Kwanzaa. And like I said, the celebratory symbols are pulled from all over. So households, for example, are decorated in different woven African cloths. So these cloths tend to have very bright colors and interesting patterns. So one of the sets of colors you'll often see is the pan African colors of yellow, red and green, and then repeating patterns of lines and shapes. And so these cloths are used in clothing and just as decoration around the house, as wall hangings, and tablecloths and whatnot. Another tradition is to serve and display bowls and plates of fresh fruit. Fresh fruit is a big part of the holiday. Again, food often is, right? And then there's the nightly lighting of the kinara, which is a candelabra with seven holders. It's very similar to the menorah, but it tends to be made of wood, it doesn't have that those U shaped those concentric use, they tend to just be in a straight line. And there's a central black or very dark candle. And then there are three candles on either side and the candles on one side are red, and the candles on the other side are green, and so much in the same way that you have the lighting of the menorah, evening by evening you have the lighting of the kinara Evening by evening in Kwanzaa.
Christine Malec:Lovely. Ya, light is such a common thing in all all holidays at this time of year and one of my favorites is Solstice which is coming this Sunday, Monday and so the solstice is the shortest day and the longest night. And it is the after which the days start getting longer. And so, again, light is, you know, a big theme in the dark of winter and how we help each other through that. And so in Toronto, there is every year, except this year, in Kensington Market, which is a culturally diverse sort of hub neighborhood in close to downtown Toronto. They have a Solstice parade and JJ and I were just shamefacedly admitting to one another before we started recording that neither of us has ever been! I feel like I need to leave the city in shame because everyone, I think every single friend I have has been, to this parade and except me. So thanks, JJ, for enabling me by not having attended either because I feel like a total cultural loser. I definitely observe the solstice in my own way with friends, but I've never attended the parade, which I hear is quite spectacular. So JJ, were you able to find images from previous years?
JJ Hunt:I was. And each each image I looked at each video I found online made me more embarrassed that I haven't gone and been there myself.
Christine Malec:Ha ha!
JJ Hunt:Especially in a year like this one. You can't go, so I it's like "This is the year I would have gone!" You know, I would have.
Christine Malec:Of course it is.
JJ Hunt:Ha ha. Yes. So it's a fantastic celebration, as you say. Kensington markets a really interesting and fun neighborhood. For those who don't know what it's very funky, right? Lots of old school small shops, and spice stores, and fishmongers, corner grocers. These are stores that were built into houses, the front's of houses, row houses. Very small, very tight, very neighborly neighborhood. And now there are hippie health food stores and vintage clothing stores and small restaurants that are serving food from around the world. Very multicultural, lots of new Canadians historically would have come to Kensington Market when they arrived in Toronto. And so this is the history of the neighborhood and that plays out in the celebrations. One of my favorites, a great example of the style of Kensington Market is the abandoned car that's been turned into a planter. So at some point in the history of the neighborhood, someone abandoned the car there and I don't know how it came to be, but instead of having it towed, they just filled it with soil and spray painted it with graffiti and planted plants in it. And so now this abandoned car at the side of the road is a city planter. That is Kensignton.
Christine Malec:That is SO Kensington Market. That is Kensington Market right there.
JJ Hunt:So the Festival of Lights started in 1988 and it I'm not. What is that? has since become officially a Solstice celebration, heavily influenced by commedia dell'arte; clowning and street performance. Very community based. So the solstice parade of course happens at night, late afternoon into the evening and overnight, lots of drumming groups, people in costumes. Wild costumes. Some people dress like Druids and Vikings. So horned helmets and long cloaks of fur. It's actually kind of difficult to tell who's in genuine pagan religious garb and who's wearing a fun costume that draws on those themes. And Toronto has Aw, so shadow puppetry is really cool. It's when you make like a some fantastic puppetry outfits. There are lots of different puppetry groups in and around the city. Because Toronto is so multicultural we've got people who have different puppetry traditions throughout the Americas. And and so what you end up with at these celebrations are people in fantastic masks and wearing - wearing! - puppets. So there's one group that I've seen several videos of, over the years, they wear these raccoon masks. Raccoons, you know, love to get into our trash, and are kind of the unofficial animal of Toronto. And so people wearing these really beautiful paper mache raccoon masks, playing tin whistles and pots and pans, li e a ragtag band. And then the e are the shadow puppets. Are y u familiar with shadow puppe s? two dimensional, like a flat paper puppet, that's got moveable parts that are connected to sticks. And you perform with them, you manipulate them behind a very thin screen or a sheer curtain, and then you light that from behind. So the shadows of those two dimensional puppets are cast on the screen for the audience to see. And there's traditions of this all over the world. And some of the puppets that I saw, some of the shadow puppetry that I saw was very heavily influenced by Haida art. So this is West Coast, indigenous art. The characters and creatures are animal based. Haida art has creatures and animals that are kind of deconstructed into hollow shapes; very smooth lines, repeating patterns and symmetry. And the animals are broken down so maybe the beak is one part, is one shape, and it might be hollow and black. And then the eye is a separate shape. And then the back of the head is another shape. Blacks and reds, smooth lines, repeating patterns. And some of these puppets, these Haida art inspired shadow puppets, can be like two or three or four feet tall, and manipulated by stick behind the screens. Really beautiful, really beautiful. And then huge, greater than life sized puppets, giant puppets that march down the streets in the parade. So perhaps each limb or hand will be on a separate pole, you know, manipulated by a different person in the parade and the heads on another pole. And then there's the body is like, several sheets worth a fabric that draped down so you get these really loose movements. And so you can have like three or four people manipulating one puppet. And so as they move through the parade, every person is moving a different limb or hand really cool. And I've seen in videos and photos, lots of animal characters, right like a wide eyed owls with these outstretched wings that kind of float over the crowd because the wings are so large. So the people with the the sticks at the ends of the wings move out to the sides of the street so that the owl in the center can kind of swoop their wings right over the whole group.
Christine Malec:Oooh! I love that!
JJ Hunt:Very cool. And these large moon faces that have again that long bodies of cloth that kind of dance around. I've seen some political piniatas in the parade. So unpopular politicians get turned into a pinata, and everyone has a good whack at them.
Christine Malec:Ha ha ha. Wow.
JJ Hunt:Super fun. And street performers. So I saw one group of street performers, like these are kids and teenagers. And they looked like they had raided their costume trunks at home. Just crazy, like a like a 1970s tie on top of mom's old skirt and, you know weird vests and all kinds of stuff. And they're just putting on skits, and performing full scenes, and reenacting different events. These are just happening all up and down the street. It's not like an official parade route as such, it's more of a gathering that moves through the neighborhood. And then when things kind of spread out a little bit, when you get into the parks and the wider areas of the neighborhood, when there's a little bit of room, then the fire breathers come out right.
Christine Malec:Gasp!
JJ Hunt:Fire breathers and stilt walkers and still walking fire breathers and fire jugglers! Awesome. So the fire breathers often will have like a stick a baton that's flaming, of course. They take mouthfuls of fluid - alcohol - and kind of spit blow through the flames. So you end up with like a flame thrower from the mouth through these like torches. And you can get quite far. The tail of fire can be four or five feet long.
Christine Malec:Wow!
JJ Hunt:And then they can twirl their their torches or batons. Sometimes the batons for the fire jugglers are burning at both ends. So they can be spun and thrown in the air and twirled like devil sticks or spun like a martial arts staff. It's wild.
Christine Malec:Oh my god.
JJ Hunt:So this is like part ceremony and part busking Carnival. That's the kind of vibe. And then the parade ends at a nearby park, which is a big open park; lots of open space.
Christine Malec:Ha ha! You know if we were smarter JJ, we would And as the years have gone on, of course the whole celebration has gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. So the videos that I've seen of last year's celebration, there are huge crowds of hundreds of people at this final Park. And they're in a big circle with quite a wide open space in the middle for safety reasons. But the crowd is, I couldn't even count, maybe 20 people deep? Really, hundreds of people. And right in the middle are a bunch of fire twirlers and breathers and jugglers. And so they're just performing, and right in the center of that group of fire performers is a is a large paper sun, I'm guessing maybe 20 feet in diameter. And it looks like it's got a wooden frame. So wooden frame with like, golden yellow, you know, paper elements that's it, that s how this this sun has be n created. It kind of looked li e a, like a sunflower, of gold n yellow paper with a heart t its core. And so there are ba ds playing, horns and drums. And then one of the performers, ne of the fire performers comes forward with a torch and lights the heart that's at the cor of this sun, this paper sun. e lights that on fire. And in he video, you can see that as he fire grows and spreads from the heart at the center of th s paper sun and spreads to the outer edges. And then the pap r lights the wood on fire. So s on you have this huge burning fi e right in the middle of this c owd. And the video shows th flickering orange light that' illuminating the faces of tho e in the crowd. It's otherwise uite dark, only a few park l ghts, and the orange flicke ing light washes over the faces n the crowd, and the bands are oing, the horns and the drums Quite a wild celebration... tha I watched in a video from my b sement because I'm too stupid to have ever gone in person! have constructed stories of like, leaping the fires naked in
JJ Hunt:Thta's right. I know. God, it;s so embarrasing. previous years. But no, we're just losers who've ne
Christine Malec:Wow, that's spectacular. That is so amazing. Ya, and so the return of the light, the light is coming back and the days will get longer.
JJ Hunt:That's right. That's right. That's what all of these celebrations are about. Saying goodbye to the longest night of the year and welcoming back the warmth of flames, the warmth of light, the warmth of the sun.
Christine Malec:So Happy Holidays! Whichever holidays you celebrate, the light will come back! Next week we'll be talking about Christmas. Yay. We hope you're loving the show. We really enjoy the challenge of putting together a new episode each week. To ensure that our efforts are worthwhile. We need to reach as many people as possible. That's where you can help spread the word. Maybe send a podcast link to three friends. post about the show on local listservs and Facebook groups. Perhaps tweet about a favorite episode and tag some followers you think might like it, or show your love by becoming a patron. The broader our reach the longer we can stay Boyd and keep afloat. With your support. We'll be around for a long time. Thanks for listening and staying connected on social media. It's what makes this so rewarding for us to have feedback or suggestions of what you'd like to hear about. Here's how to get in touch with us. Our email address is Talk description to me@gmail.com. Our Facebook page is called talk description to me. Our website is Talk description to me.com and you can follow us on Twitter at talk description.