Epiphanic

 

Materasso Alto 17

Epiphany is defined as a moment of sudden realization or revelation. In Italy, the gentile form of such illumination, La  Befana, is celebrated by literally closing everything down. The streets of Rome are empty.  La Befana would not be a good day to purchase a new mattress at the Roman franchise of Mattress Firm say Materassi Simmons (still you may find a sale here and there in the spirit of Lucretius De rerum natura whose Epicureanism preceded Christianity). If nothing else Rome’s archeology, as Freud pointed out, is a metaphor for the varying and sometimes conflicting aspects of the human mind (conscious versus substrata). Still in all, life does slow down in a way that’s rarely apparent on a pagan landscape like New York where the enchantments of paradise are nowhere to be found. La Befana actually originated during 13th century and ever since children have left their stockings out the night before so that the witch of ancient lore, who had encountered the Magi, could fill them with gifts originally meant for Jesus.

read "Pet Buddha" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

listen to James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti singing "It's a Man's World"

and listen to "I Love to Love (But My Baby Just Wants to Dance)" by Tina Charles (1975)

and listen to "Band of Gold" by Freda Payne with Belinda Carlisle