January 2026 Almanac
Midwinter quiet and shifting from Christmas to Epiphany
O Winter! frozen pulse and heart of fire,
What loss is theirs who from thy kingdom turn
Dismayed, and think thy snow a sculptured urn
Of death! Far sooner in midsummer tire
The streams than under ice. June could not hire
Her roses to forego the strength they learn
In sleeping on thy breast. No fires can burn
The bridges thou dost lay where men desire
In vain to build.O Heart, when Love’s sun goes
To northward, and the sounds of singing cease,
Keep warm by inner fires, and rest in peace.
Sleep on content, as sleeps the patient rose.
Walk boldly on the white untrodden snows,
The winter is the winter’s own release.Helen Hunt Jackson, “January” (19th c.)
In each Almanac, you’ll find a ‘book of days’ to track this month’s HF gatherings & resources…a reveal of our monthly in-depth focus…a printable Almanac to prompt feasting & fasting during our January days…and a playlist to serenade.
Consider saving this post to peek back at it throughout the month!
Pax+bonum, Kristin.
Online gatherings
JANUARY 8 | Thursday at 10 am Pacific Time | Family, Faith, & Farm conversation with Jill Warner
» For paid subscribers: Jill is a pastor and farmer, who lives with her family in rural Ohio. We'll chat about Christmas tree farming and farming with family, ministry, and the beauty that comes from growing roots in places that others may overlook.JANUARY 24 | Saturday at 8:30 am Pacific Time | Holy Well conversation with Mairi Bontorno of Magpie Tidings
» For paid subscribers: Mairi is a poet, novelist, and writer of short stories. She has a Masters in archaeology and works as a reference librarian.JANUARY 31 | Saturday at 11 am Pacific Time | Welcome gathering for our Winter book club discussion
» For paid subscribers: Let’s get together to open up discussions about our cozy winter read (book will be announced shortly!)
Fresh Posts & Previous Archives
JANUARY 5 | Monday | Twelfth Night
FIRST HALF OF JANUARY | Festal focus resources & reflections shared
JANUARY 14 | Wednesday | Winter book club selection announced!
JANUARY 21 | Wednesday | St. Agnes’ Day
JANUARY 25 | Sunday | Conversion of St. Paul
Founding Membership
Your winter boxes should have already arrived or will be arriving soon! (Please note that the cut-off date for the Founders’ Winter box is now closed - if you’d like to consider becoming a Founder, your shipments would begin with the Spring box!)
A printable version of this month’s Almanac - including prompts for celebration, dip-pen illustrations, and a coordinated coloring sheet - is available in the Scriptorium.
You can also find this list of upcoming events posted in the Village Green.
A fresh Almanac is here and ready for us to start a new year together! (I tromped through frozen streams to photograph it as the sun was setting…I love these icy winter days when everything is so muffled and still).
Midwinter can be notoriously difficult. It certainly is for me, anyway: with all the branches laid bare, both outdoors and in my soul, I find that it’s a time when wounds often become more apparent. January’s holy days, though, gently walk us through this time…a complicated time, when we’re invited to celebrate in the midst of whatever circumstances we’re bearing.
The January Almanac includes:
January calendar page with a selection of holy days & prompts, dip-pen illustrations, and links to connect you with more HF resources
Two versions of the calendar to accomodate different Christian timekeeping traditions: one offers the season of Epiphanytide as starting on Epiphany, while the other offers Ordinary Time I as starting on the Monday after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Coloring page featuring my hand-drawn illustrations of January feast emblems
Print out these goodies (I recommend card-stock for the calendar and regular paper for the coloring page), and see how you can integrate the featured holidays into your existing plans!
ALSO: the Christmastide cover page for your Book of Hours is up and ready for you! This whimsical arch is made of Christmas emblems, each one part of a greater whole that represents this poignant season through nature.
Available in the Scriptorium for paid subscribers:
As we transition from Christmastide into Epiphanytide, we’ll look deeply at a holiday sequence that helped our ancestors across this threshold - and can still help us today, too. Plough Monday, tethered to Epiphany, is here realign us toward the season (and year) ahead, and its agricultural roots are deep and broad enough to accompany us in any walk of life.
Reflections, history, folk traditions, art, and more will be available the first half of January
Paid members will receive a printable cover page and booklet for their liturgical year binders, as well as a peek into how our liturgical living group celebrates this holiday
I took my Almanac and all its liturgical emblems out into the Montana prairie I grew up in: and my hope is that you’ll take these prompts out into your homeplaces, too, grafting these rich traditions to your people and landscape.
A wee retrospective on 2025, as well as some announcements for the new year, will be flitting your way in the next few days…in the meantime, wishing you a happy New Year!
Pax et bonum,
Kristin
this playlist is FIRE!
Thank you so much for all of these goodies! Listening to the playlist while I clear my home altar, and look forward to creating my binder and joining you all!
I've not heard of Plough Monday before!