The Liminal - Wolf Moon Cycle - December 2025
December 19, 2025 • THE WOLF MOON • EIGHTH ISSUE • WWW.FOXANDTHISTLE.STUDIO
by Richard W. Saunders
THE FOX & THISTLE LIMINAL A MONTHLY CREATIVE ALMANAC WEAVING TOGETHER ART, EXPRESSION, AND REFLECTIONS
Look Out For: Bare orchards, rosemary, bay, stubborn kale & collards, citrus from the south, rattling seedheads, stripped hardwoods, ponds skimmed with ice, geese passing, juncos, chickadees, crows, squirrels, spider sacs, wood smoke, biting wind, cold earth, & frozen breath.
Look Up For: A new moon on December 19th darkens the sky just ahead of the longest night of the year on the 21st, with the Ursid meteors active in the northern sky. The full Wolf Moon— named for the howling wolves once heard outside winter villages—rises just days after the New Year, making the peak of the Quadrantids on January 4 harder to observe.
Lunar Cycle and Calendar
THE WOLF MOON CYCLE →→ 12/19 (new moon) 12/27 (waxing crescent icon) 1/03 (full moon) 1/10 (waning crescent icon) 1/18 (dark moon) ... NEXT: THE SNOW MOON
THE LIMINAL is published in concert with our 2026 FORTNIGHT CALENDAR, a free download is available for subscribers.
Inside this Issue:
Pastel Rodent Collages, New Year's Day Reverie from the City of Brotherly Love, Carved African Sun Masks, Clown Portraits, the Mysteries of the Spiral, Cold Weather Gear, Optical Screen Toys, DIY How to Broadcast Quiet, & Hoppin' John...
The Good Montell
The Good Montell is a series that I've been playing with for about twenty years. Essentially it's a single frame mouse, Montell, who finds himself in compromising, perplexing, & expressive situations. The recipe for each is a piece of Monopoly money, an index card, rubber cement, and a black fountain pen (in that order).
The collage photo was taken at an art show in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in 2015. I've made dozens of these cards over the years and the project is far from exhausted. The illustrations below came from the original batch in 2005.
Montell Rewards Good Behavior
Montell Obey
Montell Sneeze
Montell Sleep
See more of The Good Montell at: www.foxandthistle.studio
*Fox & Thistle Studio is not affiliated with Hasbro or Monopoly in any way.
The Mummers Parade
On New Year's Day in Philadelphia, THE MUMMERS PARADE holds the official title of the longest running continuous folk parade in the United States. Its raucous beginnings date back to the 18th century with a colorful — if somewhat checkered — past. The parade presents a spectacle of vibrancy, costume, and performance, tinged with a bit of East Coast grit and charm.
It includes four main divisions: Comics, Fancies, String Bands, & Wenches, each contributing its own distinctive blend of theatrical music and dance that's sometimes peppered with dark humor. It has become a unique cultural celebration that some say gives MARDI GRAS a run for its money.
STREAM THE PARADE ONLINE 9:30 AM EST
ON WFMZ.com ON NEW YEAR'S DAY
JUST DON'T EXPECT THE MACY'S PARADE...
*Photos used under Creative Commons licenses. Full image credits at: https://foxandthistle.studio/pages/the-liminal-wolf-moon-cycle-december-2025
By Kevin Burkett from Philadelphia, Pa., USA - 2010 Mummers New Year's Day Parade, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78106615
By Stroke9n3eb - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82963429
By Tyler McHenry (This was taken by either me or my girlfriend) - Tyler McHenry, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3227552
By Tyler McHenry at en.wikipedia: This was taken by either me or my girlfriend - Tyler McHenry on English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3227538
By Whiggins - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3226928
Other broadcast details point to live coverage on MeTV2 (WDPN-TV), WFMZ-TV Channel 69, and streaming via WFMZ.com or the WFMZ+ app, starting around the parade's 9:00 a.m. kickoff.
No praise is finer than that which is passed along by our readers, please pass THE LIMINAL along!
Hothouse Flowers
HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR VINTAGE BAZAAR
Bobo Sun Mask (Wanzega)
These round, carved-wood sun masks belong to the Bobo people of southwestern Burkina Faso and southern Mali. Their geometric rays and patterns symbolize life-giving light, fertility, protection, and the cycles of nature. In traditional belief, a male performer dons the mask to channel its spiritual force through movement and rhythm during ritual ceremonies. This particular type of design—a Wanzega—uses symmetrical patterns to suggest the balance between sky, earth, and spirit.
American Clown Portrait
Clown portraits became a fixture of American folk art in the mid-20th century. Painted clown faces draw from European theatrical traditions where expressions in makeup revealed rather than concealed emotion. These painted faces hold laughter and sorrow at the same time, without resolving either. The portraits themselves often depicted performers who existed on society's margins—circus workers, street entertainers, and traveling showmen. They occupy an awkward place between decoration and disfigurement, familiarity and strangeness, and carry a sharp sincerity that denies easy categorization.
Spirals & Gyres
Across human cultures, the spiral appears as one of the oldest recorded symbols. Carved into Neolithic tombs, painted on pottery, traced in sand and clay, it marks cycles of life, growth, and the passage between worlds. It moves in and out simultaneously, representing expansion and return. Gyre, a spiral moving through the third dimension, is found in nature as tornadoes, whirlpools, and hurricanes, capable of holding and releasing terrible energy that draws inward while radiating outward. This duality has made them enduring symbols of transformation, controlled chaos, and of the space between beginning and end.
Cold Weather Wear
A few gently used cold weather items drifted into our possession just in time for the deep winter. Among them: A men's medium Carhartt 'Full Swing' coat, a women's Eddie Bauer petite extra small jacket with a quilted liner, a Russian Ushanka rabbit fur hat, a wool scarf from Nepal, & a cashmere and wool scarf from Scotland.
Our vintage is carefully inspected & photographed. We strive to disclose blemishes & patina at the time of listing.
The Thatcher Effect
The Thatcher Effect is an optical illusion that behaves suspiciously normal when it's upside down—but turn it right side up and everything falls apart. Faces that seemed fine suddenly become unmistakably wrong, revealing just how much our perception can depend on our orientation.
Explore this and other interactive illusions at: https://opticaltoys/thatcher-effect/
Images and interactive game by Tom's Toys — used with permission
Optical Toys rss feed
On finding orientation... from my new poem Unpositions, as a mantra for the coming year:
Not everything needs a position
not everyone needs me to care
Not agreeing is not disagreement
Why must everything be such a dare?
My opinions happen for reasons
that I don't feel the need to explain
My preferences are only just seasons
and are quite often subject to change
Read the full poem in the Verses section of our blog, IMPETUS INACTION
Kettle & Crumb
Simple, seasonal recipes — tried & true, from Fox & Thistle's kitchen.
PREPARATIONS FOR SHORT DAYS & LONG NIGHTS
PREP 20 min COOK 1 HOUR 15-20 min TOTAL 1 hr 30-50 min SERVES 4-6
A classic African American dish rooted in Lowcountry tradition, Hoppin' John is a deeply flavorful staple. Over time, it became associated with good fortune on New Year's Day and is traditionally served with collards for wealth and cornbread for gold.
• 1 c. dried black-eyed peas, rinsed • 6 c. unsalted chicken stock • 1 smoked ham hock • 1 small onion, finely chopped • 1 small green pepper, finely chopped • 2-3 scallions, chopped (white & green parts) • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 1 bay leaf • 1/2 tsp dried thyme • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (more to taste) • 1/2 tsp ground pepper • 1 c. long-grain white rice • 2 Tbsp bacon drippings • 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
*garnish with sliced scallions or chopped parsley
Image of the South Carolina-Georgia Lowcountry map in 1757, showing the Sea Islands central to Gullah Geechee culture.
- In a large pot, combine peas, stock, ham hock, bay leaf, & thyme.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook 45-60 min. til peas are tender but not mushy.
- Remove ham hock, shred the meat, discard bone & skin, and return meat to pot.
- In a skillet, heat bacon drippings over medium heat.
- Sauté onion, bell pepper, and scallions 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cook 30 seconds.
- Stir the skillet mixture, rice, salt, and black pepper in with the peas.
- Cover and simmer gently, about 20 minutes, until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Remove bay leaf.
- Stir in vinegar and let sit covered for 5 minutes.
- Fluff with fork, garnish, and serve hot.
Newsletter Signup & Closing
Sign up to receive this newsletter, THE LIMINAL to your email inbox on the NEW MOON of each month. Go to www.foxandthistle.studio to stay tuned!
WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK! Did a part of the Liminal resonate? Or do you have an idea to contribute?
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit—splat, boing, zing!
We're on a journey, and your ideas can help shape it!
Fox & Thistle Studio seamlessly blends curiosity, creativity, and sustainability. Rooted in the idea that simplicity speaks volumes, our essence is embodied in the paradoxical, insightful, and endlessly playful nature of finding and creating.
THE FOX & THISTLE LIMINAL — IS A PRODUCTION OF GRIEFNGRAVY PRESS
written by Richard W. Saunders
contact@foxandthistle.studio
THE LIMINAL • WOLF MOON CYCLE • DEC 19, 2025
