Plus, bye-bye Tiger King; sidestepping assassination; tripping through treetops
|  | Wednesday, December 21, 2022 | | | | |
 | PAINTING BY RAPHAEL (RAFFAELLO SANZIO OF URBINO, 1483-1520), PINACOTECA DI BRERA, MILAN, ITALY/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
| | The Biblical tale of Joseph and Mary is an unconventional one for its time.
The Gospels say Mary produced the son of God by virgin birth, before she moved in with Joseph. That would have meant Mary birthed a child out of wedlock, which was punishable by death.
How did this delicate situation turn into a cornerstone of Christianity, celebrated with tidings of comfort and joy? That’s a question that’s been asked for more than 2,000 years.
Here’s our full story.
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 | | PAINTING VIA ART IMAGES, GETTY IMAGES | | | From shame to radiance: Mary got pregnant while living in her parents’ home, before her marriage to Joseph was consummated, according to the Gospels. The out-of-wedlock birth, difficult in that era, has been portrayed with radiance in accounts and paintings, such as Raphael’s take on the couple’s marriage (at top) and Guido Reni’s “The Nativity at Night” (above). Read more. | | | |
 | | ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW FAZEKAS | | Holiday wishes on a star? You’ll get your chance tomorrow night as the annual Ursid meteor shower peaks with five to 15 meteors per hour. With a moonless night, you may see the fainter ones radiating out from near the North Star and its namesake constellation, Ursa Minor, in the high northern sky. Saturday night sky watchers may see the crescent moon form a celestial triangle with Venus and Mercury at dusk. After darkness falls Monday night, viewers with binoculars and telescopes can trace the seven other major planets of the solar system stretched out across the sky (illustrated above). — Andrew Fazekas
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 | PHOTOGRAPH BY KHAICHUIN SIM, GETTY IMAGES
| | Walking on high: How can you spot tapirs, tigers, and notoriously shy primates without getting in their way? By looking upon them from the steel structures and swinging bridges of a canopy walk, such as that pictured above in Malaysia’s northern Borneo. The nation has more than a dozen treetop walks, Nat Geo reports.
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Today’s soundtrack: Mary Don’t You Weep - Prince
This newsletter has been curated and edited by Jen Tse, Sydney Combs, and David Beard. Have an idea or a link? We'd love to hear from you at david.beard@natgeo.com. Thanks for reading, and Northern Hemisphere readers, remember: Every day will be longer from now until late June. | | | |
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