Twelfth Night

By my reckoning its 12th night and I have been brought up with tradition that it is bad luck to keep your Christmas Decorations up beyond Twelfth Night - the last of the 12 Days of Christmas.

But I have often been in debate over when the festivity actually falls, whether Twelfth Night is January 5 or January 6.

This evening passing the Catholic Church I was interested that the crib was still lit which got me thinking..not least that all the commercialism and expense has very little to do with the origins of Christmas. Hence my blip and researching a helpful report in the Plymouth Herald to clarify the debate.

'Using Roman Catholic dating traditions, the date will fall on January 5 - making Monday Twelfth Night.

If you're looking for an excuse to keep the decorations up longer, in parts of the South West Twelfth Night is actually marked on January 17, which equates to when it would have fallen under the old Julian Calendar.

In Christian tradition, Twelfth Night, marks the coming of the Epiphany, the date when the three wise men visited Jesus.
In Western Church traditions Twelfth Night concludes the Twelve Days of Christmas.

In 567 the Council of Tours proclaimed that the entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered part of the celebration, creating what became known as the twelve days of Christmas.

On the last of the twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures developed a wide range of additional special festivities.

Wassail is traditionally drunk on Twelfth Night and special cakes are sometimes eaten - including tortell and king cake.

In Ireland it is still the tradition to place the statues of the Three Kings in the crib on Twelfth Night.

In colonial America, a Christmas wreath was always left up on the front door of each home, and when taken down at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, any edible portions would be consumed with the other foods of the feast.

In the eastern Alps, a tradition called Perchtenlaufen exists. Two to three hundred masked young men rush about the streets with whips and bells driving out evil spirits.

In some countries, the Twelfth Night and Epiphany mark the start of the Carnival season, which lasts through Mardi Gras Day.

Traditionally, Twelfth Night was about role reversal - the Lord of Misrule was the chief of the festival, peasants became kings and kings peasants.

Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night features a series of role reversals.'

Interestingly I now remember commenting to Diarmuid, when I saw a picture of my Irish in-laws' crib that it lacked the three kings..perhaps they will be there tonight I must check!