The Twelfth Night

I am never quite set on what to call this holiday– January 6th. Its Epiphany, Twelfth Night, Three Kings Day, Befana. Most of them are Christian in origin having something to do with the three wise men arriving at the manger with gifts. In fact, in 567 the Council of Tours proclaimed that the entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered the twelve days of Christmas replacing an ancient celebration that the church deemed “too rowdy.” Modern scholars have suggested that it was instead to solve “administrative problems for the Roman Empire as it tried to coordinate the solar Julian calendar with the lunar calendars of its provinces in the east.” And in fact, those ancient celebrations all revolved around that same discrepancy between the lunar and solar calendars-– those twelve days were considered outside of normal time-– a liminal space when the veil between worlds was thin. In modern practice the time between the winter holidays and the new year does feel disjointed. I like the idea of marking the end of the festivities, taking down decorations and spreading the joy in winter.

Trees

The thing that most people know about this holiday is that it’s considered by many to be the time to take down your christmas tree and decorations. We make this a celebration instead of a sad time in a few ways:

We take the tree to the wooded edges of our yard and decorate it for the animals to feast on. It then gets a second life as habitat for critters. (tutorial here) Check out the After Christmas Tree and the Night Tree for inspiration.

We collect some of the needles from the tree to make incense (recipe) 

We make a little felt sachet from some of the needles- these have the dates on the back and smell amazing! They are a great way to remember the season.

Edible Decorations

It is traditional to eat any edible holiday decorations on the Twelfth Night– you can imagine that long ago when citrus (and food in general) was more rare that eating these expensive items was common sense as well as bringing a close to the holiday season. To celebrate we:

Eat fossilized gingerbread houses. I think this is gross, but my kids love it. 

Make Orange Garland Tea.

Cakes

Another tradition you may have heard of is the Twelfth Night or King Cake. Most have a bean or coin hidden inside and the lucky person who finds it is king for the night!

We most often make a Focaccia della Befana, but there are many, many options for delicious sweet treats!

Wassailing

Last, in England in particular, it’s traditional to wassail your fruit trees for a bountiful harvest. Wassail is an Old English term meaning, “be well.” Wassail the drink is ale or cider seasoned with spices, fruits, sugars and honey. It’s often served in a large bowl and topped up with whatever people have on hand as the night goes on. It’s a drink of good wishes and holiday cheer. 

Not being one to turn down wassail or bountiful fruit harvests, we always try wassail our orchard. Check out our recipe and more info here. The kids make up silly songs about fruit to sing to the trees- it’s a fun night!