From Wikipedia:
"Twelfth Night is a festival, in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany. Different traditions mark the date of Twelfth Night on either 5th January or 6th January; the church of England, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, celebrates Twelfth Night on the 5th and 'refers to the night before Epiphany, the day when the nativity story tells us that the three wise men visited the infant Jesus'. In Western Church traditions the Twelfth Night concludes the Twelve Days of Christmas, although in others the Twelfth Night can precede the Twelfth day. Bruce Forbes wrote that '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, or what the English called Christmastide. On the last of the twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures developed a wide range of additional special festivities. The variation extends even to the issue of how to count the days. If Christmas Day is the first of the twelve days, then Twelfth Night would be on January 5, the eve of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, then twelfth Night falls on January 6, the evening of Epiphany itself.'"
I say if there is all of this disagreement regarding when Twelfth Night falls, then why not just compromise and celebrate on both evenings!
Today at school, Gina brought a Kings' Cake that had five small Baby Jesus figures baked into it. Gina said that it is a Mexican tradition that if you find the Baby Jesus in your piece of cake you need to bring tamales to share on February 2. February 2nd is the Feast of Candlemas which refers to the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Gina who had shared the cake with a number of people already, said that she found the first Baby Jesus. I asked if that meant that she would bring tamales. She just laughed.
Today, I took down some more Christmas decorations, ate some gingerbread men and spritz cookies, and am having another shot of Jagermeister all while listening to Christmas music as I write this. A small celebration, but a celebration none-the-less. Thus concludes my second Twelfth Night.
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