Tag: Epiphany

Twelfth Night Blessings

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Christmas

“Love sought is good, but giv’n unsought is better.”
― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

The play, my favorite from Shakespeare, was written in celebration of Twelfth Night

The Adoration of the Magi by Edward Burne-Jones

Twelfth Night, January 5th, marks the ending of the Twelve Days of Christmas that begin on December 25th, the first day of Christmas. Twelfth Night is also called Epiphany Eve since it occurs the night before Epiphany (Three Kings Day which coincides with the visit of the three wise men).

I like the entire Yuletide season that begins with the solstice and runs through the twelve days because, in my beliefs, limiting the celebration to Christmas Day, would give me less time to absorb the beauty and the blessings of the holiday’s meanings and decorations. Each day brings new inspiration.

When my wife and I were first married, we often celebrated Christmas Day at her folks’ house an hour’s drive away. When we returned to your neighborhood before nightfall, a fair number of people in our subdivision had already finished their Christmas and thrown their trees out by the curb for the trash truck. I used to be furious with these people. Now, having improved with age, like a fine red wine (I hope), those trees make me sad.

Perhaps my focus on Yuletide from start to finish began with my parents’ Yule Log which sat on the mantle every season with three burning candles. Over time, the drippings built up and were a spectacular record of a wealth of Christmases. Likewise, over the Twelve Days of Christmas, the wealth of blessings builds up–even if your true love never gives you twelve drummers drumming.

–Malcolm

Why our outdoor decorations go up on or near the solstice

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Christmas2 Comments

We’re always the last people in our neighborhood to put up Christmas and the last to take them down.

We always had a Yule log then I was growing up. Sad to say, the practice has become rather rare now. – Wikipedia photo.

This began when I was in grade school and became a habit. The schools were always looking for families who would lend them Christmas lights. Once we started doing that, the teachers came to us first every year. We didn’t get the lights back until the last school day before Christmas, usually, somewhere around December 20th.

Needless to say, we waited until the lights came back to decorate the house.

After that, perhaps it was laziness to some extent. As for putting up the decorations, we rebel every year against the practice of decorating the house for Christmas on or before Thanksgiving. As for taking them down, we strongly dislike the people who throw out their Christmas trees as soon as they finish opening their gifts.

For years, we went up to my wife’s folks’ house on Christmas day. It was always disheartening to return to our neighborhood and find dozens of trees already out next to the curb for the trash truck. We leave our decorations up until Twelfth Night. That’s a rather old tradition with the twelve days of Christmas beginning on December 25 in spite of the fact that a lot of merchants try to drum up sales by claiming the twelfth day of Christmas is the 25th. (More commercialism by people who don’t do any fact-checking.)

It’s supposedly bad luck to leave any greenery, and I include modern-day decorations, up after January 5th. So we don’t.

Over the years, others in our neighborhoods have asked why our decorations go up so late and stay up so long. We’re always tempted to ask, “Why do your decoration go up so early and don’t even stay up until New Year’s Eve.” But we don’t.

Whatever you do with your decorations, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

—Malcolm