Twelfth Night/Epiphany

Rosie_Scope
Rosie_Scope Posts: 5,524 Scope Online Community Coordinator
edited January 6 in Coffee lounge

It's Twelfth Night today, the twelfth night after Christmas. This means the official end of the Christmas period for many.

In some parts of the world that practice certain types of Christianity, Twelfth Night (or Epiphany) means yet another celebratory feast. I don't think I could fit anything else in at this point 😁

Some say it's unlucky to leave your Christmas decorations up after this day, but it does leave the house feeling extra bare during the long dark month of January.

So I'd love to know whether you believe in suspicions like these. Would you be scared you'd have bad luck if you left your tree up? Or have you taken all your decs down already?

Comments

  • kitsmum
    kitsmum Online Community Member Posts: 91 Empowering

    I don't believe in superstition and I think that the bad luck thing was down to the Victorians. Normally we take the decs down at Epiphany (no feast though) but we still have them up this year because I will be home alone for the first time in a couple of weeks so I want them up for a bit of cheer! We didn't put them up until just before Christmas so we're not fed up with them yet! I think I'll have to find something joyful to replace them though!

  • Bluebell21
    Bluebell21 Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 10,905 Championing

    I always take mine down by the 6 January as by then I have usually had enough of them. All put away till next year.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,828 Championing

    I thought the Twelfth Night was the 4th January - the 12 days days of Christmas beginning Christmas Eve not Boxing Day..

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,828 Championing

    I'll get me coat..

  • kitsmum
    kitsmum Online Community Member Posts: 91 Empowering

    @WhatThe I think 12th night is 5th January with the first day being Christmas day. It was in my calendar as 12th night anyway. As you'll see above I'm ignoring it this year! We don't have a huge amount anyway just a tree, mantle garland and a candle arch. We have candles as well that stay out all year.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,828 Championing
    edited January 6

    kitsmum, maybe we should all clear away Christmas on the 31st December and be done with the confusion? 😄

  • Albus_Scope
    Albus_Scope Posts: 9,606 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Dec 5th is the 12th night, but the 6th is Epiphany, which does seem a bit odd. But it's a good excuse for a feast. 😁

    And I was a good boy and got all the decorations down on the 3rd, I'm not risking any bad luck!

  • JessieJ
    JessieJ Online Community Member Posts: 925 Trailblazing

    I'm not superstitious or religious, they go up when I want & down the same. I have started taking some of the easy decs down, but it takes me so long, I would be putting up then starting to take them down immediately if I believed it was bad luck. 😆 My nephew will come over & take the difficult things down & the tree once I've de-dec'd it. ATM, it is fully dec'd & twinkling beside me, but I'll be taking decs off day by day for a good few days.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,828 Championing
    edited January 8

    kitsmum 🤩

    You're spot on!! I found this from English Heritage -

    5 January – Twelfth Night

    The twelfth day of Christmas was known as Twelfth Night. 

    And this good news!

    The next day, people celebrated the final feast of Christmas – the Epiphany. After church services, they ate roasted lamb, and Epiphany tart, a kind of giant jam tart made in the shape of a star. While people left up their decorations until Candlemas on 2 February, the twelve days of Christmas were over for another year.

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