Twelfth Night (holiday)
Twelfth Night is a holiday in some branches of
Christianity marking the coming of the
Epiphany, or
Twelfth Day, and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the
fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany".
In some traditions it is taken to mean the evening of the Twelfth Day itself, the
sixth of January. This apparent diffrence has arisen probably due to the old custom of treating sunset as the beginning of the following day. Therefore Twelfth Night would have been considered as occurring on the twelfth day, though in present day custom it is the previous day.
The celebration of Epiphany, the
adoration of the Magi, is marked in some cultures by the exchange of gifts, and Twelfth Night, as the eve of Epiphany, takes on a similar significance to
Christmas Eve.
In
Tudor England, the Twelfth Night marked the end of a winter festival that started on All Hallows Eve--which some now celebrate as
Halloween. A King or
Lord of Misrule would be appointed to run the Christmas festivities, and the Twelfth Night was the end of his period of rule. The common theme was that the normal order of things was reversed. This
Lord of Misrule tradition can be traced back to pre-
Christian European festivals such as the
Celtic festival of
Samhain and the
Ancient Roman festival of
Saturnalia.
After Twelfth Night the
Carnival season starts, which lasts through
Mardi Gras. In some places such as
New Orleans, Louisiana, the night of January 6 with the first Carnival celebrations is called Twelfth Night. In some places, Twelfth Night celebrations include food traditions such as the
king cake or
tortell.
Twelfth Night is when all Christmas Decorations should be removed so as not to bring bad luck upon the home. If decorations are not removed on Twelfth Night, they should stay up all year.
Shakespeare's play
Twelfth Night, or What You Will was written to be performed as a Twelfth Night entertainment and first performed at
Middle Temple Hall,
London during the Twelfth Night celebrations of
1602 at the culmination of the celebrations, which was then at
Candlemas,
February 2. The play has many elements that are reversed in the tradition of Twelfth Night, such as a woman Viola dressing as a man, and a servant Malvolio imagining that he can become a nobleman.
According to
esoteric and
astrological interpretations of Christmas, the "
Twelve Holy Days" start on December 26th, the day following Christmas "holy day", and end on January 6th; therefore the night of January 6th is regarded as the Twelfth Night, and is held to have been the time when the "Rite of
Baptism" was performed in early Christianity , and of course the date of
Epiphany itself.
*
Christmas*
Christmas season*
Twelvetide*
Twelve Holy Days*
Epiphany,
Little Christmas*
Biblical Magi,
Nativity scene*
Theophany*
Christmas carol*
Lord of Misrule*
Twelfth Night, or What You Will, a famous play by
William Shakespeare with a theme of misrule.
*
Pantomime (theatre)#
Heline, Corinne.
New Age Bible Interpretation, Vol. VII Mystery of the Christos:The Twelve Holy Days. ISBN 0933963076 ; period starting December 26th (after
Christmas day) to January 6th (
Twelfth Night).
*
Epiphany on Catholic Encyclopedia*
The Twelve Days of Christmas at The Christian Resource Institute
