Twelfth Night (holiday)

All you want to know about Twelfth Night (holiday)

For other uses of "Twelfth Night", see Twelfth Night (disambiguation).

Twelfth Night
Observed by	Christians
Type	Christian
Date	5 January / 6 January (see text)
Observances	Traditional foods consumed, parties, Christmas decorations taken down
Related to	Twelve Days of Christmas, Epiphany

A Bolo-Rei. This size, approx. 50 cm diameter, usually serves 8 people. This pastry is just one of the many types baked around the world for celebrations during the Twelve Days of Christmas and Twelfth Night.

Twelfth Night is a holiday in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany, concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas, and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking".^[1]

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 or vigil of Epiphany, takes on a similar significance to Christmas Eve.

In some traditions it is taken to mean the evening of the Twelfth Day itself, the sixth of January. This apparent difference has arisen probably because in modern times people are less aware of the old custom of treating sunset as the beginning of the following day, and perceive Twelfth Night to mean the night of the Twelfth Day.

1 Origins and history
2 Traditions
3 Influence on literature
4 Esotericism
5 See also
6 Early English sources
7 References
8 External links

Origins and history

In Tudor England^{[citation needed]}, the Twelfth Night marked the end of a winter festival that started on All Hallows Eve — now more commonly known as Halloween. The Lord of Misrule symbolizes the world turning upside down. On this day the king and all those who were high would become the peasants and vice versa. At the beginning of the twelfth night festival twelfth cake which contained a bean was eaten. The person who found the bean became king of the bean and would run the feast. Midnight signaled the end of his rule and the world would return to normal. The common theme was that the normal order of things was reversed. This Lord of Misrule tradition can be traced back^{[citation needed]} to pre-Christian European festivals such as the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia.

The Winter Solstice (December 21st) historically marked the first day of many winter festivals. The 12 nights following and including the solstice represent the 12 zodiac signs of the year - and the 12th Night (New Years Day) is a culmination and celebration of the winter festivals.^{[citation needed]}

Traditions

The foods and drink are the center of the celebrations in modern times, and all of the most traditional ones go back many centuries. The punch called wassail is consumed especially on Twelfth Night, but throughout Christmas time, especially in the UK. Around the world, special pastries, such as the tortell and king cake are baked on Twelfth Night, and eaten the following day for the Feast of the Epiphany celebrations. In English and French custom, the Twelfth-cake was baked to contain a bean and a pea, so that those who received the slices containing them should be designated king and queen of the night's festivities.

Some believe Twelfth Night (or the following day Epiphany) is when all Christmas decorations should be removed so as not to bring bad luck upon the home. In colonial America, a Christmas wreath was always left up on the front door of each home, and when taken down at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, any edible portions would be consumed with the other foods of the feast. The same held true in the 1800s - 1900s with fruits adorning Christmas trees. Fresh fruits were hard to come by, and were therefore considered fine and proper gifts and decorations for the tree, wreaths, and home. Again, the tree would be taken down on Twelfth night, and such fruits, along with nuts and other local produce used, would then be consumed.

In some countries, and in the Catholic religion worldwide, the Twelfth Night and Epiphany marks the start of the Carnival season, which lasts through Mardi Gras Day.

Influence on literature

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.

Mervyn Clitheroe's Twelfth Night party, by "Phiz" (c 1840).

In Harrison Ainsworth's novel Mervyn Clitheroe (Ch. 6), the eponymous hero is elected King of festivities at the Twelfth Night celebrations held in Tom Shakeshaft's barn, by receiving the slice of plum cake containing the Bean; his companion Cissy obtains the pea and becomes queen, and they are seated together in a high corner to view the proceedings. The distribution has been rigged to prevent another person gaining the role. The festivities include country dances, and the introduction of a "Fool Plough", a plough decked with ribands brought into the barn by a dozen mummers together with a grotesque "Old Bessie" (played by a man) and a Fool dressed in animal skins with a fool's hat. The mummers carry wooden swords and perform revelries. The scene in the novel is illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). In the course of the evening the fool's antics cause a fight to break out, but Mervyn restores order. Three bowls of gin punch are disposed of, and at eleven o'clock the young men make the necessary arrangements to see the young ladies safely home across the fields.

Esotericism

According to some esoteric and astrological interpretations of Christmas, the "Twelve Holy Days" start on December 26, the day following Christmas "holy day", and end on January 6; therefore the night of January 6 is regarded as the Twelfth Night, and is held to have been the time when the "Rite of Baptism" was performed in early Christianity,^[2] and of course the date of Epiphany itself.

Early English sources

(drawn from Hone's Every-Day Book, references as found):

Vox Graculi, 4to, 1623: 6th January, Masking in the Strand, Cheapside, Holbourne, or Fleet-street (London), and eating of spice-bread.
The Popish Kingdom, 'Naogeorgus': Baking of the twelfth-cake with a penny in it, the slices distributed to members of the household to give to the poor: whoever finds the penny is proclaimed king among them.
Nichols, Queen Elizabeth's Progresses: An entertainment at Sudley, temp. Elizabeth I, including Melibaeus king of the bean, and Nisa, queen of the pea.
Pinkerton, Ancient Scottish Poems: Letter from Sir Thomas Randolph to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester dated 15 Jan 1563, mentioning that Lady Flemyng was Queen of the Beene on Twelfth-Day that year.
Ben Jonson, Christmas, His Masque (1616, published 1641): A character 'Baby-cake' is attended by an Usher carrying a great cake with a beane and a pease.
Robert Herrick (poet), Twelfe-Night, or King and Queene: Describes the election of king and queen by bean and pea in a plum cake, and homage done to them by every man draining wassail bowls of 'lamb's-wool', a drink of sugar, nutmeg, ginger and ale.
Samuel Pepys, Diaries (1659/60): Epiphany Eve party, selecting of King and Queen by a cake (see King cake).

References

^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 1993 edition.
^ Corinne Heline. New Age Bible Interpretation, Vol. VII Mystery of the Christos:The Twelve Holy Days. ISBN 0-933963-07-6 ; period starting December 26th (after Christmas day) to January 6th (Twelfth Night).

"Christmas". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved on December 22, 2005. Primarily subhead Popular Merrymaking under Liturgy and Custom.
Christmas Trivia edited by Jennie Miller Helderman, Mary Caulkins. Gramercy, 2002
Marix-Evans, Martin. The Twelve Days of Christmas. Peter Pauper Press, 2002
Bowler, Gerry. The World Encyclopedia of Christmas. McClelland & Stewart, 2004
Collins, Ace. Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. Zondervan, 2003
Wells, Robin Headlam. Shakespeare's Humanism. Cambridge University Press, 2006
T.D. Fosbrooke, c 1810, 'Encyclopaedia of Antiquities' (Publisher unknown)
J. Brand, 1813, 'Popular Antiquities', 2 Vols (London)
W. Hone, 1830, 'The Every-Day Book' 3 Vols (London), cf Vol I pp 41-61.