Now starts the countdown of the Twelve Days of Christmas, leading up to January 6th, or Epiphany. The tree stays up until at least Epiphany, and it's still the Christmas Season until Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is on January 5th, and it marks the end of the Medieval Christmas Season. It traditionally involves a bean baked into a cake (for the men - the finder is King for the night) and a pea baked into another cake (for the women - the finder is Queen for the night), and also involves costume parties and frivolity. Lots and lots of frivolity.
What fabulous tradition!
I wish I could find a way to bring it back or locate people of like minds who still celebrate this wonderful Bacchanalian festival. I know, I know: It almost seems sacrilegious to cap off the holy season with absolute mayhem, but somehow the letting loose seems appropriate. It's also a good distraction from those pesky New Year's resolutions we all make (and break instantly). Hell, we've already failed; let's party on.
In the meantime, Happy Boxing Day, which, by the way, in Germany involves horses being ridden around inside churches, which also sounds a bit Bacchanalian. Perhaps another tradition to appropriate?
