Here is an explanation of 12th Night taken from http://www.partymerchant.com/christmas.htm
Twelth Night, January 6th, is an important part of some countries' Christmas celebrations. In England, it was the "twelfth day of Christmas," just as in the song. It was the day to take down the Christmas greens and burn them in a gay celebration. Some people in the United States still follow this custom. In certain countries, January 6th, called the Day of the Three Kings, is the day of gift-giving. It is believed be the day that the three wise men, traveling from far countries, finally arrived in Bethlehem to bring the baby Jesus their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In Latin America, children get their gifts from the three kings on January 6th, not from Santa Claus. The three kings come riding through town, people say, and leave presents in the children's shoes set outside the door. Thoughtful children, of course, remember to leave hay and water for the kings' camels. In South America there are exciting parades and fireworks on the Day of the Kings. People dress up as servants from Egypt and Oriental countries to march in the procession ahead of the three kings. Parades in Peru show the three kings as Ethiopian, Inca, and Spanish! In southern France and in Spain, children go out the eve of January 6th carrying gifts of fruit and cake for the Christ Child, and hoping to meet the three kings who will deliver their gifts. If they do not see kings, they take their gifts to the church. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2002 06:56 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [JFC]: Plans for the Weekend In a message dated 1/4/02 12:19:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Its 12th night soon so Christmas must be packed away and returned to the attic. Then the stuff we packed away to make room for Christmas can be put back. What is 12th night about? Curious :) Angela *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Journey from clutter List Website http://journeyfromclutter.com Members Only Page http://journeyfromclutter.com/MembersOnly/MembersArea.htm Unsubscribe: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word 'unsubscribe' in the 'Subject:' field to be removed from the main list. To Unsubscribe from the Digest version of the list send the unsubscribe message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
