Epiphany, Twelfth Night and how they are celebrated: Everything you need to know

Epiphany is called by several names like 'Theophany', 'Feast of Epiphany', 'Three Kings' Day', and many more depending on the location of the nations.

Epiphany is one of the oldest festival days of the church and is one of the three principal.

While some Orthodox churches in the East celebrate January 9 as Epiphany, Western churches like Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans observe it on January 6.

Significance

Epiphany primarily commemorates Jesus' baptism in the East. They celebrate the revelation of Jesus as both fully God and man. A night before Epiphany is called 'Twelfth Night' in the West. On this day, many take their Christmas trees and decorations down.

'Twelve days of Christmas' falls between December 25 and January 6.

Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia celebrate Timket (Epiphany) with a huge festival that starts the night before January 18. People celebrate Le Jour des Rois or The Day of Kings in France and enjoy la galette des Rois (cake of kings). In Spain and Latin American nations, the day is marked with parades and is considered a holiday.

In the Orthodox Christian religion of the East, both Christmas and Epiphany are observed on the same day.

Holiday Traditions

The holiday has many traditions that include water as a reflection of Jesus’ baptism, and the blessing of houses with holy water.

About Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night in 2023 would fall on Thursday, January 5 this year if we go by Professor Nick Groom's analysis. He is associated with the English department of the University of Exeter and has researched Christmas traditions. Professor Groom has concluded that 'Twelfth Night is Twelfth Day’s Eve, we still talk about Christmas Eve as being Christmas Night.'

The evening before Epiphany is marked as Twelfth Night, which falls either on January 5 or January 6, depending upon the Christian traditions and how they count the twelve days of Christmas.

Many believe that Boxing Day is the beginning of the Twelve Days of Christmas, while others say that Christmas Day is the 'First Day'.

Why are Christmas Decorations taken down on the Twelfth Day?

It is believed that Christmas trees and decorations should be put away by Twelfth Day to avoid bad luck.

Professor Groom says It was the Victorians who decided that the decorations should be put aside after 12 days because they wanted to get everybody to work.'

FAQs

1. What is Twelfth Day?
   The evening preceding Epiphany is called Twelfth Day.
2. What are the other terms for Epiphany?
   Theophany, Feast of Epiphany, Three Kings' Day, and many more depending on the tradition.