Epiphany

I remember that it was an epiphany for me a few years ago when I realized that the serious Christian holiday of Epiphany coincided with the Spanish holiday of Three Kings Day, the day on which Spanish children received their Christmas gifts, brought by the Three Kings, not Santa Claus.

The Three Kings, or Three Wise Men, had to go on a long journey to get to the baby Jesus after they heard he had been born in Bethlehem. It took them 12 days--the Twelve Days of Christmas. Ah, suddenly all these yuletide references are coming together.

I loved the Spanish star, which showed motion from one point to another, where it hung over Bethlehem to show the way for the Wise Men. It was featured in all the belenes (the Bethlehems),  elaborate Christmas village scenes that were the centerpiece of each town's Christmas celebrations (no worries about celebrating a religious holiday on government grounds here).

I also loved the tradition of not having to have all Christmas decorations down by January 1st. Since Three Kings Day falls on January 6, and that's when the Three Kings come to deliver gifts, it is perfectly acceptable to have Christmas decorations up through January 6.

So now I have begun thinking of January 6th as the day that I should start thinking about taking down Christmas decorations. And since it fell on Friday this year, I figured I would have the weekend to remove traces of yuletide from my house. But we had gotten only a few decorations up this year, since we were doing a major kitchen renovation, which somehow seems to spill over into the rest of the house--at least the first floor--and we got them up late. And then we had an unexpected event on Friday that demanded attention through Sunday. So here I am Sunday evening two days after Epiphany, and the decorations are still up. I'll get to them tomorrow, maybe. Well, probably not, since I will be out all day. Tuesday, then.

But then there is the Danish Christmas song:

"Julen varer lige til Påske."   [Christmas lasts until Easter.]

So I still have time. And the julenisser (Christmas elves) can stay nestled on the mantle for another day or two.