Yes wild, this is what I was alluding to. I wonder if the dates that OHLC gave as the 6-7 are really the 5-6? Or if it is an entirely different holiday? nitro
nitro, the "Three Holy Kings" (Heilige Drei Könige) are actually buried in Christianity´s most magnificent mediaeval golden shrine in the Cologne Cathedral ... according to an old legend. http://www.koelner-dom.de/ - click on "Rundgang" - "Kunstwerke im Kölner Dom" (underneath the panorama "Virtueller Rundgang") - "Dreikönigenschrein" (section D) EPIPHANY - THREE KINGS Lovers of carols and Christmas parties know that this season has 12 days, packed with golden rings, calling birds and various kinds of gentry, musicians and domestic workers. December 25 is Christmas - and 25 minus 12 does equal 13. Do the math and you will see why shopping malls, newspapers, television networks, and other cultural fortresses annually deliver some kind of "Twelve Days of Christmas" blitz, beginning on December 13. Problem is that for centuries church calendars in the East and the West have agreed that there are twelve days of Christmas and they begin on Christmas Day and end on January 6. The twelve days of Christmas end with the Feast of Epiphany also called "The Adoration of the Magi" or "The Manifestation of God." Celebrated on January 6, it is known as the day of the Three Kings (or wise men/magi): Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. According to an old legend based on a Bible story, these three kings saw, on the night when Christ was born, a bright star, followed it to Bethlehem and found there the Christchild and presented it with gold, frankincense and myrrh. January 6, the last day of Christmas, comes with its own traditions, rituals and symbols. Carolers are going from house to house; in many homes the Christmas tree is taken down and in some areas is burnt in a big bonfire. For the children this is an especially joyous occasion because, associated with taking down the tree goes the "plündern" (raiding) of the tree. The sweets, chocolate ornaments wrapped in foil or cookies, which have replaced the sugar plums, are the raiders' rewards. The history of Christmas, (the festival of the nativity of Jesus Christ,) is intertwined with that of the Epiphany. The commemoration of the Baptism (also called the Day of Lights, i.e. the Illumination of Jesus) was also known as the birthday of Jesus, because he was believed to have been born then of the Virgin or reborn in baptism. In some records Christmas and Epiphany were referred to as the first and second nativity; the second being Christ's manifestation to the world. In the fourth century, December 25 was finally adopted by the Western Christian Church as the date of the Feast of Christ's birth. It is believed that this change in date gave rise to the tradition of the "12 Days of Christmas." While the Western Christian Church celebrates December 25th, the Eastern Christian Church to this day recognizes January 6 as the celebration of the nativity. January 6 was also kept as the physical birthday in Bethlehem. In the Teutonic west, Epiphany became the Festival of the Three Kings (i.e. the Magi), or simply Twelfth day. more at http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/3kings.htm Tradition, Three Kings, and Kris Kringle Although we usually take today's Christmas celebration customs for granted, most of the so-called "traditional" Christmas practices only date back to the 19th century. Even the date of the celebration of Christ's birth has fluctuated. Until the Roman church adopted December 25 in the 4th century, January 6 was the day of celebration -- today's Epiphany or Heilige Drei Könige (the "Wise Men," "Three Kings," the Magi) in German. To this day, the initials of the Three Kings -- C+M+B (Caspar/Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar) -- plus the year are inscribed in chalk over doorways in German-speaking countries on the eve of January 6 to protect house and home. (Although historically the three letters are supposed to come from the Latin phrase for "Christ bless this house" -- "Christus mansionem benedicat" -- few of the people practicing this custom are aware of this fact. - Links to Epiphany sites.) In many parts of Europe, including Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, the Christmas celebration does not end until this date, now considered the arrival of the three "kings of the orient" in Bethlehem -- and the end of the "twelve days of Christmas" between Christmas and January 6. more at http://www.german-way.com/german/christmas.html Epiphany http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05504c.htm Magi http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09527a.htm regards wild