January 5th is Twelfth Night, what exactly does it mean, By William Cook, received from Oldies NewsLetter, 2026 01 02
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Colin Howard
Jan 2, 2026, 9:02:05 AM (8 days ago) Jan 2
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Blog | By William Cook | Jan 01, 2026
Greetings,
There is a serious mis-conception concerning twelth night, it is often taken
this is when the Wise Men visited the family of Jesus in Bethlehem and
presented the three gifts of gold, frankinsense and myrr.
If you look at Matthew's Gospel Chapter Two Verse eleven, it plainly says
the following:
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they
bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented
him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
"Child"? not a "Baby" which would have been the case if the Wise Men visited
only a few days after Jesus was born.
There were three gifts, the Bible says at the start of Matthew Chapter two
verses one and two:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,
Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his
star in the east and have come to worship him."
Wise Men, not kings, also no number is given, Jesus would most likely be in
his second year, especially when later we learn Herrod had all the boy
children in the Bethlehem area up to two years of age, killed, but of course
Jesus' family fled into Egypt, as we are told following on in Matthew's
Gospel.
Here is the article.
For centuries, Twelfth Night marked an extremely important moment in the
British calendar but now it's almost forgotten. William Cook explains all
If you're anything like me, by now you must be thoroughly sick of Christmas.
Our shopping centres are still adorned with bedraggled decorations. Is there
anything more melancholy than tinsel and baubles after Christmas? Will it
never end?
But if that's the way you feel (and I know I do) then spare a thought for
our hardy forebears. They partied hard, right through from Christmas Eve to
the evening of the 5th of January, otherwise known as Twelfth Night.
'Twelfth Night? What's that?' asks my teenage daughter, and I fear she's not
alone.
Oldies may have a vague idea about the origins and traditions of this
ancient festival, but for anyone under fifty the name now survives only as
the title of a bittersweet Shakespearean comedy. Yet, from Elizabethan times
until Victorian times, Twelfth Night was the climax of the festive season -
with Epiphany, celebrating the revelation of God incarnate as Christ, and
the visit of the Magi to Jesus (pictured) on the following day.
So why did it fall into decline? And has the time come to bring it back?
That Twelfth Night was a pretty big deal in Shakespeare's day is clear from
the genesis of his play. It was first performed at London's Middle Temple on
2nd of February 1602 at Candlemass, the religious ceremony that marked the
conclusion of Christmastide.
Sir Toby Belch personifies the bonhomie of Christmas merrymaking. Malvolio
personifies the Bah Humbug mentality later immortalised by Dickens's
Scrooge. One of the first Shakespeare plays to be revived when the theatres
reopened after the Restoration, it's been a firm favourite ever since.
Twelfth Night was still going strong in Dickens's day, and his Christmas
Carol features a Twelfth Night Cake (aka King's Cake), a popular staple of
this festive evening. A bean and a pea were baked into this rich fruit
pudding. Whichever man found the bean was king for the night. Whichever
woman found the pea was queen.
Other aspects of this rite were less sedate. Revellers would go from door to
door, a bit like First Footing on Hogmanay, led by the king and queen of
misrule. Eventually these festivities were banned, for fear they were
becoming too riotous, apparently on the command of Queen Victoria (even
though she wasn't averse to some lavish Twelfth Night celebrations of her
own).
It didn't work, of course. The authorities might have put a stop to Twelfth
Night festivities per se, but these unruly revels merely migrated,
colonising Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and the office party season
formerly known as Advent. Advent used to be a solemn time, a period of quiet
contemplation not unlike Lent. Now it's a hectic bonanza of Christmas
shopping.
In normal years, Christmas has become a bloated mess, overlong and
overindulgent. So why on earth should we revive Twelfth Night, and add yet
another tipsy party to the mix? Because modern Christmas is a muddle,
several festivals jumbled up together. If Twelfth Night became a proper
party night, as it was for several centuries, maybe we could revive
Christmas as a religious festival, instead of a spendthrift frenzy of
consumerism, which is what it now usually is when there isn't a pandemic on.
For Dickens, Twelfth Night was particularly special - his son and namesake,
Charley, was born on Epiphany, 6th January, as was my daughter, Thea. For
years and years, I thought 6th January was Twelfth Night, not 5th January.
Like a lot of folk, I'd made the mistake of counting twelve days on from
Christmas Day. In fact, the first night of Christmas is Christmas Eve, which
is why a lot of Continental children still open their presents that evening.
With no grumpy Victorians to put a stop to it, Twelfth Night still thrives
on the Continent. In Germany, Sternsinger (star singers) still go from door
to door, with a paper star on a pole, reminding revellers this was the night
the Wise Men reached Bethlehem. And in the red light district of Antwerp, I
came across an ancient (and very moving) Flemish ceremony: twelve poor men
from the parish treated to a Twelfth Night feast, dressed as kings.
And perhaps reviving Twelfth Night and Epiphany may even help us live a
little longer. According to the wise men and women at www.beyond.life, more
people die on 6thJanuary than any other day (New Year's Eve comes a close
second). It seems some poorly folk hang on for Christmas, and give up the
ghost soon after.
If we made Twelfth Night just as special, maybe it'd give us all an
incentive to soldier on to Candlemass, and then on to Easter.
Colin Howard, living in Southern England, is hoping you and your family,
acquaintances and friends have so far been able to enjoy a pleasant Festive
holiday and will follow with a peaceful, prosperous and happy 2026.
Greetings,
There is a serious mis-conception concerning twelth night, it is often taken
this is when the Wise Men visited the family of Jesus in Bethlehem and
presented the three gifts of gold, frankinsense and myrr.
If you look at Matthew's Gospel Chapter Two Verse eleven, it plainly says
the following:
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they
bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented
him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
"Child"? not a "Baby" which would have been the case if the Wise Men visited
only a few days after Jesus was born.
There were three gifts, the Bible says at the start of Matthew Chapter two
verses one and two:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,
Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his
star in the east and have come to worship him."
Wise Men, not kings, also no number is given, Jesus would most likely be in
his second year, especially when later we learn Herrod had all the boy
children in the Bethlehem area up to two years of age, killed, but of course
Jesus' family fled into Egypt, as we are told following on in Matthew's
Gospel.
Here is the article.
For centuries, Twelfth Night marked an extremely important moment in the
British calendar but now it's almost forgotten. William Cook explains all
If you're anything like me, by now you must be thoroughly sick of Christmas.
Our shopping centres are still adorned with bedraggled decorations. Is there
anything more melancholy than tinsel and baubles after Christmas? Will it
never end?
But if that's the way you feel (and I know I do) then spare a thought for
our hardy forebears. They partied hard, right through from Christmas Eve to
the evening of the 5th of January, otherwise known as Twelfth Night.
'Twelfth Night? What's that?' asks my teenage daughter, and I fear she's not
alone.
Oldies may have a vague idea about the origins and traditions of this
ancient festival, but for anyone under fifty the name now survives only as
the title of a bittersweet Shakespearean comedy. Yet, from Elizabethan times
until Victorian times, Twelfth Night was the climax of the festive season -
with Epiphany, celebrating the revelation of God incarnate as Christ, and
the visit of the Magi to Jesus (pictured) on the following day.
So why did it fall into decline? And has the time come to bring it back?
That Twelfth Night was a pretty big deal in Shakespeare's day is clear from
the genesis of his play. It was first performed at London's Middle Temple on
2nd of February 1602 at Candlemass, the religious ceremony that marked the
conclusion of Christmastide.
Sir Toby Belch personifies the bonhomie of Christmas merrymaking. Malvolio
personifies the Bah Humbug mentality later immortalised by Dickens's
Scrooge. One of the first Shakespeare plays to be revived when the theatres
reopened after the Restoration, it's been a firm favourite ever since.
Twelfth Night was still going strong in Dickens's day, and his Christmas
Carol features a Twelfth Night Cake (aka King's Cake), a popular staple of
this festive evening. A bean and a pea were baked into this rich fruit
pudding. Whichever man found the bean was king for the night. Whichever
woman found the pea was queen.
Other aspects of this rite were less sedate. Revellers would go from door to
door, a bit like First Footing on Hogmanay, led by the king and queen of
misrule. Eventually these festivities were banned, for fear they were
becoming too riotous, apparently on the command of Queen Victoria (even
though she wasn't averse to some lavish Twelfth Night celebrations of her
own).
It didn't work, of course. The authorities might have put a stop to Twelfth
Night festivities per se, but these unruly revels merely migrated,
colonising Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and the office party season
formerly known as Advent. Advent used to be a solemn time, a period of quiet
contemplation not unlike Lent. Now it's a hectic bonanza of Christmas
shopping.
In normal years, Christmas has become a bloated mess, overlong and
overindulgent. So why on earth should we revive Twelfth Night, and add yet
another tipsy party to the mix? Because modern Christmas is a muddle,
several festivals jumbled up together. If Twelfth Night became a proper
party night, as it was for several centuries, maybe we could revive
Christmas as a religious festival, instead of a spendthrift frenzy of
consumerism, which is what it now usually is when there isn't a pandemic on.
For Dickens, Twelfth Night was particularly special - his son and namesake,
Charley, was born on Epiphany, 6th January, as was my daughter, Thea. For
years and years, I thought 6th January was Twelfth Night, not 5th January.
Like a lot of folk, I'd made the mistake of counting twelve days on from
Christmas Day. In fact, the first night of Christmas is Christmas Eve, which
is why a lot of Continental children still open their presents that evening.
With no grumpy Victorians to put a stop to it, Twelfth Night still thrives
on the Continent. In Germany, Sternsinger (star singers) still go from door
to door, with a paper star on a pole, reminding revellers this was the night
the Wise Men reached Bethlehem. And in the red light district of Antwerp, I
came across an ancient (and very moving) Flemish ceremony: twelve poor men
from the parish treated to a Twelfth Night feast, dressed as kings.
And perhaps reviving Twelfth Night and Epiphany may even help us live a
little longer. According to the wise men and women at www.beyond.life, more
people die on 6thJanuary than any other day (New Year's Eve comes a close
second). It seems some poorly folk hang on for Christmas, and give up the
ghost soon after.
If we made Twelfth Night just as special, maybe it'd give us all an
incentive to soldier on to Candlemass, and then on to Easter.
Colin Howard, living in Southern England, is hoping you and your family,
acquaintances and friends have so far been able to enjoy a pleasant Festive
holiday and will follow with a peaceful, prosperous and happy 2026.
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