The Christian calendar defines the end of the 12 days of Christmas as Epiphany, which falls on 6th January. Epiphany celebrates the visit of the Three Wise men (Magi) to the baby Jesus. In line with this the eve of the Epiphany is known as Twelfth Night and is the time when the Christmas decorations are taken down and stored away for the next year. There is some confusion about Twelfth Night, in that some people believe it is the night of Epiphany or the night of 6th January when the decorations are removed. Some western cultures believe it is unlucky to remove Christmas decorations on any other day than Twelfth Night.
The bringing of gifts by the Magi is reflected in some cultures with exchange of gifts at Epiphany. In England during the Middle Ages a Twelfth Night cake was baked as part of the end of Christmas feasting. A bean was baked inside the cake and whoever found the bean was crowned King or Queen for the day and could claim the benefits of this temporary status.
Our thanks to Sarah Price of St Hilary’s Miniature Church for allowing us to use these photos. The crochet pattern for the tree top angel can be found on these blog pages