A friend of mine is currently back in her home country, Spain, staying with her parents at the family home to celebrate Christmas. Apparently, in her region (Leon), the twelve days of Christmas are celebrated, 26th December to 6th January, with the major celebrations happening on the last day. The 25th December isn’t really celebrated at all.
I’d never heard of this before, but she assures me that this is the normal practice in the region, and people are still shopping for presents there. Restaurants and bars are packed, and it’s similar in mood to what I in the UK would expect in the days leading up to the 25th December.
How widespread is this practice of celebrating Christmas on the 6th January? Is it confined to Leon, Castile, and thereabouts, or is it a national Spanish tradition? Do any other countries or regions have a similar tradition?
The 6th of January is Three Kings Day, and I think it’s Eastern Orthodox Christmas. So I can’t answer you question culturally, other than to say that there’s a huge precedent for such in any case. In certain regions of Mexico, you get family gifts on the 24th, but the three kings (wise men, whatever) bring you presents on the 6th in your wooden shoes. In other parts, they have Santa Claus. So there’s at least some Spanish culture recognition for such.
Do American Catholics recognize Three Kings Day? I remember back in the Army, I was always offered it as a day off every year (yeah, offered, every single year), but not knowing what it was then, I never took it. I see it on some US calendars.
Now I’d like to know what, exactly, are the twelve days of Christmas, aside from the song?
It is popular in other Latin American countries, too. Back home in Puerto Rico, it is one of the major holidays. As a kid, I would go with my parents at night to get some grass for the camels (like cookies for Santa, whom I never believed in) the night before, Jan. 5. January 6th I would get more presents (and the grass would be gone). Different towns (and the goverment itself) host various festivities.
I’m pretty sure they’re the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany, or Twelfth Day as it’s also called – Twelfth Night is the night before. (Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night was translated into French as La nuit des rois, “The Night of Kings.”
Why? I’ve never professed to being Catholic. My wife is, but to her, it’s the day the three reyes magos fill your shoes with presents. Mark me legitimately confused as to why i of all people should know that…
The names traditionally ascribed to the three wise men (or kings) are Caspar, Melchior and **Balthisar ** (or Balthasar - I’ve seen alternative spellings).
D’oh! Yeah, heh, I knew that. Should I now confess that my online name originates (with a different spelling) during my Quantum Link days back when I was still a kid and had a special affinity for the evil king Balthazar in the US cartoon version of The Smurfs? My current, non-standard spelling is a result of the screen name not being available when I joined America Online back in the early 90’s.
Upon further consultation with my wife, it turns out that wooden shoes are Dutch (well, naturally). They (the Mexicans who do so), use any shoe, not necessarily wooden shoes. She goes on to mention that I’m a silly sort, and that parents will make their kids shine or otherwise clean their shoes so they don’t look like dirty little rats when the wise men show up.
