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HISTORY OF 3 KINGS DAY - EPIPHANY

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.

On the evening before Three Kings, traditionally there were prayers, blessed
dried herbs would be burnt and their aromatic smell would fill the house.
Doorways would be sprinkled with holy water and the master of the house would
write with chalk C + M + B and the year above the house and barn door and say:
"Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar, behütet uns auch für dieses Jahr, vor Feuer und
vor Wassergefahr." ("CMB, protect us again this year from the dangers of fire
and water.") C + M + B has traditionally been translated with Caspar, Melchior
and Balthasar, however, according to the Church it stands for "Christus
Mansionem Benedictat" (Christ bless this home).

The custom of the Star Singers, reminiscent of the travel of the Three Kings is
still very much alive in Bavaria and Austria. Beginning with New Years and
through January 6, children dressed as the kings, and holding up a large star,
go from door to door, caroling and singing a Three Kings' song. For this they
receive money or sweets. Formerly the collected donations went to unemployed
craftsmen and veterans, today they go to charities of the church or the Third
World.

Oldtimers of Jasper in Indiana still remember the times when January 6 was
celebrated. Lillian Doane and her family lived app. 4 miles out of town. Since
it was a holy day they would go to church over the corduroy road. Claude and
Martina Eckert also remember it as a special day. "People would put their trees
out for the city to pick up and then all would be told that six o'clock this
evening they would burn the Christmas trees. That was sometime ago; now the city
will pick them up and chop them up as mulch. If you chipped in a tree you can
get a bag of mulch." For the Reichmanns in Brown County, "Dreikönigsabend" is
always a special event. If there are any treats left on the tree (Ruth buys them
at the Heidelberg Haus in Indianapolis), the grandchildren come to get them. In
the evening there is a big gathering with Christmas foods, Glühwein and Stollen
and Christmas carols with Eberhard at the piano.

© Copyright Ruth M. Reichmann
Max Kade German-American Center, IUPUI


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