The final day of Christmas is upon us. I am sad to see this fun little tradition pass, but time to focus now on the upcoming wedding season. So I leave you with the final nuggets of information and images of inspiration for the 2009 Christmas season (yes, I know its 2010 now). It is the last night and what a night for a party! Taking from all the events leading up to this point, Twelfth night is a true Masquerade Ball!

This is a symbol for the twelve tenets of the Catholic faith laid out in the prayer, “The Apostles’ Creed”. The drummers may provide the cadence for reciting this prayer.

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” seems to have become a popular carol in its day without anyone ever figuring out that it really was the profession of a faith that England had made illegal.

With the twelfth day we have reached the end of the song and have arrived at the last day of Christmas known as Twelfth Night on which the partying and feasting continued. Twelfth Night is the night before Epiphany which is the day the three Wise Men, also known as the Three Kings or Magi, from the East arrived in Bethlehem bringing gifts to the Christ child.

By the Middle Ages the drum, which was probably introduced to Europe from the Middle East by knights returning from the Crusades, had become a common instrument. Among its other uses was to combine it with the trumpet to get people’s attention when making a big announcement such as the arrival of the king or the reading of an important proclamation. In this case the drum was used to announce the serving of the next course of the feast.

Among other customs in England as well as France and other West European countries was the making and serving of a special Kings’ Cake for this twelfth night celebration (the practice of making and serving a special King’s Cake survives today in the U.S. as a part of the Mardi Gras celebrations.

The song and the twelve day celebration have now come to an end. But it is not the end of the season. For the day after Twelfth Night is the Feast of the Epiphany, another religious holiday associated with Christmas. While mainly just a religious observance in the U.S., Epiphany is also a day of both religious and secular celebrating in other countries.

While the solstice has passed and the days are slowly beginning to lengthen again, winter still holds the land in its grip. The work of the peasant and noble is light as it is still too early to begin planting while the the cold and continuing short days remain an incentive to stay inside and party. So the party season will continue, with Epiphany and continuing through the season of Mardi Gras up until Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of the Lenten season.

Adding spice to your life,

Lia

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Eleven Pipers Piping . . .

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Ten Lords a-Leaping . . .

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Nine Ladies Dancing . . .

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Eight Maids a-Milking . . .

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Seven Swans a-Swimming . . .

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Six Geese a-Laying . . .

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Five Golden Rings . . .

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Four Colly Birds . . .

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Three French Hens . . .

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves . . .

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree . . .