I Can’t Sleep - Epiphany | Gentle Bedtime Reading for Sleep

Episode Date: December 25, 2023

Unwind with this calm bedtime reading as Benjamin explores the Christian holiday of Epiphany, helping you relax and find relief from insomnia. You’ll learn about its history, meaning, and traditions around the world, from the story of the Magi to celebrations that continue today. With Benjamin’s soothing cadence, these rich details become a peaceful flow of storytelling that eases stress and quiets the mind. This isn’t whispering or hypnosis—just gentle, fact-filled narration designed to guide you into restful sleep. Press play, settle in, and let this exploration of Epiphany bring you peace. Want More? Request a Topic: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/request-a-topic Ad-Free Episodes: https://icantsleep.supportingcast.fm/ Shop Sleep-Friendly Products: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/sponsors Join the Discussion on Discord: https://discord.gg/myhGhVUhn7 This content is derived from the Wikipedia article on Epiphany (holiday), available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. Read the full article: Wikipedia – Epiphany (holiday). Happy sleeping! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to a Glassbox media podcast. What if I told you that most of the modern day self-help advice you've been hearing could actually make you worse? The key to a better life isn't about feel-good gimmicks that sound catchy. The Mentally Stronger Podcast gives you access to a licensed therapist who shares science-backed tools that will actually change your life. Hi, I'm Amy Morin, psychotherapist, mental strength trainer, and international best-selling author. In each episode, we cover research-back strategies, like how to stop relying on willpower and start creating habits for lasting change. And the five mental strength-building exercises you can do from your couch. I also speak to world-class experts like Dr. Nicole Kane, who shares how to permanently heal anxiety by addressing the root cause.

With over 200 episodes in our catalog, this podcast is for you if you're ready to crush self-doubt, conquer challenges, become stronger than ever with therapist-approved strategies that can change your life. Listen to Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin, wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster. Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled Epiphany. Epiphany, also known as theophony and Eastern Christian tradition is a Christian feast day commemorating the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates

principally but not solely the visit of the Magi to the Christ child, and thus Jesus Christ's physical manifestation to the Gentiles. It is sometimes called Three Kings Day, and in some traditions celebrated as Little Christmas. Moreover, the Feast of the Epiphany in some denominations also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphany Tide. Eastern Christians, on the other hand, commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God.

The spot marked by Al-Makdas in Jordan, adjacent to Qasir al-Yahood in the West Bank, is considered to be the original site of the baptism of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist. The traditional date for the feast is January 6th, however since 1970 the celebration is held in some countries on the Sunday after January 1st. Those Eastern churches, which are still following the Julian calendar,

observe the feast on what, according to the internationally used Gregorian calendar, is January 19th, because of the current 13-day difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. In many Western churches, the eve of the feast is celebrated as 12th night, Epiphany Eve. The Monday after Epiphany is known as Plow Monday. Popular Epiphany customs include Epiphany singing, chalking the door, having one's house blessed, consuming three kings' cake, winter swimming, as well as attending church services. It is customary for Christians in many localities

to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve, 12th night, although those in other Christian countries historically remove them on Candlemas, the conclusion of Epiphany Tide. According to the first tradition, those who fail to remember to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve must leave them untouched until Candlemas. the second opportunity to remove them. Failure to observe the custom is considered inauspicious.

The word epiphany is from coin a Greek epiphanaea, meaning manifestation or appearance. It is derived from the verb of phinean meaning to appear. In classical Greek it was used for the appearance of dawn, of an enemy in war, but especially of a manifestation of a deity to a worshipper, a theophony. In the Septuagint, the word is used of a manifestation of the God of Israel. In the New Testament, the word is used in 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 10, to refer either to the birth of Christ or to his appearance after his resurrection, and five times to refer to his second coming. Alternative names for the feast in Greek include Ta Theophanaeofeoenia, Theophony, a neuter plural,

than feminine singular, the Day of the Lights, and the Lights. Epiphany may have originated in the Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire as a feast to honor the baptism of Jesus. Around 200, Clement of Alexandria wrote that, by the followers of the early Christian Gnostic religious teacher Basilides celebrate the day of his baptism too, spending the previous night in readings. and they say that it was the 15th of the month Tibby of the 15th year of Tiberia Caesar, and some say that it was observed the 11th of the same month. The Egyptian dates given correspond to January 6 and 10th. The Basilides were a Gnostic sect.

The reference to readings suggests that the Basilides were reading the Gospels. In ancient gospel manuscripts, the text is arranged to indicate passages for liturgical readings. If a congregation began reading Mark at the beginning of the year, it might arrive at the story of the baptism on January 6, thus explaining the date of the feast. If Christians read Mark in the same format the Basilites did, the two groups would have arrived at the January 6 date independently.

The earliest reference to Epiphany as a Christian feast was in AD 361, by Amianus Marcellinus. The holidays listed twice, which suggests a double feast of baptism and birth. The baptism of Jesus was originally assigned the same date as the birth, because Luke chapter 3 verse 23 was read to mean that Jesus was exactly 30 when he was baptized. It is said by many church fathers that Jesus was the age of 30, though not necessarily exactly that age. Epiphanaius of Salamis says that January 6th is Christ's birthday, that is His Epiphany.

He also asserts that the miracle at Cana occurred on the same calendar day. Epiphanius assigns the baptism to November 6th. The scope to Epiphany expanded to include the commemoration of his birth, the visit of the Magi, all of Jesus' childhood events, up to and including the baptism by Jesus. John the Baptist, and even the miracle at the wedding at Cana and Galilee. In the Latin-speaking West, the holiday emphasized the visit of the Magi. The Magi represented the non-Jewish peoples of the world, so this was considered a revelation to the Gentiles. In this event, Christian writers also inferred a revelation to the children

of Israel. John Chrysohnzostom identified the significance of the meeting between the Magi and Herod's court. The star had been hidden from them, so that on finding themselves without their guide, they would have no alternative but to consult the Jews. In this way, the birth of Jesus would be made known to all. In 385, the pilgrim Magira, also known as Sylvia, described a celebration in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, which she called Epiphany that commemorated the nativity. Even at this early date, there was an octave associated with the feast. The Gregorian chant book of Jerusalem compiled in the mid-sixth century contains hymns for this feast that were likely written between the time of Egeria and the turn of the sixth century. In a sermon delivered on December 25th,

380, St. Gregory of Nazianzus referred to the day as the theophony, saying expressly that it is a day commemorating the Holy Nativity of Christ and told his listeners that they would soon be celebrating the baptism of Christ. Then on January 6 and 7th, he preached two more sermons in which he declared that the celebration of the birth of Christ and the visitation of the Magi had already taken place, and that they would now commemorate his baptism. At this time, celebration of the two events was beginning to be observed on separate occasions. at least in Capadocia. St. John Cassian says that even in his time, beginning of the 5th century, Egyptian monasteries celebrated the Nativity and the baptism together on January 6th.

The Armenian Apostolic Church continues to celebrate January 6th as the only commemoration of the nativity. Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig two cantatas for the feast which concluded Christmas-tide. Zé verden As Saba al-Acomen B.W.V. 65 1724 Leipster Emmanuel Erzag de Fromen

BWV-123 1725 Part 6 of his Christmas oratorio Here Vendie Stoltzen Feinterschnauben was also designated to be performed during the service of Epiphany. In Otorino Respigi's

Symphonic Ton Poem Roman Festival, The final movement is subtitled Bofana and takes place during Epiphany. Nun Lebezeo, Nun Ist Eustsait, is a German epiphany hymn by Georg Weisel, first printed in 1642. Two very familiar Christmas carols are associated with the Epiphany holiday. As was Gladness, Men of Old, written by William Chatterton Dix in 1860, has a response to the many legends which had grown up surrounding the Magi, and We Three Kings of Orient Are, written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., then an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. He was instrumental in organizing an elaborate

holiday pageant which featured this hymn for the students of the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1857, while serving as the seminary's music director. Another popular hymn, less known culturally as a carol is Songs of Thankfulness and Praise with words written by Christopher Wordsworth and commonly sung to the tune St. Edmund by Charles St. Carol used as an anthem for the Epiphany

Holiday is The Three Kings. Until 1955, when Pope Pius the 12th abolished all but three liturgical octaves, the Latin Church celebrated Epiphany as an eight-day feast, known as the octave of Epiphany. beginning on January 6th and ending on January 13th. The Sunday was in that octave had been since 1893 the Feast of the Holy Family,

and Christmas tide was reckoned as the 12 days ending on January 5th, followed by the January 6th through the 13th octave. The 1969 revision of the General Roman calendar made the date variable to some extent, stating, The Epiphany of the Lord is celebrated on, the 6th of January, unless, where it is not observed as a holy day of obligation, it has been assigned to the Sunday occurring between the 2nd and 8th of January. It also made the Feast of the Epiphany, part of Christmas time, which it defined as extending from the first Vespers

of Christmas, the evening of December 24th, up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany to Sunday after January 6th. Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, and United States, and Unusern, United Protestant congregations, along with those of other denominations, may celebrate Epiphany on January 6th on the following Sunday within the Epiphany Week, octave, or at another time, Epiphany Eve, January 5th, the nearest Sunday, etc., as local custom dictates. Prior to 1976, Anglican churches observed an eight-day octave, beginning on January 6th. Today, the Epiphany of Our Lord, classified as a principal feast, is observed in some Anglican provinces on January 6th exclusively, e.g. the Anglican Church of Canada. But in the Church of

England, the celebration is on the 6th of January, or transferred to the Sunday following between the 2nd and 8th of January. Eastern Churches celebrate Epiphany on January 6th. Some, as in Greece, employ the modern revised Julian calendar, which until 2,800 coincides with the Gregorian calendar, the one in use for civil purposes in most countries.

Other Eastern churches, as in Russia, hold to the older Julian calendar for reckoning church dates. In these old calendar churches, Epiphany falls at present on Gregorian, January 19th, which is January 6th in the Julian calendar. The Indian Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast of Epiphany, Denaha, Syriac term, which means rising, on January 6th,

and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrates on January 19th as the Timkoth Festival, which was included in the UNESCO Heritage List of Festivals. In some churches, the Feast of the Epiphany initiates the Epiphany season, also known as Epiphany Tide. In Advent 2000, the Church of England, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, introduced into his liturgy and optional epiphany season by approving the Common Worship Series of Services as an alternative to those in the Book of Common Prayer,

which remains the church's normative liturgy and in which no such liturgical season appears. An official publication of the Church of England states The Christmas season is often celebrated for 12 days, ending with the epiphany. Contemporary use is sought to, to express an alternative tradition, in which Christmas lasts for a full 40 days, ending with the feast of the presentation on the 2nd of February.

It presents the latter part of this period as the Epiphany season, comprising the Sundays of Epiphany, and ending only with the feast of the presentation, Candelmas. Another interpretation of Epiphany season applies to the term to the period from Epiphany to the day before Ash Wednesday. Some Methodists in the United States and Singapore follow these liturgies. Lutherans celebrate the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday as the Transfiguration of Our Lord, and it has been said that they call the whole period from Epiphany to then as Epiphany season. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America used the terms time after epiphany to refer to this period.

The expression with After has been interpreted as making the the period in question correspond to that of ordinary time. The Presbyterian Church, USA, does not celebrate Epiphany or Pentecost as seasons. For this church, expressions such as Fifth Sunday after Epiphany indicate the passing of time rather than a liturgical season. It instead uses the term ordinary time. In the Catholic Church, Christmas time runs from First Vespers, Evening Prayer 1, of the nativity of the Lord, up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany or after the 6th of January.

An ordinary time begins on the Monday which follows the Sunday occurring after 6th of January. Before the 1969 revision of its liturgy, the Sundays following the octave of Epiphany, or, when this was abolished, following the feast of the baptism of the Lord, which was instituted to take place of the octave day of Epiphany, were named as the second, etc., up to the sixth Sunday after Epiphany, as the at least 24 Sundays following Pentecost Sunday and Trinity Sunday were known as the second Sunday after Pentecost. If a year had more than 24 Sundays after Pentecost, up to four unused post-epiphany Sundays were inserted between the 23rd and the 24th Sunday after Pentecost. The Encyclopedia of Catholic devotions and practices, which has,

received the imprimatur of John Michael Darcy with reference to Epiphany Tide, thus states that the Epiphany season extends from January 6th to Septuagesma Sunday, and as from 1 to 6th Sundays, according to the date of Easter. White is the color for the octave, green is the liturgical color for the season. Epiphany is celebrated by both the Eastern and Western churches, but a major difference between them is precisely which events the feast commemorates. For Western Christians, the feast primarily commemorates the coming of the Magi, with only a minor reference to the baptism of Jesus and the miracle at the wedding of Cana. Eastern churches celebrate the baptism of Christ in the Jordan.

In both traditions, the essence of the feast is the same, the manifestation of Christ to the world, whether as an infant or in the Jordan, and the mystery of the incarnation. The miracle at the wedding at Cana is also celebrated during Epiphany as a first manifestation of Christ's public life. Even before 354, the Western Church had separated the celebration of the Nativity of Christ as the Feast of Christmas and set its date as December 25th. It reserved January 6th as a commemoration of the manifestation of Christ,

especially to the Magi, but also as a day. as baptism and at the wedding feast of Cana. In 1955, a separate feast of the baptism of the Lord was instituted, thus weakening further the connection in the West between the feast of the epiphany and the commemoration of the baptism of Christ. However, Hungarians, in an apparent reference to baptism, refer to the January 6th celebration as Viscarest, a term that recalls the words viz, water, and Kherst, Karest Seg, baptism. Many in the West, such as adherents of the Anglican Communion, Lutheran churches, and Methodist churches, observe a 12-day festival, starting on December 25th, and ending on January 5th,

known as Christmas Tide, or the 12 days of Christmas. The universal norms on the liturgical year in the general Roman calendar of the Roman Catholic Church determined since 1969 that Christmas time runs from First Vespers, Evening Prayer 1, of the Nativity of the Lord, up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany or after January 6th. Some regions, and especially some communities celebrating the Tridentine Mass, extend the season to as many as 40 days, ending Christmas tide traditionally on Candlemas, February 2nd. On the Feast of the Epiphany in some parts of Central Europe, the priest wearing white vestments blesses Epiphany water, frankincense, gold, and chalk.

The chalk is used to write the initials of the three magi, traditionally Caspar, Melchior, and Baltazar, over the doors of the churches and homes. The initials may also be interpreted as the Latin phrase, Christus Manciona benedicod. May Christus bless the house. According to ancient custom, the priest announced the date of Easter on the Feast of Epiphany. This tradition dated from a time when calendars were not readily available, and the church needed to publicize the date of Easter,

since many celebrations of the liturgical year depend on it. A proclamation may be sung or proclaimed at the ambo by a deacon, cantor, or reader, either after the reading of the gospel or after the post-communion prayer. The Roman Missal thus provides the formula with appropriate chant for proclaiming on Epiphany, whether it is customary to do so, the dates in the calendar for the celebration of Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday, Ascension of Jesus Christ, Pentecost, the body and blood of Christ, and the first Sunday of Advent that will mark the following liturgical year. Some Western Rite churches, such as the Anglican and Lutheran churches, will follow practices similar to the Catholic Church.

Church cantatas for the Feast of Epiphany were written by Protestant composers, such as George Philip Telemann, Christoph Kroppner, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Godfried Heinrich Stodzl. The name of the feast as celebrated in the Orthodox churches may be rendered in English as the Theophony. as closer in form to the Greek, God shining forth, or divine manifestation. Here it is one of the great feasts of the liturgical year, being third and rank behind only Pashka, Easter, and Pentecost in importance. It is celebrated on January 6th of the calendar that a particular church uses, on the Julian calendar which some of the Orthodox churches follow that date corresponds during the present century to January 19th on the Gregorian or revised Julian calendar.

The earliest reference to the feast in the Eastern Church is a remark by St. Clemens of Alexandria and Stromatis, the first. And there are those who have determined not only the year of our Lord's birth, but also the day, and the followers of basilides hold the day of his baptism as a festival, spending the night before in readings. And they say that it was the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, the 15th day of the month of Tubi, and some that it was the 11th of the same month. If this is a reference to a celebration of Christ's birth,

as well as of his baptism on January 6th, it corresponds to what continues to be the custom of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which celebrates the birth of Jesus on January 6 of the calendar used, calling the feast that of the nativity and theophony of our Lord. Origins list of festivals omits any reference to Epiphany, the first reference to an ecclesiastical feast of the Epiphany in Amianus Massilius. In part of the Eastern Church, January 6 continued for some time as a composite feast, that included the Nativity of Jesus, though Constantinople adopted December 25th to commemorate Jesus' birth in the 4th century.

In other parts, the Nativity of Jesus continued to be celebrated on January 6th, a date later devoted exclusively to commemorating his baptism. Today, in Eastern Orthodox churches, the emphasis at this feast is on the shining fourth and revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and second person of the Trinity at the time of his baptism. It is also celebrated because, according to tradition, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist, marked one of only two occasions when all three persons of the Trinity manifested themselves simultaneously to humanity. God the Father by speaking through the clouds,

God the Son being baptized in the water, and God the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove descending from heaven. Thus the Holy Day is considered to be a Trinitarian feast. The Orthodox consider Jesus' baptism to be the first step towards the crucifixion, and there are some parallels in the hymnography used on this day and the hymns chanted on Good Friday. The liturgical four-feast of theophony begins on January 2nd and concludes with the Paramony on January 5th. The eve of the feast is called Parimony. is observed as a strict fast day

on which those faithful who are physically able, refrain from food until the first star is observed in the evening, when a meal with wine and oil may be taken. On this day, the royal hours are celebrated, thus tying together this feast with

nativity and Good Friday. The royal hours are followed by the divine liturgy of St. Basil, which combines vespers with the divine liturgy. During the Vespers, 15 Old Testament lectures which foreshadowed the baptism of Christ are read, and special antiphons are chanted. If the feast of the the theophony falls on a Sunday or Monday,

the royal hours are chanted on the previous Friday, and on the parimony the divine liturgy of St. John Chryso's st. John Chryso's dome is celebrated in the morning. The fasting is lessened to some degree in this case. The Orthodox churches perform the great blessings of waters on theophony, The blessing is normally then twice, once on the eve of the feast, usually at a baptismal font inside the church, and then again on the day of the feast outdoors at a body of water. Following the divine liturgy, the clergy and people go in a procession, procession with the cross, to the nearest body of water, be at a beach, harbor, quay, river, lake, swimming pool, water, etc. Ideally, it should be a body of living water.

At the end of the ceremony, the priest will bless the waters. In the Greek practice, he does this by casting a cross into the water. If swimming is feasible on the spot, any number of volunteers may try to recover the cross. The person who gets the cross first swims back and returns it to the priest, who then delivers a special blessing to the swimmer and their household. Certain such ceremonies have achieved particular prominence, such as the one held annually at Tarpon Springs, Florida. In Russia, where the winters are severe, a hole will be cut into the ice so that the waters may be blessed. In such conditions, the cross is not cast into the water, but is held securely by the priest and dip three times into the water.

The water that is blessed on this day is sometimes known as theophony water, though usually just just holy water, and is taken home by the faithful and used with prayer as a blessing. People will not only bless themselves in their homes by sprinkling with holy water, but will also drink it. The Orthodox Church teaches that holy water differs from ordinary water by virtue of the incorruptibility bestowed upon it, by a blessing that transforms its very nature, a miracle attested to as early as St. John Chrysostom. Theophony is a traditional day for performing baptisms, and this is reflected in the divine liturgy by singing the baptismal hymn, as many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, hallelujah, in place of the

trisagion. On theophani, the priest will begin making the round of the parishioners' homes to bless them. He will perform a short prayer service in each home, and then go through the entire house, gardens and outside buildings, blessing them with the newly blessed Theophony water, while all sing the Traparian and Cotacian of the feast. This is normally done on Theophony, or at least during the after-feast, but if the parishioners are numerous, and especially if many live far away from the church, it may take some time to bless each house. Traditionally, these blessings should all be finished before the beginning of Great Lent.

The feast of Theophony is followed by an eight-day-after feast on which the normal fasting laws are suspended. The Saturday and Sunday after Theophony have special readings assigned to them, which relate to the temptation of Christ and dependence and perseverance in the Christian struggle. There is thus a liturgical continuum between the feast of Theophony and the beginning of Great Lent. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the feast is known as Timcott, and is celebrated on the day that the Gregorian calendar calls January 19th, but on January 20th in years when in Kudatash in the Ethiopian calendar falls on Gregorian September 12th, i.e. when the following February in the Gregorian calendar will have 29 days.

The celebration of this feast features blessing of water and solemn processions with the sacred tabo. A priest carries this to a body of water, where it stays overnight, with the Metzahafi Kadasi celebrated in the early morning. Later in the morning, the water is blessed to the accompaniment of the reading of the four gospel accounts of the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and the people are sprinkled with or go into the water. The Tabat returns in procession to the church. Among the Syriac Christians, the feast is called Deno, Upgoing, a name to be connected with the notion of rising light expressed in Luke,

1, verse 78. In the East Syriac rite, this season of Epiphany, Epiphany Tide, is known as Dinha. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, January 6 is celebrated as the nativity and theophony of Christ. The feast is preceded by a seven-day fast. On the eve of the feast, the divine liturgy is celebrated. This liturgy is referred to as the Eucharist of the lighting of the lamps in honor of the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God. Both the Armenian Apostolic Churches and Assyrian Church of the East Liturgy is followed by a blessing of water during which the cross is immersed in the water, symbolizing Jesus' descent into the Jordan, and Holy Miran, chrism, is poured in, symbolic of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus. The next morning, after the liturgy, the cross is removed from

the vessel of holy water, and all come forward to kiss the cross and partake of the blessed water. Epiphany is celebrated with a wide array of customs around the world. In some cultures, the greenery and nativity scenes put up at Christmas are taken down at epiphany. In other cultures, these remain up until Candlemus on February 2nd. In countries historically shaped by Western Christianity, these customs often involve gift-giving, king cakes and a celebration close to the Christmas season. In traditionally Orthodox nations, water, baptismal rights, and house blessings are typically central to these celebrations.

In Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, as in other Latin American countries, the day is called Dia de Reyes, the Day of Kings, a reference to the biblical Magi, commemorating the arrival of the Magi to revere Jesus as Son of God. The night of January 5th into the morning of January 6th is known as Noche de Reyes, a night of kings, and children leave their shoes by the door along with grass and water for the camels. On the morning of January 6th, they get up early and rush to see their shoes, where they are expecting to find gifts left by the Reyes, who, according to tradition, bypass the house of children who are awake.

On January 6, a Rosca de Reyes, a ring-shaped epiphany cake, is Eden, and all Christmas decorations are traditionally put away. In Bulgaria, Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th and is known as Boga Yavlini, manifestation of God, or Yolanovten, Day of Jordan, referring to the river. On this day, a wooden cross is thrown by a priest into the sea, river, or lake, and young men race to retrieve it. As the date is in early January and the waters are close to freezing, this is considered an honorable act and it is said that good health will be bestowed upon the home of the swimmer who is the first to reach the cross. In the town of Kolofer, a traditional horo with drums and bagpipes is played in the icy waters of the Tunza River before the throwing of the cross. Speakers of Dutch and Flemish call this day three kings, while German speakers

call it Three Kings Day. In Belgium, Luxembourg, the southern parts of the Netherlands, and in neighboring Germany, children and groups of three proceed in costume from house to house while singing songs typical for the occasion and receiving a coin or some sweets at each door. They may each carry a paper lantern symbolizing the star. In the Netherlands, these tropes gather for competitions

and present their skits or songs for an audience. As in Belgium, King's Tart, puff pastry with almond filling, is prepared with a black bean hidden inside. Whoever finds the bean in his or her piece is king or queen for the day. A more typically Dutch version is King's Bread. In the north of the Netherlands, the traditions have died out except for very few places. Another low country's tradition on epiphany is to open up doors and windows to let good luck in for the coming year. In Brazil, the day is called Dia dos Reis, the day of kings, and the rest of Latin America, Dia de Reyes, commemorating the arrival of the Magi to confirm Jesus as Son of God.

The night of January 5th and to the morning of January 6th is known as Night of Kings, also called the 12th night, and is said, feasted with music, sweets, and regional dishes as the last night of nativity, when Christmas decorations are traditionally put away. This day is sometimes known as the Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos, the day of the three royal magi, or La Pascua de los Negros, Holy Day of the Black Men, in Chile. Although the latter is rarely heard because it was the day when slaves were allowed not to work. In the Dominican Republic, the Dia de los Reyes Magos, the day of the three royal magi, and in this day, children receive gifts on the Christmas tree in a similar fashion to Christmas day. On this day, public areas are very active with children, accompanied by their parents

trying out their new toys. A common practice is to leave toys under the children's beds on January 5th, so when they wake up on January 6th, they remain to believe the gifts and toys will left from Santa Claus or the Three Kings. However, and particularly in the larger cities and in the north, local traditions are now being observed and intertwine with the greater North American Santa Claus tradition, as well as with other holidays such as Halloween, due to Americanization via film and television, creating an economy of gifting tradition that spans from Christmas Day until January 6th. The feast of the Epiphany is celebrated by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, which falls on the 11th of Tobay of the Coptic calendar, as the moment when in baptism

of Jesus the skies opened and God himself revealed to all as Father of Jesus and all mankind. It is then a moment of revelation of Epiphany. This celebration started to include all the processes of incarnation of Jesus, from his birth on Christmas until his baptism in the River Jordan. For the Coptic Orthodox Church, it is also a moment in which the path of Jesus to the cross begins. Therefore, in many celebrations, there are certain similarities with the celebrations of Holy Friday during the time of Easter. Since the Epiphany is one of the seven great feasts of the Coptic Orthodox Church, it is a day of strict fasting and several religious celebrations are held on this day. The day is related to the blessing of waters that are used all throughout the year in the church celebrations,

and it is a privileged day to celebrate baptisms. It is also a day in which many houses are blessed with water. It may take several days for the local priest to bless all the houses of the parishioners that ask for it, and so the blessing of the houses may go into the afterfeasts of the Epiphany celebrations. However, it must be done before the beginning of life. In England, the celebration of the night before Epiphany Eve is known as 12th night. The first night of Christmas is December 25 to 26, and 12th night is January 5th to 6th, and was a traditional time for mumming and the wassel.

The Yule log was left burning until this day, and the charcoal left was kept until the next Christmas to kindle next year's Yolog, as well as to protect the house from fire and lightning. In the past, Epiphany was also a day for playing practical jokes, similar to April Fool's Day. Today in England, Twelfth Night is still as popular a day for plays as when Shakespeare's 12th Night was first performed in 1601, and annual celebrations involving the Holly Man are held in London. A traditional dish for Epiphany was 12th cake, a rich, dense, typically English fruitcake. As in Europe, whoever found the baked-in bean was king for a day, but uniquely to English tradition, other items were sometimes included in the cake. Whoever found the clove was the villain,

the twig, the fool, and the rag, the tart. Anything spicy or hot like ginger snaps and spiced ale was considered proper 12th night fair, recalling the costly spices brought by the wise men. Another English Epiphany sweet meat was the traditional jam tart, made appropriate to the occasion by being fashioned in the form of a six-pointed star, symbolizing the star of Bethlehem, and thus called Epiphany Tart. The discerning the English cook sometimes tried to use 13 different colored jams on the tart on this day for luck, creating a pastry resembling stained glass. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the feast is known as Timcott and is celebrated on the day that the Gregorian calendar calls January 19th. But on January 20th in years when New Year and the Ethiopian calendar falls on Gregorian September 12th, i.e. when the following February and the Gregorian calendar will have 29 days.

The celebration of this feast features blessing of water and solemn processions with the Sacred Tabal. In Finland, Epiphany is called Lopianen, a name which goes back to the 1600s. In the 1500s, the Swedish Finnish Lutheran Church called Epiphany, Day of the Holy Three Kings, while before this the older term epiphanya was used. In the Karelian language, epiphany is called Vierista, meaning cross, from the Orthodox custom of submerging a cross three times to bless water on this day. Today in the Lutheran Church, Epiphany is a day dedicated to a focus on missionary work in addition to the Wise Men narrative. Between 1973 and 1991, Epiphany was observed in Finland on a Saturday each year, no earlier than January 6th, and no later than January 12th.

After that time, however, the traditional date of January 6 was restored and has since been observed once again as a national public holiday. The Christmas tree is traditionally taken out of the house on Epiphany, while the term Lope-Einen means ending of Christmas time. In reality, Christmas celebrations in Finland are extended to New Uttis or St. Canutes Day on January 13th, completing the Scandinavian 20 days of Christmas. In France, people share one of two types of king cake. In the northern half of France and Belgium, the cake is called Jolette de Roy, and is a ram. flat and golden cake made with flake pastry, and often filled with Franjapan fruit or chocolate. In the south, in province, and in the southwest, a crown-shaped cake or brioche filled with fruit called a Gatot de Roy is eaten. In Romandie, both types can be found, though the latter is more common.

Both types of cake contain a charm, usually a porcelain or plastic figurine called a fiv. broad bean in French. The cake is cut by the youngest and therefore most innocent person at the table to assure that the recipient of the bean is random. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket becomes king or queen and wears a paper crown provided with the cake. In some regions this person has a choice between offering a beverage to everyone around the table, usually a sparkling wine or champagne,

or volunteering to host the next king cake at their home. This can extend the festivities throughout all of January. January 6 is a public holiday in Austria, three federal states of Germany, and three cantons of Switzerland, as well as in parts of Graubenon. In the German-speaking lands, groups of young people called Stairsinger,

star singers, travel from door to door. They are dressed as the biblical magi, and their leader carries a star, usually have painted wood attached to a broom handle. Often these groups are four girls or two boys and two girls in order to sing in four-par harmony. They sing traditional songs and newer ones as the Stearn Ube Bethlehem. They are not necessarily three wise men. German Lutherans often knowed in a light-hearted fashion that the Bible never specifies that the Weissan magi were men,

or that there were three. The star singers solicit donations for worthy causes, such as efforts to end hunger in Africa, organized jointly by the Catholic and Protestant churches, and they will also be offered treats at the homes they visit. The young people then perform the traditional house blessing by marking the year over the doorway with chalk. In Roman Catholic communities,

this may even today be a serious spiritual event with the priest present. But among Protestants it is more tradition and a part of the German notion of Gemmutlikite. Usually on the Sunday following Epiphany, these donations are brought into churches. Here, all of the children who have gone out as star singers, once again in their costumes, form a procession of sometimes dozens of wise men and stars. The German Chancellor in Parliament also receive a visit from the star singers at Epiphany. Some Germans eat a three kings cake, which may be a golden pastry ring filled with orange and spice representing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Most often found in Switzerland these cakes take the form of Bouchdline, but for Epiphany, studded with citron, and baked as seven large buns in a round rather than square pan, forming a crown.

or they may be made of typical rich Christmas bread dough with cardamom and pearl sugar in the same seven bun crown shape. These varieties are most typically purchased in supermarkets, with the trinket and gold paper crown included. As in other countries, the person who receives the piece or bun containing the trinket or a whole almond becomes the king or queen for a day. Epiphany is also an especially joyful occasion for the young and young at heart, as this is the day dedicated to plundern, that is, when Christmas trees are plundered of their cookies and sweets by eager children and adults, and when gingerbread houses and any other good things left in the house from Christmas are devoured. Lastly, there is a German rhyme saying or bound regal that goes, is this by three kynigs

kind winter, come to kine adhinta, meaning, if there hasn't been any winter weather, until Epiphany, none is coming afterward. Another of these Bauer and Regal,

German farmers, rules for Epiphany, states, If the eve of Epiphany is bright and clear, it foretells a good wine year.