I can hardly hear myself think, with twelve drummers drumming!

While I am generally all for extending Christmas for as long as possible, we have come finally to the twelfth day, the Feast of the Epiphany, and the official close of the season. At least in the West. For the Orthodox, today is Christmas Eve.

For the rest of us, this is traditionally the day to take down the Christmas tree and all the festive decorations and to let the tree spirits go about their business. Our wise forebears believed that it is bad luck to take down the decorations earlier. Taking them down later is equally unlucky, so that if you miss the date, you’re supposed to leave everything up for the rest of the year. Ignore this advice at the peril of your crops!

I hope La Befana, the Christmas witch, was good to you. Here are some photos of some other Epiphany celebrations, including one that involves pounding a drum while standing in frigid water.

http://blogs.pjstar.com/eye/2015/01/06/christians-around-the-world-celebrate-epiphany/?fbclid=IwAR3lp0iDgihHtFRuS5ZxuVwd5SwTPS118fF0jnWKEUyaDygSm2ZyPg0bJyI

And in case you missed it yesterday, here again is the last section of Respighi’s tone poem “Feste Romane” (“Roman Festivals”), titled “La Befana.” It’s often given in English as “Epiphany,” but it’s really named for the Christmas witch, whom Italians embrace as part of their January 6 celebrations.

Wishing you a festive Epiphany!