{"id":3035,"date":"2010-01-01T01:10:20","date_gmt":"2010-01-01T06:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=3092"},"modified":"2009-12-22T16:34:27","modified_gmt":"2009-12-22T21:34:27","slug":"faeries-elves-and-other-kin-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2010\/01\/01\/faeries-elves-and-other-kin-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Faeries, Elves, and Other Kin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Twelfth Night and the Fae<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

by<\/span><\/p>\n

Kathryn Cranston<\/span><\/p>\n

It has long been acknowledged that the Christian church, not knowing the date of the birth of Jesus, chose December 25th<\/sup> in order to combat \u201cinfernal\u201d pagan celebrations by subsuming those celebrations into their own.\u00a0 Thus, \u201cYuletide\u201d and \u201cSaturnalia\u201d turned into \u201cChristmas\u201d wherever Christianity held dominion.\u00a0 Although the converted people retained many of their ancient customs, these customs often survived only by being renamed or disguised.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with Christmas came a whole plethora of activities, including the Twelve Days of Christmas.\u00a0 During the Middle Ages, people were free to make merry and feast throughout these twelve days, with the Twelfth Night marking the end of the Christmas season and the coming of the Epiphany (which concluded on the 2nd<\/sup> of February with Candlemas, known to some as Imbolc). It was customary to choose a \u201cLord of Misrule\u201d from amongst the peasantry to preside over the \u201cFeast of Fools\u201d and lead the revels.\u00a0 Some sources believe the practice of ritual sacrifice was part of the very ancient \u201cLord of Misrule\u201d tradition, with the \u201cLord\u201d giving up his life in exchange for the preceding days of glory \u201cin the character of the good god [Saturn] who gave his life for the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While no one practices the more dramatic aspects of the Lord of Misrule today, many other Twelve Day traditions survive.\u00a0 Modern day performances mock authority and a woman plays the principal male lead while a man plays the leading older female character, or \u201cDame,\u201d thus setting things \u201ctopsy-turvy\u201d in the tradition of the Lord of Misrule.\u00a0 Most of us are familiar with \u201cTwelfth Night\u201d through William Shakespeare\u2019s play of the same name, which often makes an appearance during the Yuletide season.\u00a0 In some places, special pastries, such as the tortell and king cake, are made on Twelfth Night and eaten the next day for the Feast of the Epiphany celebrations.\u00a0 In England and France, it is customary to bake a Twelfth Night cake containing a bean and a pea.\u00a0 The people whose slices contain the veggies are then designated king and queen of the night’s festivities. <\/span><\/p>\n

Between sunset on Twelfth Night and Epiphany morning on Twelfth Day was and remains the traditional time to take down the Christmas tree and decorations.\u00a0 It was unlucky to leave Christmas decorations hanging after Twelfth Night, a belief originally attached to the festival of Candlemas.\u00a0 But why?\u00a0 And how are the fae involved?<\/span><\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s back up to pre-Christian times, when pagan homes were dressed with mistletoe, ivy, holly, bay, rosemary, and various types of fir trees during Yuletide.\u00a0 As I shared in last month\u2019s column, <\/span>The Faeries of Winter<\/span><\/span><\/a>, fae elementals came into the home along with the holiday evergreen trees and greenery in order to share in the warmth and the season\u2019s festivities.\u00a0 These adornments (and their inhabitants) remained in the home until Candlemas.\u00a0 Queen Victoria (1837-1901) gets the credit for changing this custom to Twelfth Night.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever on their toes, Candlemas had been created by the Christian church as an alternative to Roman paganism because \u201cthe Gentiles dedicated the month of February to the infernal gods, and as at the beginning of it Pluto stole Proserpine, and her mother Ceres sought her in the night with lighted candles, so they, at the beginning of the month, walked about the city with lighted candles. Because the holy fathers could not extirpate the custom, they ordained that Christians should carry about candles in honor of the Blessed Virgin; and thus what was done before in the honor of Ceres is now done in honor of the Blessed Virgin.\u201d\u00a0 So said Pope Innocent XII. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, Candlemas coincides with the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin (when Mary emerges from 40 days of ritual confinement and is purified of uncleanliness after giving birth to a man-child), attempts to eradicate memories of the Goddess Persephone\/Proserpina, and replaces the Roman feast of Lupercalia, three rituals centered on feminine reproductive capability.\u00a0 As a sabbat of fire and purification, it makes sense that this was an ideal time to remove the Yuletide foliage from the home.\u00a0 Exactly why Queen Victoria moved this custom to Twelfth Night I do not know, but it may have something to do with the following.<\/span><\/p>\n

Removing the Yuletide foliage from the home not only cleaned the house, it also released the fae elementals wintering in the foliage back into the wilderness.\u00a0 If this was not done, the forest, and by extension the crops, could not begin to grow again and Spring would fail to return.\u00a0 This, of course, would be an agricultural disaster of monumental proportions.\u00a0 In addition, if trapped in the house by Yuletide greenery after Twelfth Night, the fae spirits would wreak havoc until returned to their rightful place.\u00a0 It seems the sooner the fae were set free, the better Queen Victoria felt!<\/span><\/p>\n

So, when is Twelfth Night?<\/span><\/p>\n

If you wish to honor Twelfth Night in the pagan tradition in 2010 (in subsequent years, you must determine the date of the Winter Solstice which varies), you must calculate from Yule on the 21st<\/sup> of December, where the first of the twelve days of Yule begins on the 22nd<\/sup> and the twelfth day is on the 2nd<\/sup> of January.\u00a0 That makes sunset on the 1st<\/sup> of January the beginning of Twelfth Night in 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Yule12thNight\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"Your <\/span><\/p>\n

If you wish to honor Twelfth Night in the Christian tradition in 2010 (or any other year), you must calculate from Christmas on the 25th<\/sup> of December, where the first of the twelve days of Christmas begins on the 26th<\/sup> and the twelfth days is on the 6th<\/sup> of January.\u00a0 That makes nightfall (or midnight, if you want to be thoroughly modern) on the 5th<\/sup> of January the beginning of Twelfth Night.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Christmas12thNight\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"Your <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you decorate your home with fresh boughs or fake, Twelfth Night affords us one more opportunity to reflect on the Mother Goddess\u2019 gifts of abundance in nature and renewed life, and the mysterious and wonderful roles played by ancient fae forces, elementals and spirits seen and unseen in the turning of the wheel.\u00a0 Hinder ye not but aid them in their work and play.<\/span><\/p>\n