Three Kings Day.
Little Christmas.
Epiphany.
Twelfth Day.
Greek Christmas.
La Befana.
and the 12th Day of Christmas

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love said to me

Get rid of that damn tree already!

January 6th is the traditional day the Magi, or the Three Kings,  visited the Christ Child. They came bearing gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.

Today is also known as Little Christmas, Epiphany, Twelfth Day, Greek or Orthodox Christmas, La Befana (Italy) and the 12th Day of Christmas.

And yes, however you celebrate today, Christmas is officially over!

link: Wikipedia - Biblical Magi

Twelfth Night
Its the eve of the Epiphany and the end of the 12 days of Christmas. Also known as Twelfth Day Eve.

(Twelfth Night is also a play by Shakespeare which takes place during the Twelfth Night holiday)

photo credit: Chris L. Harris

I received an email this morning asking when to take the Christmas tree?  I thought I’d share this in case others might have the same question.

When does the tree come down? Before the first of the new year or leave it until the new year?

I believe that’s strictly a personal decision.

Some people put it up on the 24th and take it down on the 26th. Some remove the tree by New Years in order to start the new year off without any “old baggage” from the past year. 

And it also depends on whether you have a live or artificial tree. Some might want to get the dead - live - tree out of the house sooner than someone with an artificial tree.

As for myself - we take our tree down after January 6th - Three Kings Day - the 12th day of Christmas. A family tradition since - umm - forever!

So there are no rules. Its up to you and whatever family traditions you have.

photo credit: g-hat via flickr