SC - OT - 12th night

[Philip & Susan Troy]

> Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 17:10:45 +1100 (EST)
> From: Charles McCathieNevile <charlesn at sunrise.srl.rmit.edu.au>
> Subject: SC - OT - 12th night
> 
> Adamantius, the feast sounds most enjoyable. By lemonade do you mean a 
> lemon soft drink, or something like 7-up (I assume the former, but in 
> Australia lemonade nearly always means the latter - the former is lemon 
> cordial, or american-style lemonade...)

Yes, I gather that in many British-influenced parts of the world
lemonade is fizzy. In the USA, it is _supposed_ to be made with lemon
juice, some grated lemon zest, and chilled simple syrup, diluted to
taste. In reality it is usually made with water, lemon juice, and some
sugar stirred in, or else with water and some hideous chemical gunk,
with or sans a garnish of actual lemon slices. What we had appeared to
have been a mixture of real stuff and chemical gunk.
> 
> And for the benefit of the ignorant (ie me) what exactly IS 12th night? 
> The nearest I can figure it is the 12th day of Xmas, which somebody said 
> was when the magi brought the gifts. But I confess to not knowing - that 
> is a bit of a stab in the dark.

Yes, Twelfth Night is the Twelfth Night of Christmas (when the Twelve
Drummers Drumming show up, in fact), counting Christmas Eve as the First
Night. Ancient practice for many cultures seems to work on the theory
that many festivals start at sundown, not at sunrise. I know the actual
birth of Christ, for those who adhere to that sort of thing, is
generally regarded as having occurred at midnight, which might be part
of the reason. On the other hand, Passover, Hanukkah, and the Chinese
Lunar New Year celebration (and I expect to be posting our menu for
THAT, believe me) all begin at sundown on the evening before the first
day of the festival. Come to think of it, doesn't the book of Genesis
refer, somewhat formulaically, to such-and-such happening "on the
evening and the morning of the third day"?

The arrival of the Magi is celebrated as the Feast of the Epiphany, and
does coincide with Twelfth Night, although I could swear Epiphany is
January 6th. Either I'm wrong about that, or the change, since the
actual twelfth night is on January 4th, is due to some comparatively
recent change in our calendar. 

Adamantius
troy at asan.com
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