An Old Christmas Celebration

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Believe it or not, Christmas was not about hardcore partying as it is now! In this article I will tell you about an old Christmas custom that you may not be aware of. This custom is now seldom observed however if you wish you can revive it and cherish the good old times with your family!

The 12 days of Christmas was one of the biggest festivals of Christians. Usually, there was no feasting or merry making on the Christmas day itself because that day was considered holy. So, the festivities used to begin right from 26th December and would continue until 6th January. During those twelve days, people would feast, drink and make merry.

It was a welcome break for all the workers who would have to work throughout the rest of the year! During these twelve days a Yule Log was kept burning and if the log went out before the twelve days were over, then it was considered inauspicious!

During those twelve days people would switch their social roles. While slaves would become masters and even hold public positions that were originally held by their masters, the masters would in turn serve the slaves. As you can guess, it was a lot of fun!

The last night of the twelve-day period was popularly called Twelfth Night. Masks were common on the Twelfth Night.  People would dress themselves in different costumes and animal masks and celebrate. On this night, role reversals used to take place with men playing women and women playing men. Pantomimes mocking the traditional authority were also common.

One of the most exciting aspects of the Twelfth Night was the ‘Twelfth Night Cake‘. There was a specially based pea in the cake. Whoever got the pea in their slice would become the King or Queen for the night and were given much respect by others!

Later the Twelfth Night mask was replaced by a game called ‘charades’, where you were allotted a number of cards and were supposed to play the character on your card!

Playing practical jokes on guests was also a part of the festivity. Live birds were imprisoned in pie cases and those cases were gifted to the unaware guests. The guests would be pleasantly surprised as soon as they open the case only to find a live bird. The bird would sing a bit and then fly away.

Things have changed now. Those celebrations no longer take place on the Twelfth night. The twelfth night is now known as the time when people put away their Christmas trees and decorations. However, there is no reason why you cannot do it: so go ahead, and Merry Christmas!

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