Twelfth night, Epiphany and magic
On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drummin'
Eleven pipers pipin' ...
Can you finish the lyrics to this festive song?
Given that this song is often played in the lead up to and during Christmas Day, you'd be forgiven in thinking that the twelve days of Christmas refers to the days preceding the 25th of December, but in actuality, they refer to the days after Christmas, ending on the 5th or 6th of January—depending on whether you include Christmas Day or not.
Let's look at the words surrounding the days of Twelfth Night and the day following it.
Twelfth Night
First, the Twelve Days of Christmas culminate with the Twelfth Night. According to superstition, Twelfth Night is final point for which all Christmas decorations should be removed so as not to bring bad luck upon the home.
Beyond this, the first thing that comes to mind to an Anglophone speakers when you mention 'Twelfth Night' is Shakespeare's c.1601–1602 romantic comedy, Twelfth Night, or What You Will. In brief, Twelfth Night centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola, disguises herself as a man called Cesario, enters the service of the Duke Orsino and falls in love with him. The Duke in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man.
Twelfth Night is a play about subverting societal norms and expectations, with the most notable being Viola cross-dressing and pretending to be a man—albeit this is short-lived: Viola stops pretending to be Cesario, and weds Duke Orsino by the end of the play.
This temporary transgression of norms is not limited to the play itself, but also its namesake. To be sure, Twelfth Night was supposed to be performed during the festivities of the Twelfth Night. One of the customs during the Twelfth Night (and the day after), was the consumption of the galette des rois, roscón de reyes ('Kings' cake'), or its equivalents, in locales around Europe. Within the galette, there is a little figurine hidden. When the cake is cut, whoever gets the slice with the figurine (or bean in Tudor England) 'becomes king' for the night. The circumvention the status quo essentially appears in the Twelfth Night's culinary traditions. Interestingly, this custom continues even today, in places like France and Spain.
Epiphany
Second, another name for the Twelfth Night is 'Epiphany Eve'. Epiphany is then the day after, the day after the duodecave of Christmas. Focusing on the term itself, 'Epiphany', ultimately comes from the Ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia, 'manifestation, striking appearance'), itself a combination of ἐπί (epí, 'upon'; root of epicentre), and φαίνω (phaínō, 'I shine, appear'; root of photon, diaphanous, and phosphorous). The 'Epiphany' originally referred to the advent or manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, represented by the Magi. This usage was common from the 14th century; whilst its generic, lower-case usage, appeared from the 17th century.
Magi
Finally, deuteragonists to the Epiphany narrative are the 'Magi', alternatively called the 'Three Wise Men' or 'Three Kings'—the eponymous kings of the aforementioned Kings' cake. In popular belief, they are three men, Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior, who paid homage and presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the newborn Christ. In Medieval Europe, these three were considered representative of the three races of mankind, contemporaneous with the belief that only three continents existed.[1] Etymologically, their collective term, 'magi', originally referred to 'skilled magicians, astrologers'. 'Magi' comes from the Latin magus, Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos, 'one of the members of the learned and priestly class'), and ultimately from Old Persian magush. It is from this same root do we also get the words 'magic', 'mage', and the Harry Potter term, 'animagus'. In other words, the esoteric knowledge held by these learned individuals, whether scholars or priests, lent to the belief that they could manipulate nature, and thus perform supernatural acts. Regardless of their propensity to actually perform 'magical' acts, magi embody the adage: 'knowledge is power'.
Olusoga, David, Black and British: A Forgotten History (London: Macmillan, 2016). l. 1294.