Two or three weeks ago we decorated our church — a couple of days ago, we un-decorated our church. This got me to thinking… when is the “proper” time to take down Christmas decorations? In our house, Claire thinks sometime around Easter is about right. Obviously when Christmas decorations are removed is entirely a personal preference, but there seems to be a long standing tradition (since the Victorian era) that decorations be removed on the Twelfth Night. Christmas was traditionally a 12 day celebration, beginning on December 25. So decorations should be removed on January 6 — or maybe January 5. There’s some disagreement as to the date because if you count Christmas, the Twelfth Night would be January 5, but some people say it’s January 6 because it is the 12th day after Christmas. But tradition says Twelfth Night — January 5 or 6 — and whichever date you choose, a day sooner or later is considered unlucky and if decorations are not removed on Twelfth Night, they should stay up all year according to the tradition.
Before all the commercialized glitter, tinsel and lights became popular, people decorated for Christmas using greenery, like holly and ivy. It was a popular belief then that tree-spirits lived in the greenery and during the festive season the decorative greenery provided shelter for these spirits, but once Christmas was over, they needed to be released outside — and if they weren’t, greenery would not return and vegetation wouldn’t grow, causing agricultural and food problems. Some people still take down decorations on the 6th — I guess there’s no sense taking a chance with the tree spirits.
So if you’ve already taken down your Christmas decorations, good for you. And if you choose to leave them up until Easter, good for you.
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