the twelfth day of christmas,
january 5
​
​Link to Twelfth Night Carols

The Feast of John Nepomucene Neumann (Day); Twelfth Night (Evening)

activities

  • Drink some cider or wassail and go wassailing, as is traditional on Twelfth Night.  A thousand recipes for wassail can be found in an online search.
  • Have a white elephant gift exchange with friends/family.
  • Draw straws to find out who is going to be the "Lord/Lady of Misrule" for the day (more fun if it's a child) and waste the day following their suggestions.  Alternatively (as is more traditional), bake a cake with a dried pea in it.  Whoever gets the pea presides over the evening's Twelfth Night festivities.
  • Watch Shakespeare's Twelfth Night​ with friends.  You can find various versions on Youtube (a link to one of these is on the "Literature" tab).  Or read the play with friends, assigning parts.
  • Plant your Christmas Tree in the backyard, or else retire it with honors, maybe singing 'O Tannenbaum' as a dirge with the lyrics changed to past tense.
  • Have breakfast for dinner.
  • Today and tomorrow, do a variation of "Elf on the Shelf" with nativity Wise Men, as they journey to Bethlehem. (thanks to S.D. for this idea!)
​

gift giving

  • Give one of the larger gifts that you did not give at Christmas.
  • Give to an organization that serves the poor in someone's name, in order to remember John Nepomucene Neumann (and ultimately Christ).
  • NO CASH OPTION: Give someone a "white elephant gift" (hopefully in the context of an exchange where the other person is cued in to the fact that you are not giving each other serious presents).