Epiphanytide in the context of "Christmastide"

A Christmas decoration is any of several types of ornamentation used at Christmas and the greater Christmas and holiday season. Typical images on Christmas decorations include Baby Jesus, Mother Mary, angels, Father Christmas, Santa Claus, and the star of Bethlehem. Advent wreaths, nativity scenes, illuminations, and Moravian stars are popular Christmas decorations.

In many countries, such as Sweden, people start to set up their Advent and Christmas decorations on the first day of Advent. Liturgically, this is done in some parishes through a Hanging of the Greens ceremony. In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas decorations are removed are Twelfth Night and if they are not taken down on that day, Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations. Taking down Christmas decorations before Twelfth Night, as well as leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas, is historically considered to be inauspicious.

The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as the Twelve Days of Christmastide, are the festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity.

Christmas Day is the First Day. The Twelve Days are 25 December to 5 January, counting first and last. The Octave, or Eighth Day, is New Year's Day and the Feast of the Circumcision, the day Jesus was circumcised in accordance with the Jewish faith. The evening of the last day of the Twelve Days of Christmastide is Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve, with the next morning being Epiphany, which commences the season of Epiphanytide in certain traditions.

Twelfth Night (also known as Epiphany Eve depending upon the tradition) is a Christian festival on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas, marking the coming of the Epiphany. Different traditions mark the date of Twelfth Night as either 5 January or 6 January, depending on whether the counting begins on Christmas Day or 26 December. January 6 is celebrated as the feast of Epiphany, which begins the Epiphanytide season.

A superstition in some English-speaking countries suggests it is unlucky to leave Christmas decorations hanging after Twelfth Night, a tradition also variously attached to Candlemas (which marks the end of Epiphanytide on 2 February), as well as Good Friday, Shrove Tuesday, and Septuagesima. Other popular customs include eating king cake, singing Christmas carols, chalking the door, having one's house blessed, merrymaking, and attending church services.

Epiphany (/əˈpɪfəni/ ə-PIF-ə-nee), also known as Theophany in Eastern Christian tradition, is a Christian feast day commemorating the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana.

In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus Christ's physical manifestation to the Gentiles. It is sometimes called Three Kings' Day, and in some traditions celebrated as Little Christmas. Moreover, the feast of the Epiphany, in some denominations, also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphanytide.

An illumination is an Advent, Christmastide, and Epiphanytide decoration in the form of a lighted candle originating in the Moravian Church. These lighted candles are placed in the windows of Moravian Christian churches and homes in the evening with the symbolism to "guide the footsteps of the infant Jesus" to their settlements. Diane Frantz, a Moravian librarian explicated this, stating that "the Christ child bearing bundles of evergreens wanders all over the world. Those who long for his coming set a lighted candle in the window to welcome him into their home and hearts." Illuminations are first erected on the First Sunday of Advent and are traditionally removed at the end of the Christmastide-Epiphanytide season, which is historically Candlemas. Illuminations are popular in Moravian settlements such as Old Salem, Bethlehem and Lititz, though this custom has spread among the membership of other Christian denominations. In the Moravian town of Herrnhaag, due to the abundance of illuminations there "it appeared from Budingen as though the whole hilltop were a single sea of flames." Brought by Moravian missionaries from Saxony to Bethlehem, illuminations were first used in North America as early as 1741. Though illuminations are traditionally lighted candles, in the modern day, these can be electric candles.

A Moravian star (German: Herrnhuter Stern) is an illuminated decoration used during the Christian liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany representing the Star of Bethlehem pointing towards the infant Jesus. The Moravian Church teaches:

The Moravian star is popular in places where there are Moravian Christian congregations world wide. The stars take their English name from the Moravian Church, originating in Moravia. In Germany, they are known as Herrnhut stars, named after the Moravian Mother Community in Saxony, Germany, where they were first commercially produced. With the rise of ecumenism, the use of the Moravian star has spread beyond the Moravian Church to other Christian denominations, such as the Lutheran Church and Catholic Church, as well as the Methodist Church.

The hanging of the greens is a Western Christian ceremony in which many congregations and people adorn their churches, as well as other buildings (such as a YWCA or university), with Advent and Christmas decorations. This is done on or directly before the start of the Advent season, in preparation for Christmastide. The service involves the placement of evergreen vegetation in the parish. Items such as the evergreen wreath, in Christianity, carry the religious symbolism of everlasting life, a theological concept within that faith. As such, during the liturgy, "Biblical passages and other readings help explain the significance of the holly, the cedar, the Advent wreath, the Chrismon tree, and any other special decorations". Christmas trees are frequently erected during the hanging of the greens, although they are sometimes left bare until Christmas Eve.

Outside of a formal liturgy, in many countries, such as Sweden, people start to set up their Advent and Christmas decorations on the first day of Advent. In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas decorations are removed are Twelfth Night, and if they are not taken down on that day, Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations. Leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas is historically considered to be inauspicious.