Epiphany and Twelfth Night Divinations

Epiphany or Twelfth Night falls on the 12th day of Christmas, Jan 5. Here are some old divinations and predictions for this night.

If a Danish girl wishes to see her future husband, she must repeat the following verse before going to bed on the eve of Epiphany: “Ye three holy kings to you I pray, That ye to-night will let me see, Whose cloth I shall spread, Whose bed I shall make, Whose name I shall bear, Whose bride I shall be.”

Here are some more:

• Whatever is dreamed during the twelfths will come to pass in the twelve months of the year.
• Those who wear linen made from yarn spun during the twelfths will be devoured by wolves.
• On twelfth-night in Scotland a board is covered with cow’s dung, candles set in it, and sprinkled with ash to make them light easily. They are then lighted, each being named for someone present, and as each dies, so will the life of the owner.
• The twelve days after Christmas make the almanac for the year.
• Tis thus believed in Trinity Bay, New Bedford, Mass., and Nova Scotia. In Nova Scotia it is said that the first seven days of January foretell the first seven months of the year.