New Year's-Sylvester

The twelfth day of Christmas is celebrated and commemorates the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem. It is an official holiday in Germany and Austria and is celebrated in other parts of the world. I remember as a child, nothing was taken down until after this celebration.

The Kings, Caspar, Melchior and Balthsar, became the stars of re-enactments in the 16th century where a procession would carry the gifts and go from door to door singing songs and prayers. This evolved and was combined with the pagan practice of writing over doorways as a way to protect the household. See below:

 Wherever Three King’s Day is observed, you will find a special bread.  This bread is a cluster of rolls arranged to resemble a crown.  The crown is sweetened with citrus and is often bedazzled with raisins.  The bread often contains a treat  baked in. If you’re lucky enough to encounter a small king,  a baby Jesus, or a coin baked into your serving of Three King’s cake, you may find yourself declared king or queen of the day and endowed with various (small) privileges. 

The remains supposed to be those of the Three Kings had lain in Constantinople until 344, when they were brought to Milan. In 1164, however, after suppressing a Milanese rebellion, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I ("Barbarossa") decided Cologne would be a more fit resting place for such sacred relics. In 1248, around the ‘Three Kings' new golden reliquary, the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe began to rise, and would take over 600 years to finish. In 1864, the reliquary's contents were examined and found to be three almost complete male skeletons, each significantly different from the others in age, as some legends had suggested.

In about the 16th century, there developed a popular tradition of re-enacting the journey of the Three Wise Men, – wherein a procession would carry a star, crowns, and gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh (or representations thereof) from door to door, singing songs and prayers at each house. 

The Sternsinger tradition resurfaced about 50 years ago, with the star singers collecting charitable donations from house to house in payment for their blessings. Today it is still common to see groups of young star singers in southern Germany and Austria. 

The Sternsingers in the 16th century combined their re-enactment with pagan traditions of writing protective spells over doorways, these Sternsingers (star singers).  Either on Twelfth Night (January 5), the twelfth day of Christmastide and eve of the feast of the Epiphany, or on Epiphany Day (January 6) itself, many Christians (including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, among others) chalk their doors with a pattern: "20 † C † M † B † 25", with the numbers referring "to the calendar year".   The crosses stand for Christ; and the letters have a two-fold significance: C, M and B are the initials for the traditional names of the Magi (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar), but they are also an abbreviation of the Latin blessing Christus mansionem benedicat, which means, May Christ bless this house.

Rauhnächte is a pagan practice of the early heathen Germanic tribes. It translates to translates to "the twelve nights of Christmas" in English. It takes place in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Tirol during the end of December and the beginning of January. Solstice during these times was not one evening, but actually a series of twelve nights (called hairy and or smoky nights, smokey because the spirits of the house was ‘smoked’ out during this time (January 5) and hairy because winter demons were often furry, scarry creatures). The twelve days of Rauhnächte were often thought to be outside of time when the solar and lunar years could re-synchronize. Smack in the middle of this time was the night of the god Wotan’s wild hung, a time to misbehave and celebrate.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Almonds- blanched, peeled, ground

• 3 large Egg Whites- room temperature (use fresh eggs)

• 4 tsp. Almond Extract or 2 tsp Almond Extract plus 1 Tbl. Rosewater

• 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1.     Grind the almonds in a food processor until they resemble a fine powder (Don’t overgrind, it will turn into almond butter!). You can also buy ground almonds.

2.     In a bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.

3.     Add the Almond extract and rosewater (if desired).

4.     Sift in 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, kneading the mass in the bowl after each addition.

5.     Then add just enough of the last cup of powdered sugar to form a smooth, pliable dough that isn’t too sticky.

6.     Divide the dough into portions and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

7.     Keep refrigerated in an airtight container up to 8 weeks.

8.     You can shape this marzipan into any shape you want. Use a form or freehand!