Saturday, 5 January 2013

Day 5. Twelfth night.

This has been my favourite tree
According to tradition, all Christmas decorations should be taken down by the end of Twelfth Night, January 5th, or they must stay up for the rest of the year to prevent bad luck. It was believed that the foliage, originally used to decorate homes during the festive period, contained tree-spirits that needed protection during the harsh mid-winter. However if they weren't released back into the countryside not only would they wreak havoc in the house in which they remained but the vegetation would fail to grow come Spring and agriculture would suffer.

In this region, working the land is a mainstay of the economy so down they come and let's hope 2013 is a prosperous year for Norfolk's farming community.

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