Taking it all down and our Boxing Day tradition

We leave our Christmas Decorations up for 12 Days after Christmas that means that everything gets packed up by the end of the day on the 6th of January. Until about 25 odd seconds ago I thought that was the start of Candlemas. But my Internet research has just revealed that it isn't. :-) So what I was brought up to believe was that the 7th was the start of Candlemas and that if you had any decorations still hanging about your home on that day that bad spirits would find them and you would have bad luck because of it. I didn't necessarily believe it but it was a good reason to have a set date. :-) Plus in this tiny house I get sick of the fuss and the busyness not to mention the imposing nature of our tree after a relatively short time so the 6th is really about my limit.

NB: Candlemas is actually dated as 40 days from the Nativity so therefore the 2nd of February. I think that the 6th of January date may come from the alternative date of the Nativity as believed by some Christians as in Russia where 'Christmas Day' is the 6th. They celebrate their Candlemas on the 14th of February. Religion is not my thing so don't quote me on this though, ok.

This from good old Wikipedia...

"Down with the rosemary, and so

Down with the bays and mistletoe;

Down with the holly, ivy, all,

Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas Hall"

Robert Herrick (1591–1674), "Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve"

As the poem by Robert Herrick records, the eve of Candlemas was the day on which Christmas decorations of greenery were removed from people's homes; for traces of berries, holly and so forth will bring death among the congregation before another year is out. Another tradition holds that anyone who hears funeral bells tolling on Candlemas will soon hear of the death of a close friend or relative; each toll of the bell represents a day that will pass before the unfortunate news is learned.

Last year on Boxing Day Kieran and I and at times Finlay watched a huge Dr Who marathon on Prime... this year much to our disappointment they didn't do that. We had planned to have a DVD watching day so we could also just relax and have a cruisy relaxing day but that didn't happen either instead we just fumbled about doing what ever took our fancy. I think that may have been my fault as I went to download the Christmas Day photos from the camera and ended up filling the Hard drive. That meant I spent the rest of the day weeding it out and freeing up some much needed GB! There's still more to go but I am getting there.

♥