January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany.

I am most grateful to whoever tweeted the link to my 2014 post ‘Why the Epiphany is so important — a Lutheran perspective’ on Thursday, January 5, 2023. I received 743 Twitter referrals and the post had 852 views. As I write this in the late morning on Friday, I have had 175 Twitter referrals and the post has had 202 views. Many thanks — greatly appreciated!

The source for that post’s content comes from St Paul’s Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) in Kingsville, Maryland. Their explanation is a good précis of the revelation that occurred when the Magi arrived to visit the Christ Child, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Magi were Gentiles, which is significant, because it foreshadowed that non-Jews would be welcomed into the Church.

These are the readings for January 6:

Epiphany — Old Testament reading — Isaiah 60:1-6 (2017)

Epiphany — Epistle — Ephesians 3:1-12 (2016)

Epiphany — Gospel — Matthew 2:1-12 (2016)

These posts offer further reflections on the importance of this feast day:

A Lutheran pastor reflects on the Epiphany

More Lutheran reflections on the Epiphany

A Lutheran perspective on the Magi

The Epiphany and the Bible

Jesuit astronomer discusses the Star of Bethlehem (2016)

What to remember about Epiphany (2016)

Some Christians mark their doorway with the initials of the Three Kings every year on this day:

Remembering the Epiphany in chalk

Then we come to traditions that are celebrated at this time of year.

These posts have to do with English celebrations, marking the end of the traditional 12-day Christmas period and signalling a return to work:

St Distaff’s Day — Distaff Day: January 7

Plough Monday – first Monday after Epiphany

The English tradition of Plough Monday (2016)

Plough Monday — the Monday after Epiphany (2017)

And, of course, there are sweet treats to eat, such as king cake, which is popular in New Orleans:

Epiphany and king cake — a history

This brings me to Spain, where Epiphany overshadows Christmas as the main gift giving day, a tradition that has carried through to Spanish-speaking countries in Latin and South America.

Cities, towns and villages hold their own Three Kings Parade, La Cabalgata de Reyes, which takes place on the evening of January 5.

El Rincón del Tandém, the Spanish School in Valencia, explains Spain’s Epiphany traditions, beginning with children’s letters to the Three Kings, the Magi (emphases mine):

As with Father Christmas, in many countries a letter is also written to ask the Three Wise Men for presents. It is common for children to write this letter at school on the last days of school and give it to their parents so that they can pass it on to the Three Wise Men.

Parents take their children’s letters to the Three Kings Parade so that they can pass them on to the kings or their pages:

This is another of the Spanish traditions related to Three Kings Day. It is a parade of floats in which the people on the floats throw sweets, candies and some toys to the children who come to see them. In addition to this, the Three Wise Men ride on the most sumptuous floats to remind the children to be good and go home early. Alongside the floats of the Three Wise Men are the pages, who collect the letters from the children who were late in sending them. If you live in Valencia, don’t miss the Three Kings Parade!

Camels often feature in the parades, at least in Spain, because these beasts of burden are what the Wise Men used.

It is, therefore, important to ensure that the camels receive food and water at home after the parade. The Wise Men could use a treat, too. Children also put out their shoes, receptacles for their presents:

Among the traditions, which vary from country to country, food is given to the camels and the Three Kings. In Spain they are given a plate with milk and nougat and in Latin America it is cut grass inside a shoebox. All this so that both the camels and the Three Wise Men can have a snack after a long night of handing out presents.

There is also a king cake for family and friends to enjoy, the Roscón de Reyes:

This is a round-shaped cake, filled with cream and covered with candied fruit. You are sure to see it in all bakeries and pastry shops. Inside it hides a figure of a wise man and a bean. According to the tradition of each town in Spain, whoever gets the Wise Man becomes king for a day and everyone must pay homage to him and do what he/she asks for. If you get the bean, then you have to pay for the roscón.

Spain Is Culture has more.

Some towns have special postmen who collect and deliver the children’s letters. Children:

can either give the letter to the Wise Men personally when they arrive “officially” on 5 January, or to the emissaries and royal postmen to be found in the centre of all Spanish towns a few days before. They will be asked if they have been good at school and at home, because naughty children get left coal instead of presents. Although, in truth, it is a “sweet” punishment because the coal is made of sugar.

Everyone enjoys the parade:

When the long-awaited day finally arrives, the whole family come out onto the street to receive the Wise Men. They arrive with a traditional parade, riding through the streets on their camels, loaded with presents and accompanied by royal pages who throw sweets and goodies to the children. One by one, the delightful floats pass by, decorated with bright colours and inspired in popular children’s characters. The little ones will love them. All the while, a band brings joy to the celebration with Christmas songs and carols. The spectacle of joy, light and colour, combined with the smiles of the children, make for a feeling of complete happiness.

There are parades celebrated all over Spain on this day. Each has its own particular style, depending on where you are. In Barcelona, for example, the Three Wise Men arrive by sea, while in the village of Alarilla, in Guadalajara, they are daring enough to arrive by hang-glider and paraglider. Or why not see the parade in Alcoi, Alicante, the oldest in Spain?

Yes, we’ll get to the parade in Alcoi in a moment.

When the parade ends:

children go to bed early but excited, to wait for Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar to come in through the window and leave presents in their shoes. First they should put water and bread on the windowsill for the camels to eat and drink while the Wise Men do their work.

EuroWeekly had a January 4 announcement for the 2023 parade in Palma, Mallorca, complete with a photo of the Three Kings on a balcony waving to the crowd:

The Three Kings is the main Christmas period celebration of the year in Spain and the celebrations in Mallorca are magnificent and most certainly a spectacle to enjoy if you are visiting at this time of year.

The Three Kings is a celebration of the arrival of Balthazar, Caspar and Melchior in Bethlehem to see baby Jesus, and is enjoyed all over Spain with a street parade, known in Spanish as a “Cabalgata de Reyes”, on the evening of January 5, with the first-ever parade that was recorded being in 1876 in Alicante.

Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar, aboard the period boat, Rafael Verdera, will disembark at around 6:00.PM at the Moll Vell. Once ashore, they will walk through the streets of the city accompanied by their floats and troupes.

Spanish Sabores has a first-hand account, complete with photos, from Lauren Aloise, who attended a Cabalgata de Reyes in 2012. The Kings and their pages throw wrapped hard candies from the floats:

La Cabalgata in El Puerto was probably one of the most fun parades I’ve ever been to. It wins the award for most dangerous too! The candy throwing was intense, and I was lucky to escape with only a few light bruises and my camera still intact …

Spaniards take this parade seriously. Everyone comes with big, empty plastic bags, hoping to fill them to the brim with candy. A few die-hard spectators bring an umbrella and turn it inside out– cheating if you ask me, but it seems to be effective. I heard teenage girls strategizing about how to catch the most candy, and Ale almost got knocked out when trying to retrieve a treat that had landed on the ground next to him. You’ll need to protect your face from the candies that the Kings throw at you at full speed, and I wouldn’t recommend bringing a very good camera (I had my old point and shoot thank goodness!) …

The candy they give away is kind of gross, and you have to fight to the death to catch it. I caught two by accident (they got lodged in my scarf) but I’m just not a lemon and orange hard candy kind of girl. That said, the challenge of catching the candy that comes your way (and not getting hit in the eye) is kind of fun. I was laughing the entire time!

Overall, I really enjoyed La Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos and if the weather is ever as nice as it was this year, I’d definitely consider going again. My advice: be alert, and protect your face and possessions. Remember, it’s just candy, and although it’s free it’s not worth fighting for. Have fun!

It’s a Spanish version of a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, as floats also represent popular cartoon characters of the day, including those from Disney.

A 2019 post from Andalucia Tours and Discovery says:

This parade is very popular, because not only The Three Kings will be there, but also other characters, like Spongebob, Aladdin, and some other Disney figures. You also see a lot of dancers, musicians, and puppeteers. The Kings ride on camels or elaborate floats and throw goodies, usually candy or sweets, down to the children.

In Seville, this tradition also starts at the 5th of January. The parade of that day will start at 16:15 at the University of Sevilla, The old Tobacco Factory. Then, the parade will end around 22:00 at the University again.

The parade of 2019 will be composed of 33 floats, seven musical groups, six hosts of Bedouins as well as a choir of bells.

Devour Tours also has a good overview of January 5 and 6, particularly the food. Their post is from 2022:

The Three Wise Men have been honored in various European countries since the Middle Ages. When the tradition of Santa Claus bringing gifts to children on Christmas Day became popular in some countries centuries ago, Spain followed suit, but used los reyes magos as the gift-bringers instead.

In recent years, some Spanish families have begun to embrace the Santa tradition as well. As a result, some children get gifts on both December 25 and January 6. However, Three Kings Day is easily the more important of the two, and the day when just about everyone in Spain will be in the gift-giving spirit …

Throughout the holiday season, Spanish families enjoy multiple feasts that last for hours. Three Kings Day is no different. After opening the gifts from los reyes magos, it’s time to enjoy an elaborate lunch comprised of multiple courses and plenty of post-meal chatter, known as sobremesa.

A typical Three Kings Day lunch in Spain will likely start with some appetizers such as cheese and cured meats. The main course can vary depending on where you are in the country, but expect something hearty and filling, usually meat or seafood based. Just be sure to save room for dessert: the almighty roscón …

The roscón de reyes is notoriously difficult to make at home and takes a long time. As a result, most people outsource theirs to the experts. Starting in the fall, bakeries throughout Spain see thousands of orders for roscones from locals eager to reserve theirs in time.

As for when to eat the roscón, that depends on who you ask. Some families dig into theirs as soon as they get home from the Three Kings Day parade on January 5. Others have it for breakfast on the morning of the 6th, and still others hold off until afternoon on Three Kings Day to have it for merienda, or the midday snack around 6 p.m.

Roscones can come in several different varieties, all of them delicious. Some are plain and come without any filling. Others contain fresh whipped cream, chocolate truffle cream, or even candied spaghetti squash (it’s better than it sounds!).

Now we get to the 2023 controversy in Alcoi, or Alcoy, in Valencia.

On January 3, The Times reported of an activist group’s objections to the portrayal of Balthazar by the locals:

The events, which mark the end of Christmas and the day when people exchange gifts for the festive season, still often feature people wearing blackface to represent Balthazar, the magus traditionally depicted as black in Christian lore.

In several towns, such as Igualada in Catalonia and Alcoy in Valencia, hundreds of Balthazar’s assistants or “pages”, also wear blackface.

Opposition has grown in recent years but the practice persists, sparking renewed calls for a ban. “It doesn’t matter what you think you’re trying to represent. It doesn’t matter that you think it makes kids happy. It doesn’t matter if it’s a tradition. If you paint yourself a colour that’s not yours, it’s racist,” Elvira Swartch Lorenzo said. She is a member of Afrofeminas, an anti-racism group that has campaigned against the tradition.

“The cabalgata contributes to normalising in the collective imagination the slave period as something harmless and without consequences,” she said. “The black faces that walk through the Spanish streets, our very presence, is a consequence of the slave and colonial past that is not studied in schools.”

Except that Balthazar was a very wealthy and highly learned man. He brought myrrh to the Christ Child, used in embalming and signifying His death to come.

The controversy began nationwide a few years ago and has involved more towns than Alcoi. Locals are appointed to portray Balthazar and his pages:

“It’s not a question of racism,” Eduard Creus, the spokesman for the private foundation that organises the parade, told La Vanguardia newspaper. He said several measures were being studied to respond to the criticism, including appointing a black person to play Baltazhar.

“Groups of people of African descent have approached the foundation offering to look for and hire pages, but ours are not theatrical performances,” he added. “Volunteering transmits the magic feeling of the occasion.”

In 2019, a Catalan television station refused to continue to broadcast Igualada’s parade, opting for another one that did not use blackface volunteers. The same year anti-racism groups reported that their campaign had led to a reduction to one in four parades using blackface Baltazhars. Last year a senior official from Spain’s equality ministry criticised Alicante city hall for featuring a blackface Baltazhar.

Activists also object to camels being used:

Afrofeminas has called for a boycott of Alcoy’s parade, which is the oldest in Spain dating to 1885, but its appeal appears to have fallen on deaf ears. However, a petition by an animal rights group demanding that camels not be used in the event attracted more than 77,000 signatures.

But that’s what camels are for. They are beasts of burden. They always have been.

I don’t know what to say, other than that the activists don’t know the story of the Magi, one of the most beautiful in the New Testament.

Matthew does not give us specifics about the Wise Men, Three Kings or Magi — whatever one prefers to call these brilliant men who followed a star for many months, probably a year or more, in order to find their final destination.

Wikipedia’s entry on Biblical Magi states that the origin of their names came from a 5th century document in the first instance:

The online version of Encyclopædia Britannica states: “According to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia or sometimes Ethiopia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India.”^[23]These names apparently derive from a Greek manuscript probably composed in Alexandria around 500, which has been translated into Latin with the title Excerpta Latina Barbari.^[19]Another Greek document from the 8th century, of presumed Irish origin and translated into Latin with the title Collectanea et Flores, continues the tradition of three kings and their names and gives additional details.^[24][25]

Also:

In the Western Christian church, they have all been regarded as saints …

It does seem as if activists, who probably know nothing about the Bible, are hell bent on destroying Christian traditions.

I cannot think of a better way of getting children interested in the New Testament than during the Christmas season, ending with Epiphany. The Nativity story is a beautiful, albeit humble, one and it shows that people from all nations are welcome in God’s kingdom through belief in His Son, Jesus Christ.