martes, 5 de enero de 2010

Los Reyes Magos - Three Wise Men (also referred to as the Three Kings, and as the Magi)



Tomorrow is one of the most important Christmas Spanish traditions and when Christmas will be over in my country.

One of the most entrenched traditions in the Spanish culture is the celebration of the king’s night, when children and adults are filled with illusions and hopes. The Cavalcade is a parade on each January 5th (today) that is carried out in large and small cities in Spain. It is to represent the route that toured the Magi from Bethlehem to find baby Jesus following the star which pointed the way.
Tonight we will go to follow the parade to see the Three wise man and to receive sweets from them.
Before going to sleep, children (of course we too) put some milk (or wine for the kings), biscuits next to the Christmas tree and some water for their camels. We also leave out our best pair of shoes to be filled with presents.
:)

But few days before, children helped by adults, write a letter to the Kings of The Orient (the three wise man), in which they detail, more or less, their behavior during the year (although the Kings already know) and which reflect their illusions and yearnings for the New Year. Also they write the gifts they want to receive. Closed the letter with really excitment, it's time to deliver it to the Kings. The letter can reach their Majesties by different paths. The first was delivered by hand to royal page, one of the most funs, beautiful and exciting. . The king’s pages mounted the stage in which Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar receive children to take their letters and hear what gifts they want to receive, after verifying that they have behaved well and have been good. My son did it yesterday...

Tomorrow, 6 January children wake up (believe when I say sooo early in the morning)and see how many presents they have received. If they have been good, they will find a lot of good presents but if they have been naughty they will find coal. These days, the coal is actually made of sugar, but some years ago it was real coal.

During this day, all families enjoy a piece of roscon (a sugar-frosted fruit-filled bread) for breakfast or as a lunch dessert. The tradition says that the person who finds a novelty such as a small china (normally one of the Kings) in his or her portion can wear the crown an will have good luck for the next year but if you find a "bean" you must pay "The Roscón".

All of us (kids and adults) enjoy opening their presents on this day, but sadly it also marks the end of Christmas.

The Kings night is one of my best memories of my chilhood, absolutely exciting.

Tomorrow some pictures... :)

12 comentarios:

Sans! dijo...

This is such a nice post. I love reading about traditions I don't know about. Love the costumes of the 3 wise men, Eva, and it is a great change from the usual Santa Claus. Yu know, with the turbans, they actually looked like they belong in my palace..lol!

Isn't "magi" a wizard? We use the word magi when we play dungeons and dragons games. :)

TINK - SONIA dijo...

Hola Eva,para mi también es un dia super especial y los que tenemos peques lo disfrutamos con más ilusión todavía.Este año estoy ya echando de menos el Belen de tu papi,besicos.

Noelia dijo...

Hola Eva!
Gracias por tu visita!
Que tengas un muy feliz año, lleno de artesanías :-) y no olvides de poner los zapatitos hoy!!!! :-)

Besos,
Noe.

Eva dijo...

Sans, perhaps magi is no the correct word. The translations is very difficult for me, perhaps wizard is more close to the Spanish word but it no exact :)

Ascension dijo...

Espero que hayas sido mas buena que yo y te hayan traido los Reyes muchos regalitos, aunque no te puedes quejar, que te llegan de todos los sitios del mundo jejejejee.Por algo sera.......muchos besitos preciosa.ascension

Anónimo dijo...

Thank you so much for sharing this tradition. This is one of the wonderful things about blogging that you can learn about other traditions and festivals around the world. I hope your King's Night was wonderful and that the next day was a very happy one and that your shoes are full. We also use the term "Magi" when refferring to the three kings in our church. We call this Epiphany.

cockerina dijo...

Eva Hola, como estás?? Usted ha pasado unas buenas vacaciones?
Me fui de su blog para desearle un feliz Año Nuevo!
Caterina

desde my ventana dijo...

Hola Eva,gracias por visitar mi blog y por tus amables palabras,me alegro de conocerte y conocer tu blog.Yo seguiré también tus entradas.

Te deseo un feliz finde,

DMV

Catherine dijo...

Nice header Eva. Good week end catherine

Viajes y Rutas dijo...

Ehhh ya solo escribes en inglés?
:-( (Bueno menos mal que lo entiendo, lo que me cuesta es escribirlo) Muy guapo tu nene, cuantos años tiene?
Besos
Carmen

Catherine dijo...

HI Eva! do you have snow in Spain? bonne soirée Catherine

Nati dijo...

Hola Eva, entro principalmente para desearte feliz año con retraso pero con mucho cariño, el retraso se debe a que he tenido y tengo un montón de lio.
Sigues haciendo cosas bellas e increibles.
te deseo lo mejor a tí y a tu pequeña familia lo mejor para todos los días de vuestras vidas.
Besos Nati.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...