the epiphany cake or a short lesson in etymology and religious history

I have recently taken to the kitchen again and revived my love for making things - and being flat broke most of these days being able to make nice food yourselves helps to keep the spirits up ;-)) and yesterday I remembered that today is epiphany. as far as I know this is not really something that is celebrated in the anglo-saxon culture - but in switzerland it is; we also call epiphany the '3 kings day' and I bet you that if you went out on the street and asked people what this celebration was all about nobody could tell you. however, it is a tradition that on 6th january you buy an 'epiphany cake' - no it is not a cake which will bring about an epiphany after eating it! it comes in the shape of a flower with one big bun in the middle and several small ones around the outside. each person chooses one bun and whoever gets the little plastic king which is hidden inside one of the buns gets to be king or queen for the day - and that's what 'celebration' is all about.

so anyway - yesterday I suddenly remembered that it has been years that I haven't had one of those cakes - which in fact are more like a sweet bread with raisins and almonds than a cake - but never mind. 3 kings bread just wouldn't sound as exciting as 'cake' - makes it more special. and I guess living in a culture that is different from mine makes me want to celebrate these little things - and it's also always a good excuse to gather some friends together and share moments.

on the flipside the good thing about following your traditions when people around you don't know what you're talking about is that it makes you investigate what they are all about and what their history is. I knew that epiphany was obviously linked to the birth of jesus - at the very least since 'monthy phyton's life of brian' we all know about the three kings that came to jesus' crib to present their gifts. but I was always under the impression that they arrived there on christmas; the night he was born - I was not aware that there is a separate celebration of the declaration of jesus as god's son; but that's what the dictionary says:

1. Epiphany a. A Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. b. January 6, on which this feast is traditionally observed. 2. A revelatory manifestation of a divine being. 3a. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something. b. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: “I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself” (Frank Maier). [www.bartleby.com]

as to the meaning of the word: as described above it is another word for revelation. I wonder whether it is linked to the declaration of jesus as divine? maybe, maybe not - the etymological meaning of the word is this:

Middle English epiphanie, from Old French, from Late Latin epiphania, from Greek epiphaneia, manifestation, from epiphainesthai, to appear : epi-, forth; see epi– + phainein, phan-, to show; see bh-1 [www.bartleby.com]

and now I know more or less why I baked that cake and why in switzerland we celebrate epiphany and what the background of this tradition is (there is probably a whole lot more to it; it would be interesting to explore the pagan meaning of this celebration if there is one - for instance today is also ethiopian christmas - so there must be more to this than I could find out in half an hour on the internet) - and if the local radio station stopped me in the street and asked me what we were celebrating, at least I would pass the test ;-))

but even after all this - what I am most interested in still is to find out what my cake tastes like - I hope it's as divine as its history...