Why You Need Los Reyes in Your Life this Holiday Season

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After the 25th of December, for most of America, the holiday is over. But for many of us, we’ve only just begun.

You ever wonder what the “12 Days of Christmas” actually Are? Well, Jan 6th is not just the last acceptable day to take down the tree and house lights. It is the day of The Epiphany, otherwise known as El Dia de los Tres Reyes, or Three Kings Day. In various places throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, this is THE climactic final scene of the holiday movie.  

Allow me to make the case on why you should broaden your horizons to the best crew in the Christmasverse. Los Reyes are the mero meros, los jefes, los mayimbes, los patrones, los gallos of the season, and here are 5 reasons why these three kings should be the new centerpiece of your holiday.

The Three "Wise Guys." Close, but the originals are more boss. 

1 - The Kings keep the party going: Like I mentioned before - there are TWELVE days of Christmas, from Dec 25th THROUGH Jan 6th, the day recognized as the arrival of the Kings to the swaddled savior of man.  The holiday literally isn’t over until after these cats show up to the party, and that means you don’t have to lose that festive feeling either, even if the 26th means you have to go back to work. That’s 12 more days of celebratory dinners with friends and family, and of my favorite holiday drink - coquito.

2 - The Kings were actually there: Mr. Claus didn’t come into the picture until a couple of hundred years after the birth of Jesus. The Kings (or Magi as some call them) where there, in real time (give or take a week and a half). They were the early adopters of the new operating system - Santa didn’t show till after it went mainstream.

3 - The Kings are SMART: It wasn’t unexplainable magic that brought the kings together - it was their intelligence. They followed the stars, sensing that a major celestial event was upon them. They set out to investigate, not knowing what they’d find, and open to any possibility. In a world of Christian-fundamentalist anti-intellectualism, the Kings represent the idea that you can be a scholar and a Christian. Also... They don’t live in isolation playing around with elves.

4 - The Kings are diverse: the Three kings are often represented as coming from Arabia, Persia, and India. Their physical representations often have them with different skin tones and features. I believe that “Los Reyes” are popular in Latin America because it allows children to see a bit of themselves in the story of Christmas, especially since most of the images of the nativity have lightened the hue of the main characters quite a bit over the last few millennia.

Puppets During Annual 3 Kings Parade in El Barrio, NY

5 - The Kings give you another chance to get the right gift: There’s nothing as stressful as realizing that you missed something from the kid’s wish list that they absolutely deserve, or worse yet - that you got your loved one a gift where the reaction was less than stellar.  Three Kings Day gives you the opportunity to make things right and gives you a whole 12 days to do it, and take advantage of the post-Christmas sales.  If you need any more of a reason, the whole idea of gift giving during Christmas actually comes from the gold, frankincense, and myrrh the Reyes brought with them. Jesus didn’t get anything the day he was born. Good things truly come to those who wait.

Now that you know why you should be celebrating the Three Kings, here’s a quick primer on how to go about it. There are many traditions, especially in Latin America. I’ll just share what we do at my home.

On the night of the 5th, we usually have family & friends over for dinner. For dessert, we have a sweet bread-like cake called Roscón de Reyes (or Rosca de Reyes) with a tiny plastic baby Jesus (or bean) hidden in a slice. This inedible addition to the cake would make the person who picked the slice “king for the day.” And get to do special things like wear a crown, or get the first pick of the candy.  Truth be told I have no clue how to make un roscón, so we go to the bakery for that.  We’ll have some friends over with kids, and over wine and appetizers for the adults, we’ll help the kids paint and decorate shoe boxes, and fill it with grass or branches from the Christmas tree. This is to represent the grass left for the camels (or horses) of the Reyes as they travel from house to house.

As the boxes dry, I tell the kids the story of Los Reyes, and specifically the story from Puerto Rico. I read a short children’s book called Los Tres Reyes (a caballo) which explains why in Puerto Rico, the three kings are depicted riding horses instead of camels. This seems to be out of print, but another book is Luisito Celebrates Three King's Day

Our guests will leave with their decorated boxes closed, and with an added small bag of candy in each. Then our own boxes are set up near the beds, or under the tree, and we place cassava bread and black coffee (three small cups) in the living room, with a letter from the kids proclaiming how good they’ve been, and adding any noteworthy accomplishments like good grades or deeds done.

The next morning, the boxes are open, the greenery gone, and in its place, some thoughtful presents. Often they are craft-related or a book of some sort - we try to leave the shiny, glitzy stuff for the 25th and keep the 6th non-trendy. If there was a gift we missed, Los Reyes will have surely remembered.  The cassava bread and coffee have been visibly consumed, and a note of thanks left.

You can see Santa hatin' from the corner in his train...

And as the kids enjoy their last bit of holiday, their Papi commences the great tradition of breaking down the decorations and returning to the house to face what lies ahead for the rest of the new year.

There are a lot of traditions, but The Three Kings day is one of my favorites, mostly because it was one we introduced and started for our family, and we hope it will get passed on.  I’ve gotten a few questions from folks on how to bring this tradition into their families, so I hope this has been helpful.  Enjoy, the rest of the holiday season!

Always King of this Castle!