Epiphany (holiday) Epiphany holy water. Sometimes people desire to have this blessing for themselves as well. Winning the Epiphany race is a great honor for both horse and rider, while the post-race celebrations, win or not, are highly festive. As in other Orthodox heritage countries, water rites play a special role on this day. A unique piece of Romanian folk wisdom holds that if a girl slips on ice – or better yet falls into water- on Epiphany, she will surely marry before the year is out. In Transylvania (Erdély/Siebenbürgen), Lutheran and Reformed Christians of Hungarian and Saxon descent celebrate Epiphany with
Epiphany (holiday) any other good things left in the house from Christmas are devoured. Lastly, there is a German rhyme saying, or "Bauernregel", that goes "Ist's bis Dreikönigs kein Winter, kommt keiner dahinter" meaning "If there hasn't been any Winter (weather) until Epiphany, none is coming afterward." Another of these "Bauernregel", (German farmer's rules) for Epiphany states: "Dreikönigsabend hell und klar, verspricht ein gutes Weinjahr" or "If the eve of Epiphany is bright and clear, it foretells a good wine year." In Greece, Cyprus and the Greek diaspora throughout the world, the feast is called the Theophany, or colloquially "Phōta" (, "Lights").