Theophany, "the appearing of God", is the Orthodox name for the feast of 6 January in its Eastern focus: the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan by John, at which, in the Gospel accounts, the voice of the Father is heard and the Spirit descends as a dove, so that the whole Trinity is manifested, hence "Theophany". It is one of the twelve Great Feasts and, with Pascha and Pentecost, one of the most solemn.
Its central action is the Great Blessing of the Waters, performed twice, in church on the eve and often outdoors on the day itself at a river, spring or sea. The blessing understands Christ's descent into the Jordan as sanctifying water itself and, through it, the whole material creation; the faithful take home the blessed water for the year, and homes are blessed with it. In cold countries the outdoor rite, with a cross cast into and retrieved from icy water and sometimes a plunge by the devout, is among the most vivid public expressions of Orthodoxy. The feast thus makes a theological point tangible: that the incarnation reaches down into matter, and that ordinary water can be a bearer of grace.