Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Merry Christmas!
Ohh... In my last few posts, I forgot to rundown the full scope of the holidaze that hits us at this time of the year...
Drats.
Oh well - been there, done that!
I direct you to the luminous archives once more - to the time when I "thoroughly analyzed" all the Kwanzaas, Yaldas, Hanukkahs... I only forgot to research Ramadan there, I do believe - but fasting is good for you, so no need to ask why then...!
Also of note: this particularly luminous post, dating back to 2004, where I list my dislikes about this "most jolliest time of the year" - or whatever it is that they call it!
Surely this is Boxing Day-worthy material now - eh?
Now, although I felt like starting early with the sarcastic "Merry Christmas!" posts this year, the actual twelve days of Christmas start on Christmas Day (of course - as well it should be - duh!) and end way past the over-rated New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, ending therefore (if your basic mathematics are sounder than your overall typically holiday-intoxicated brains) on January 6th! That day might be either the legendary day when the 3 wise men visited, finally, or the day of the infant Christ's baptism (according to Catholic instilled-tradition). Either way, the name affixed to that 12th day of Christmas is splendid indeed; for it is Epiphany!
More on this day, as well as on a variety of other holidays, can be found on the main link offered today - these include Dasara, Diwali (a celebration of the slaughtering of a demon - what's not to love about that, eh?), Earth Day (do we really treat the planet as "holy" one bit though? We pollute it so much... So much for Gaia I suppose... But that is another story!)...
They also have Easter, Halloween (some "holy day" this is - HA!), Hanukkah (how humiliating to be juxtaposed with All-Hallows' Eve, eh?), Independence Day (important historically, yes, but "holy"...? No.), Kwanzaa (ah - here it is again!), Passover, Ramadan, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day and Yom Kippur (but not Yalda?!? Why not? *Waaaaaaaaaaaaugh*).
So then I started two days early with my "Merry Christmases" - that'll give me 14 days of Christmas instead of 12! Yay. Wish I could have more, actually... Or was I unconsciously targeting 13 days there...? Who knows? All I know is that I'll be working four of these upcoming days, still, and that does not make me merry one iota either! But that's another story...
Link
Drats.
Oh well - been there, done that!
I direct you to the luminous archives once more - to the time when I "thoroughly analyzed" all the Kwanzaas, Yaldas, Hanukkahs... I only forgot to research Ramadan there, I do believe - but fasting is good for you, so no need to ask why then...!
Also of note: this particularly luminous post, dating back to 2004, where I list my dislikes about this "most jolliest time of the year" - or whatever it is that they call it!
Surely this is Boxing Day-worthy material now - eh?
Now, although I felt like starting early with the sarcastic "Merry Christmas!" posts this year, the actual twelve days of Christmas start on Christmas Day (of course - as well it should be - duh!) and end way past the over-rated New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, ending therefore (if your basic mathematics are sounder than your overall typically holiday-intoxicated brains) on January 6th! That day might be either the legendary day when the 3 wise men visited, finally, or the day of the infant Christ's baptism (according to Catholic instilled-tradition). Either way, the name affixed to that 12th day of Christmas is splendid indeed; for it is Epiphany!
More on this day, as well as on a variety of other holidays, can be found on the main link offered today - these include Dasara, Diwali (a celebration of the slaughtering of a demon - what's not to love about that, eh?), Earth Day (do we really treat the planet as "holy" one bit though? We pollute it so much... So much for Gaia I suppose... But that is another story!)...
They also have Easter, Halloween (some "holy day" this is - HA!), Hanukkah (how humiliating to be juxtaposed with All-Hallows' Eve, eh?), Independence Day (important historically, yes, but "holy"...? No.), Kwanzaa (ah - here it is again!), Passover, Ramadan, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day and Yom Kippur (but not Yalda?!? Why not? *Waaaaaaaaaaaaugh*).
So then I started two days early with my "Merry Christmases" - that'll give me 14 days of Christmas instead of 12! Yay. Wish I could have more, actually... Or was I unconsciously targeting 13 days there...? Who knows? All I know is that I'll be working four of these upcoming days, still, and that does not make me merry one iota either! But that's another story...
Link
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FROM YAHOO ANSWERS...
Resolved Question
>Closed to new answers
Gessen
Member since: November 05, 2006
Total points: 102 (Level 1)
Points earned this week: 0
Q:
When exactly are the 12 days of Christmas, and what day is the 1st?
(I'm not talking about the song here)
1 week ago - 3 answers - Report Abuse
Christmas is Coming!
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
What, exactly, are the 12 days of Christmas?
A:
The 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days that separate Christmas day on December 25 from Epiphany, which is celebrated January 6. Depending on the church, January 6 may mark Christ's baptism (the Catholic tradition), or it may mark the day that the wise men visited the baby Jesus with their gifts.
In the past, there was a tradition of giving gifts throughout the 12 days, rather than stacking them all up on the morning of December 25. That tradition, as you might imagine, has never really caught on in America! We just aren't that patient. The song, however, demonstrates that some people once stretched out their gifts (and gave some fairly elaborate gifts...) over the full 12 days.
Drennon's Twelve Days of Christmas offers some interesting perspectives on the 12 days of Christmas and the song of that same title. This page also contains a thesis full of information! The Twelve Days of Christmas - Shows the original song, how it was changed, and all the superstitions included with those 12 days from different cultures.
+++
Resolved Question
>Closed to new answers
Gessen
Member since: November 05, 2006
Total points: 102 (Level 1)
Points earned this week: 0
Q:
When exactly are the 12 days of Christmas, and what day is the 1st?
(I'm not talking about the song here)
1 week ago - 3 answers - Report Abuse
Christmas is Coming!
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
What, exactly, are the 12 days of Christmas?
A:
The 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days that separate Christmas day on December 25 from Epiphany, which is celebrated January 6. Depending on the church, January 6 may mark Christ's baptism (the Catholic tradition), or it may mark the day that the wise men visited the baby Jesus with their gifts.
In the past, there was a tradition of giving gifts throughout the 12 days, rather than stacking them all up on the morning of December 25. That tradition, as you might imagine, has never really caught on in America! We just aren't that patient. The song, however, demonstrates that some people once stretched out their gifts (and gave some fairly elaborate gifts...) over the full 12 days.
Drennon's Twelve Days of Christmas offers some interesting perspectives on the 12 days of Christmas and the song of that same title. This page also contains a thesis full of information! The Twelve Days of Christmas - Shows the original song, how it was changed, and all the superstitions included with those 12 days from different cultures.
+++
OTHER YAHOO ANSWERS / PRECISIONS...
Ihatedouchebags I comments:
No Christian church celebrates January 6 as the day that Jesus was baptized. John the Baptist baptized Jesus as an adult.
Ihatedouc... adds: Eight days after Christmas, Jesus was circumcised in the Jewish temple, as is customary for all Jewish males. The baptism came much later...but Jesus was still Jewish, even after his baptism. Jesus is still Jewish, by the way.
(Note that Ihatedouchebags I has been a Member since: December 24, 2006 and has but 101 points...)
Mazell D Hey how can you say Jesus' Baptism was a Catholic tradition when there was no Catholic church at that time?
huninther... Epiphany is a Christian feast intended to celebrate the revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus. The observance included the birth of Jesus; the visit of the Magi; and all of Jesus' childhood events, up to his baptism by John the Baptist. The date was fixed on January 6.
keever2k6 well copyed and pasted
doomgrr She did answer the question, though. A very nice answer, indeed.
bettyj I WOULD LIKE TO THINK OF THE 12 DAYS AS 12 MONTHS. TO KEEP THE GIFT OF OF GIVING AND BROTHERHOOD ALIVE ALL YEAR LONG, AND TO THANK WHO EVER YOUR HIGHER POWER MIGHT BE FOR EACH AND EVERY DAY HE LETS YOU HAVE.
Joe F'do Good explanation> Gives meaning to the traditions we follow.
flowerpot... Christmas is about Jesus who is at the 12 days of Christmas on December 25 that on on the season merry Christmas.
The twelve days of "Christmas", Yule predate Christianity. Like so many winter solstice traditions Christendom "borrowed" from the pagan religions.
chetbecke... The !2 days song is a Jesuit code to Catholics supressed in England; ie, 4th day is the 4 Gospels, 5 th the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament, 12th the 12 Apostles, etc.
jimmytuck... The Catholic tradition is not, however, that Jesus was baptized on the Epiphany. Jesus was not baptized until he was an adult, which is well recorded in all Catholic translations of the Bible. The word Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning "to appear."
Bambolero the 12th day of Christmas, January 6, is the day the 3 Wise Men bring gifts to Jesus, guided by the North Star. Growing up catholic as a child in latin america, we put out our shoes filled with grass for camels and Rum for the 3 Kings. They would leave gifts for the children.
alejandro... jesus' baptism is the begining of ordinary time
the 12 days of christmas are the twelve days after christmas 25 wich end on jan 6 the visit of the magi the epiphany (jesus' baptism) is actualy the 1st day of ordinary time
Ihatedouchebags I comments:
No Christian church celebrates January 6 as the day that Jesus was baptized. John the Baptist baptized Jesus as an adult.
Ihatedouc... adds: Eight days after Christmas, Jesus was circumcised in the Jewish temple, as is customary for all Jewish males. The baptism came much later...but Jesus was still Jewish, even after his baptism. Jesus is still Jewish, by the way.
(Note that Ihatedouchebags I has been a Member since: December 24, 2006 and has but 101 points...)
Mazell D Hey how can you say Jesus' Baptism was a Catholic tradition when there was no Catholic church at that time?
huninther... Epiphany is a Christian feast intended to celebrate the revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus. The observance included the birth of Jesus; the visit of the Magi; and all of Jesus' childhood events, up to his baptism by John the Baptist. The date was fixed on January 6.
keever2k6 well copyed and pasted
doomgrr She did answer the question, though. A very nice answer, indeed.
bettyj I WOULD LIKE TO THINK OF THE 12 DAYS AS 12 MONTHS. TO KEEP THE GIFT OF OF GIVING AND BROTHERHOOD ALIVE ALL YEAR LONG, AND TO THANK WHO EVER YOUR HIGHER POWER MIGHT BE FOR EACH AND EVERY DAY HE LETS YOU HAVE.
Joe F'do Good explanation> Gives meaning to the traditions we follow.
flowerpot... Christmas is about Jesus who is at the 12 days of Christmas on December 25 that on on the season merry Christmas.
The twelve days of "Christmas", Yule predate Christianity. Like so many winter solstice traditions Christendom "borrowed" from the pagan religions.
chetbecke... The !2 days song is a Jesuit code to Catholics supressed in England; ie, 4th day is the 4 Gospels, 5 th the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament, 12th the 12 Apostles, etc.
jimmytuck... The Catholic tradition is not, however, that Jesus was baptized on the Epiphany. Jesus was not baptized until he was an adult, which is well recorded in all Catholic translations of the Bible. The word Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning "to appear."
Bambolero the 12th day of Christmas, January 6, is the day the 3 Wise Men bring gifts to Jesus, guided by the North Star. Growing up catholic as a child in latin america, we put out our shoes filled with grass for camels and Rum for the 3 Kings. They would leave gifts for the children.
alejandro... jesus' baptism is the begining of ordinary time
the 12 days of christmas are the twelve days after christmas 25 wich end on jan 6 the visit of the magi the epiphany (jesus' baptism) is actualy the 1st day of ordinary time
IF I WAS A MEMBER /
IF I BOTHERED...
I think it needs pointing out
THE OBVIOUS, again, IS ELUDING MOST...
(Especially that self-hatred afflicted dude there...)
JESUS WAS TRUE GOD
AND TRUE MAN
while he walked the earth...
He was also
TRUE JEW
AND TRUE CHRISTIAN!
He was therefore, most likely, baptized as a child...
(you know - when they perform that most gruesome and odd circumcision, those rabbis... eek!)
AND he was, as we all know, baptized as a man, in the Jordan River, by John The Baptist!
HOWEVER...
JESUS TRANSCENDS ALL THAT
JESUS IS HIGHER THAN ALL OF THESE LABELS
And completely off the scale in comparison to that hating top commenter there...
But I digress...
:)
Post a Comment
IF I BOTHERED...
I think it needs pointing out
THE OBVIOUS, again, IS ELUDING MOST...
(Especially that self-hatred afflicted dude there...)
JESUS WAS TRUE GOD
AND TRUE MAN
while he walked the earth...
He was also
TRUE JEW
AND TRUE CHRISTIAN!
He was therefore, most likely, baptized as a child...
(you know - when they perform that most gruesome and odd circumcision, those rabbis... eek!)
AND he was, as we all know, baptized as a man, in the Jordan River, by John The Baptist!
HOWEVER...
JESUS TRANSCENDS ALL THAT
JESUS IS HIGHER THAN ALL OF THESE LABELS
And completely off the scale in comparison to that hating top commenter there...
But I digress...
:)
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