The Twelve Days of Christmas is actually one of the most incorrectly identified holiday traditions and time periods on the calendar today. Most people assume that the 12 days of Christmas, like the advent calendar comes before and leads up to Christmas day. However, it actually begins on or after Christmas.
The 12 days of Christmas is also known as the period of Christmastide. During Christmastide, the way people celebrate the holiday season varies slightly. For instance, there are different beliefs as to when the holiday should be celebrated. These beliefs are typically influenced by the culture that you live in as well as the religious denomination that you practice.
Some denominations celebrate the twelve days of Christmas starting on December 25th and continue until January 5th. Others believe it starts on Christmas evening, which means that it continues until January 6th.
What is the significance of the Christmas history behind the 12 days? This time period represents the time that Jesus was born up until the time that the 3 Kings arrived to see Jesus. The 3 kings were a group of eastern kings that heard about the birth of Christ and wanted to honor him by bringing him gifts. They traveled to go see him, legend has it by following a star that lead them to the birthplace of Christ. When they arrived, they gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
When it comes down to the giving of gifts there are several different philosophies behind when gifts should be given during this time period. Some people believe that gifts should be given on Christmas day. Others believe that you should give gifts only on the 12th day of Christmas. Still others believe that you should give gifts on each of the 12 days of Christmas.
This holiday period has a number of different ways that you can celebrate it. Many people celebrate it by lighting candles for the 12 days. For example, on each day of the 12 days, they light a candle to represent the progression of the Christmastide season.
Another tradition that you can use to celebrate is Christmas dinner. Like gift giving, Christmas dinner is handled differently as well. It can be done on Christmas day. It can be done on the 12th day of Christmas. It can even be done every day of the 12 days.
Finally, there is the 12 days of Christmas song that is immensely popular all throughout the world. This song highlights different gifts received by the singer of the song from someone referred to as "my true love." There are two major schools of thought as to the meaning of this song. Some simply say it is just a regular Christmas song with no hidden meaning. Others however hold to a belief that the song actually has hidden Christian connotations. For instance, the "true love" actually refers to Jesus Christ and each of the 12 gifts refers to different tenants of the Christian faith.
The twelve days of Christmas is a joyous time period regardless of how you choose to celebrate it. There are many ways it is celebrated. However you choose to celebrate it is completely up to you.
Kerry Beck offers free advent calendars with daily Christmas activities to prepare your family for Christmas. Your family will discover more about holiday traditions with some of the daily activities. You can get her FREE Advent Calendar Countdown at http://www.ChristmasCelebrationIdeas.com
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(c) Kerry Beck, 2008
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