Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Twelve - The Twelve Days of Christmas

A lot of people have heard of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and have heard the song, but do not know what it is actually referring to. Originally, it started out as a Scandinavian solstice festival that lasted for twelve days. After Europe became Christianized, this festival became incorporated into Christmas, and the twelve days became counted as the days from Christmas to Epiphany.

The celebrations of the twelve days largely took place at night, starting Christmas night. A lot of Saturnalia themes snuck into the twelve days in the Middle Ages. The days would be filled with feasting and merrymaking, much like the old Roman festival, and the festivities would climax on the Twelfth Night.

These days, there are several holidays that take place during the twelve days that are recognized by different countries around the world. Among these are Boxing Day, St. Stephen's Day, and Feast of the Innocents. Some people still give gifts on the Twelfth Night, some give gifts each night.

It appears that the song originates in France and could very well have been a part of the Twelfth Night festivities. In such a festivity, singers would have had to remember all parts of the song correctly. If one of them made a mistake, they would have to pay a good natured penalty of some sort, like a kiss.

According to PNC, the price of all the items in the song would cost $21,080 this year, and $86,608 if the items are literally given as the song suggests.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Eleven - Commercialization

After the mid-1800s revival of Christmas, a larger emphasis was placed on its celebration. The idea of spreading peace and good will towards one another became a must. In fact, not enjoying or taking place in Christmas festivities might very well make you into a "scrooge".

One of the major ways people spread good cheer was by the giving of gifts, a tradition rooted in the holiday since before it was established. With so many people buying gifts for one another, it didn't take long before the economic significance of the holiday season became apparent.

As soon as people began to purchase Christmas gifts for each other regularly, the fear of the holiday becoming commercialized started to spread. Many were worried that the true meaning of the season was being overshadowed by how much money people felt they needed to spend on gifts.

Today, Christmas is the largest economic stimulus in many nations. In the U.S., the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas mark the rat-race time of year to go shopping. This race is jump started by "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving, where many retailers promote sales on items. This year, a man was trampled to death while opening the doors at Walmart on Black Friday.

Many companies, such as Coca-Cola, use Christmas images to sell their products during this time of year. Car companies and jewelers promote their products much more heavily in hopes that consumers will spend money in order to show their love to one another. Just about every advertisement this time of year has changed a traditional Christmas song to sing about their products or sales.

To some, going to the store decked out with Christmas decorations and purchasing gifts for loved ones is a favorite part of their holiday. To others, it is a stressful time that they have to get through every December. But every year, the question is always presented. Has commercialization ruined the true meaning of Christmas? And every year, the same routine persists.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Ten - The Debate

Ever since the its inception, Christmas has seen a great deal of debate over whether or not it should be celebrated. Early theologians made the case that only sinners celebrated the birthdays of gods, and the Christian God should not be treated likewise. This school of thought was defeated when Christmas became a was declared the official Christian holiday.

And over the years the holiday suffered more disagreements about the way Christ's birth should be celebrated. The church did not look too highly upon Yule trees, logs, singing secular songs, or even gift giving. But there always seemed to be a church leader that incorporated the traditions into the mass, eventually allowing the acceptance of these traditions in Christianized fashion.

But the Christianization of the holiday meant that it was a Catholic holiday, and when the reformation stuck, not celebrating the Lord's birth was another way to rebel against the overpowering Catholic church. Protestants were known to call Christmas "trappings of popery" and "rags of the beast".

During the English Civil War in 1647, British parliament outlawed Christmas. Many Catholics responded to the Christmas ban rioting all over the country. Rioters even occupied - and decorated - Canterbury for several weeks. Charles II removed the ban in 1660, but there were many in the church who disapproved of the celebration of Christmas.

Similarly, it was widely disapproved of by American Puritans too. Many places outlawed Christmas, while German settlers celebrated Christmas just as they had in Europe. After the American Revolution, it was seen as a British custom, and therefore not celebrated as much.

Many writers in the 1800s began to worry that Christmas was dying out, and began to write stories based around these holidays. Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, and helped to revive the holiday probably more than any other book. He presented Christmas as a time for goodwill and family and the traditions caught on once more.

President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas a Federal holiday in 1870, making the celebration of Christmas in America an national past time. It also opened up another debate about Christmas: commercialization.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Nine - Caroling

As with most things Christmas, caroling started out as a pagan ritual. Singing to spread good cheer was part of the Roman festival of Saturnalia, as well as a way to commemorate the return of light in the celebration of Yule. Many Christmas carols started out wassailing, or drinking, songs. People sang them to spread good cheer and happy tidings.

While singing songs to celebrate Christ's mass began as a pagan tradition from Christianized peoples and therefore looked down upon by most church officials, latin songs singing of our Lord and Savior's birth eventually became commonplace in church masses. Saint Francis of Assisi is often credited for starting the tradition of latin carols in church services in the 13th century. These carols were upbeat and energetic, vastly different from the usual church music used in those times.

There are a few stories as to how the tradition of singing at people's doors began. Some stories state that carolers began roaming from door to door in order to receive food or drinks in exchange for songs and tidings. Other theories include that carolers had to go door to door because the songs were not yet allowed in church or that people sang for charity.

After the Reformation, many Protestants believed that caroling was another reflection of the Catholic church. Despite the encouragement of carols by many Protestant leaders, Martin Luther included, caroling suffered a large decline. In the 19th century Victorian era, caroling experienced a revival and the tradition has stuck ever since. Many of our modern Christmas songs were written during this time.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Eight - Candy Canes

Originally, these sweet peppermint treats were straight, white candy sticks that were invented in the 1400s by French priests. As to its now cane-like appearance, there are many theories and legends.

One legend says that a choirmaster in the 1600s bent the sticks in order to represent a shepard's staff. Another theory is that people hung them on their Christmas trees and bent them in order to make them functional. However it happened, it became a seasonal tradition to decorate Christmas trees with the peppermint treats.

Sometime around the turn of the 20th century, red stripes were added to the candy cane. Now, the flavor of peppermint reminds many of this time of year.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Seven - Stockings

One specific story of Saint Nicholas began the very common tradition of hanging large stockings on our fireplaces each year. The story tells of three young women whose mother had died. Their father squandered all of his money out of depression, leaving no possibility of a dowry, and therefor little chance of marriage for his daughters.

One night, the Bishop Nicholas was passing by their house and noticed their stockings hung over the fire to dry. He dropped some coins down the chimney and they landed in the girl's socks, helping them secure their futures and beginning a very curious tradition.

Over time, this became a standard tradition for Saint Nicholas day, and eventually Christmas. Dutch children would lay their wooden shoes in front of the fireplace and Santa Claus would fill the shoes with small toys. The tradition evolved, and now people everywhere hang up their stockings in hopes that Saint Nicholas will fill them with goodies.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Six - Santa Claus

In the fourth Century, a bishop by the name of Nicholas of Myra living in Turkey earned a reputation for giving gifts to children out of love and generosity. It is greatly due to this man, Saint Nicholas, that the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas continued on after Europe was Christianized. Many Europeans still celebrate his legacy on Saint Nicholas Day, December 6th, by giving gifts to one another.

In many places, it became custom to give gifts on Saint Nicholas' Eve. One such place was the Netherlands. There, they called him Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas was dressed like a bishop, with a cape and hat. He has a long white beard and often carried a book that told whether children were good or bad that year.

The Dutch brought Sinterklaas to America, where he became Santa Claus. In the late 1800s, a cartoonist named Thomas Nast depicted him as being a plump, jolly man dressed in fur and smoking a pipe. This soon became the standard picture of Santa Claus for America, and the template was used everywhere.

The American version of Santa Claus eventually came to Britain, where he was mixed with traditional Anglo-Saxan ideas of the man. In England, he is called Father Christmas, and is not simply the gift giver, but the personification of Christmas itself.

In Germany, another gift bringer, the Christkindl, was created in response to the secular celebration of Saint Nicholas/Father Christmas. Christkindl was German for "Christ child". It was described a sprite-like infant with wings, supposedly the incarnation of the infant Jesus, that brought gifts to children. Over time, it simply became another version of Santa Claus, and Americans mispronounced it as Kris Kringle.

Over time, several more details fell into place: the North Pole, the elves, the reindeer and sleigh, the milk and cookies, etc. Today, children everywhere wait for Santa Claus to come at midnight on Christmas eve to bring them presents and Coca-Cola uses his image to sell their product.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Five - Mistletoe

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows just about anywhere birds take its seed, and its berries are poisonous if eaten. So why do we kiss underneath this plant?

Because of the fact that mistletoe seemed to spring out of nowhere, it was yet another symbol of fertility to ancient Anglo-Saxons. Due to this symbolic nature, and the thought that mistletoe was an aphrodisiac, it was said that if a woman were kissed underneath a sprig of the plant, she would be married in the next year. Proper tradition says that after kissing, the man should plug a berry from the sprig. After all the berries are plucked, the fertile nature of the plant is gone, and the kissing is over. It is also considered bad luck not to observe the tradition if caught underneath the mistletoe.

This tradition seeped its way into many different cultures. It was practiced in Scandinavia, Greece, France, and may even been a part of Saturnalia and Yule. Today, people put mistletoe in their homes to observe a fun tradition that many either take part in or seriously avoid, depending on who ends up standing with them underneath the plant.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Four - The Yule Log

The burning of the Yule Log is another tradition from Northern Europe. The Yule Log was a large log that was burned on the winter solstice to represent the survival of light in the dark winter. Wine and spices were often poured over it and it was thought that burning the Yule Log kept the house free of spirits and brought luck to the home. People often saved the splinters and unburned parts of the log to start the next year's log.

When it became a Christian tradition, the fire changed from a symbol of the sun to a symbol of the light of Christ, the savior, although many of the same superstitions still held.

Around the turn of the 20th Century, a Yule Log desert was created out of rolled up cake and frosting in order to resemble the actual logs. It has now become a traditional Christmas desert.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Three - Christmas Trees

The ancient Germanic festival of Yule is probably the source of even more modern Christmas traditions than the Roman Saturnalia. The name Yule is descended from the old English word geol, which may have meant "feast" or "wheel", and it may have been an ancient name of the god Jul. Again, it was a celebration of the winter solstice and the beginning of the end of the yearly darkness.

In Germanic traditions, many things in nature represent fertility and life. Evergreen trees were especially symbolic in that they were still green and full of life during winter. For this reason, and/or the fact that they may have worshiped the druids that supposedly lived in the trees, they cut one down every year, brought it into their homes, and decorated it.

These Yule trees eventually became part of the Christmas tradition when Germans became Christianized. Again, many church leaders looked down upon this act, and some still do to this day. But nevertheless, tradition stuck and Christmas trees were a seasonal celebration in Germany.

It is said that the tradition spread to Britain after King George III's German wife, Queen Charlotte, brought the Christmas tree into the royal family. Their daughter, the soon to be Queen Victoria, took part in these celebrations. After She married her German husband, Prince Albert, the tradition became even stronger, and in the mid 1800s, people all over England began to decorate Christmas trees.

This tradition gradually spread to America, mostly through German immigrants. Eventually, it became commonplace to decorate a fir tree in your home for Christmas. Would it really be Christmas without a Christmas tree?

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Two - Gifts

The nature of gift giving on Christmas takes its root in the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia. This festival was the origin of the "eat, drink and be merry" principle of our modern Christmas celebrations. Saturnalia lasted a full week and consisted of singing, gambling, feasts, practical jokes, and even the switching of slave/master roles in jest, although there was still an understanding of the usual roles. But also during this week long celebration, people would make and give gifts to one another.

Because Saturnalia ended on December 23rd, the traditions continued on as Christmas celebrations. Early church leaders did not like these traditions, as they were clearly pagan rituals. Many people continued on anyway, justifying it by the fact that the magi came with gifts for Christ. There was also one particular man who made the tradition famous (More on him later). By the Middle Ages, the giving of gifts was a generally accepted part of Christmas.

Eventually, the tradition of concealing the gifts in baskets and plain paper developed in order to keep the presents a surprise until they were opened. By the early 1900s, colored ink had become readily available and fancier wrapping paper could be printed and sold to gift givers.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day One - Christmas Day

Nowadays, December 25th is regarded as the traditional date of Christ’s birth, and therefore we celebrate it as such. It is, of course, not the actual date of His birth - there are no records that show the actual date. But why was December 25th chosen?

Early on, there was a great deal of debate concerning whether or not the birth of Christ should be celebrated at all. It was the way pagan kings were honored and many church leaders thought that it would be wrong to treat the Lord in the same manner. Those that did celebrate His birth chose a multitude of dates to recognise it, from Epiphany (January 6th) to just about any given date in the Spring, all for various reasons.

Choosing the date of December 25th was an extremely controversial decision because it was already an important date for pagan deities. On the ancient Roman calender, the 25th was the winter solstice. Since this was the day that daylight began to increase, it was celebrated by Romans as the “birth of the unconquered sun” and was also considered the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian sun god. In an apparent attempt to make these pagan holidays holy, the Christian church began to observe the birth of their Lord on that day.

In 336, Emperor Constantine declared Christmas (or Christ’s Mass) the major holiday for Christianity. Although the Eastern church still celebrated it on January 6th, most conformed to the new traditional date of the 25th of December. These days, most Western churches consider January 6th to be the date of the Magi’s arrival in Bethlehem.

Twelve Days of Christmas

Christmas time is here again, and we're pulling out the decorations, buying Christmas trees, singing carols, and fighting people in department stores. What a wonderful way to remember our Lord's birth.

I joke, but do you ever wonder where these strange traditions came from? Why do we, in fact, stick a tree in our house and decorate it? Why do we give gifts and kiss each other under a strange plant that we're not supposed to eat?

This holiday season, I've decided to do some research into our Christmas traditions so we can better understand the reasons for them. So, I will present twelve different topics on this hodge-podge of a holiday we celebrate.