thechristmasprojectdiary

According to Robert E. Webber in his book, Worship is a Verb: Celebrating God’s Mighty Deeds of Salvation,

“Christmas is a season of joy, festivity, and fun. It’s a 12-day festival from December twenty-fifth to January sixth, the day of Epiphany. And our spiritual experience during this time should be similar to that of enjoying a visit from someone special. It is a time of celebration, of singing Christmas carols, of giving and receiving gifts, of enjoying fellowship with friends and loved ones…during this time we are truly alive and free in the presence of our Guest. And the good news of Jesus Christ deserves a shout, a party, a frolic!”

Wow. Simply wow. I never knew that Christmas was in fact deemed allegedly to be a 12-day festival beyond the 25th December.

Sure, I was aware from my youth about Advent as being a special and significant time from early December in the lead up to actual Christmas Day. Each week at church we got to light a particular coloured candle before heading out to Sunday School and it felt special, commemorative and festive.

Sure, as a child I remember hearing and no doubt singing that catchy and classic Christmas Carol that included references to partridges in pear trees, eight maids a-milking and the like and it felt festive & fun also.

But, the connection between the song and there being twelve actual days of Christmas post-Christmas was never alluded to fully or properly obtained & programmed into my knowledge & understanding of all things pertaining to the actual length and breadth of Christmas festivities.

Nope, not ever in my living memory.

According to research I have done online (thank you, Mr Google!) the twelve days of Christmas are all related to not the days before Christmas, but in fact the days after Christmas. All twelve of them, and those in the know about them, know them to be referred to as “Twelvetide.’

The 12 days of Christmas begin and start with actual Christmas Day through to January 6th, at which point ‘Twelvetide’ ends on a day deemed to be called Epiphany or Three Kings Day. I can only presume that is when tradition states the Wisemen perhaps came to visit the Nativity family? It will be interesting to look into that also.

So the days prior to Christmas are called Advent, and the days post-Christmas, (a set period of 12 days including and after Christmas Day), are called Twelvetide. This is fascinating to me.

So much of what Christmas has meant and been, in my personal experience, has been solely focused on December twenty-fifth. Yet, here I am finally discovering, as I launch out via this very blog, the Christmas Project Diary, that traditionally for a good number of folk the actual Feast and Festivity of Christmas has in fact always involved a greater lengthy time of contemplation, commemoration and celebration through December and even through into January. How very fascinating and interesting this finding I have made today is!

There is more to Christmas…………………. and it is indeed there, waiting to be discovered and chronicled by this very blog.