Twelve Days of Christmas

I'm starting my official countdown for Christmas today. I am particularly looking forward to decorating the tree and to caroling with my family (yes, family, you must participate--there will be no evasion this year). And I'm also eagerly anticipating a climate where one doesn't have to be anxious about the possibility of snow. You can tell I'm not a Northerner at heart.

As for the countdown, each day I'll be posting something Christmas-related to enhance the Christmas spirit (that seems to be diminished around here this year). And I promise it won't be flimsy like advice not to bother seeing Four Christmases in the theater (it has some funny moments but overall isn't that amusing, although it is better than Vince Vaughn's Christmas film last year, Fred Claus). That tidbit was just a freebie.

Starting backwards, from Day 12, since there are twelve more days until Christmas:

The "Twelve Days of Christmas" do not refer to the days preceding December 25, but the days following Christmas. They begin the evening of Christmas Day and end the morning of January 6. The period is also referred to as Christmastide or Yuletide (remember that word from "Deck the Halls"?). The twelve days count the time from the birth of Christ (celebrated on Christmas, Dec. 25) to the coming of the Magi, or Wise Men (on Twelfth Day, Jan. 6).

Christmastide was a time of feasting and celebrating in the medieval ages. The last night, the Twelfth Night (Jan. 5), was the merriest because it signaled the end of the Christmas season. Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night refers to this custom.

The song "Twelve Days of Christmas" is considered an English carol but may actually be French in origin. Although it's debated, some have suggested the song includes references to the basic teachings of Christianity, with each day containing a teaching. The "true love" is God Himself, and the "me" who receives the presents is every baptized person who is part of the Christian Faith. The "twelve drummers drumming" on the 12th Day represents the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles' Creed.