So, here we are in the 12 days of Christmas. I can't say I've been as bold as my fellow blogger in wishing others "Merry Christmas" although I was pleasantly surprised to hear carols (both sacred and secular) still playing in the grocery store yesterday. If you are like me, the minute you hear the phrase "the 12 days of Christmas" you think of the song we sometimes sing listing all the gifts from "my true love". The song was not the beginning of the 12 days. At the Council of Tours (a meeting of leaders of the Christian church in 567) these days were proclaimed to be a sacred and festive season. Basically, they are the days between Christmas and Epiphany although there seems to be more than one way to count them. Sometimes the 12 days are considered to be December 26th to January 6th (Epiphany). Sometimes the counting begins with the evening of December 25th which then makes January 5th "Twelfth Night" and the 6th "Twelfth Day". Until the 1800's, in England anyway, the festivities of Twelfth night took precedence over those of December 25th. We can credit the Victorians with bringing the focus back to Christmas.
(Information gleaned from various internet sites and from Gerry Bowler's The World Encyclopedia of Christmas.)
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