On the
first day of Christmas....
Another
Christmas card theme you see fairly often is the card that shows the
Christmas song , On the first day of Christmas which we have
surely all sung at some time or other really peeling out “5
golden rings..... Kids especially love this part.
It's
not really a carol as such and I did wonder why only 12 days were
mentioned. I thought “Should that really be .”On the 25th
day of Christmas. My true love gave to me....etc etc.? “
So I
looked up some information about this and found out that the first
day mentioned in the song was December 25th and this was
the start of Christmastide which ended on the twelfth day January 5th
or twelfth night as is celebrated in other places in the world.
It
seems according to which Christian community you follow , the birth
of Jesus was celebrated in varying ways. This song celebrates one
tradition where the first gift was given on Christ's birthday Dec 25
and then a present was given each day after until 12th
night.
Now I
am really surprised knowing the state of commercialism around us that
this idea hasn't been grabbed up and made popular.
If you
want a reminder of this happy Christmas song listen to John Denver and
the Muppets on this youtube singing it. It really is good fun.
And in line with the 12 days of Xmas we should fast and meditate all through Advent, but instead we party and and buy presents!
ReplyDeletejohn