It’s that time of year again; time to start buying tofu turkey and soy eggnog (sorry ssib, but I can’t help myself). Having overheard, once again, a conversation about the twelve days leading up to Christmas I feel compelled to correct a very common misunderstanding. Most of you who have known me for more then a year probably already know this (so please forgive me for saying it all again), but…

The Twelve Days of Christmas are the twelve days after Christmas (inclusive).

And as for all those Advent calendars that portion out some chocolate for you for the thirty days before the big event, that’s the opposite of what Advent is all about.

(Disclaimer: I’m not opposed to people celebrating Christmas however they want to. That’s your call, not mine. I just wish that people would get their terms right.)

Ok, let me explain. Christmas has always been a big celebration (though not the biggest by any stretch) for the historical Christian Church. And, as was the tradition with any major feast that was planned aheadSait Nicholas of time, this feast was preceded with a time of fasting. This wasn’t the kind of fasting where you don’t eat anything at all, but rather the kind where you are fasting from specific things. Meat, dairy (including chocolate), alcohol, olive oil (this was specific to the culture where this started), and sex. (Yes, sex is considered an appetite.) Recognize this? If you said “It sounds a lot like Lent” you’re right. That’s another major fast leading up to the major feast. But back to my point.

So the feast of Christmas was preceded with this time of fasting and preparation, and this was followed by a time of celebration. A twelve day celebration to be specific. Hence, Christmas is the first day of the twelve days of Christmas. (Even longer then Boxing Week for all you Canadians out there.)

Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. This way I won’t feel as strong a desire to correct those teens I heard wanting to celebrate the twelve days before Christmas by being drunk the whole time. Well, we’ll see.