On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 4 calling birds.... Hi there, everyone ! well, Christmas is not yet over. We have the twelve days of Christmas counting down. I am very old-fashioned about Christmas. I don't usually decorate until the 15th. and I don't take down my nativity scene until the 12th. day - which is, of course, the 6th. of January. I sometimes leave the tree up all twelve days, though other years I take it down a bit early...
Look here to understand the meaning of the old carol and to hear it played:
http://www.carols.org.uk/the_twelve_days_of_christmas.htmThe twelve days are called Christmastide (or Christmas time) in the church's calender and it has to do with a time of festival that encompasses Christmas, itself, St. Stephen's day, New Year's and then, as the finale, January 6th., the epiphany, the day we commemorate the coming of the Magi to the home of Jesus and his family. St. Steven is believed to be the first Christian martyr - and unlike the Muslims we have to be KILLED not do the killing to be called a martyr; in Christianity - killing yourself is suicide and is frowned both on earth and in eternity. Oh, its a good way to become a ghost, in case you are wondering! (You never escape ANYTHING.)
There are many traditions the world over about Epiphany... from the wise-man cake to the actual giving of gifts that day, some do not celebrate it at all, though traditional Christians do consider it an important day. The gifts of the wise-men are symbols of Christ's life : gold for king-hood, myrrh for sorrow & death and frankincense for godhood. I try to burn frankincense and myrrh on the 6th. before my nativity scene. They are spicy scents that I particularly like and are still available as both oils and in solid form from herb companies.
In both the Catholic and the Episcopal Church the priest wears WHITE with gold trim. It is a joyous time for we celebrate the coming of the light. In truth, I think the one thing exceptional about Christianity is it's native, bottomless,
endless JOY .... In Christian mythology Christ is always identified with the sun - and just because its mythology it doesn't mean it isn't true. All of his symbols are solar in origin. As many christian philosophers have said, Christ is prefigured as the solar lord; Apollo, Ra and Lug would all be on that list. When the Church was deciding feast days early in its history the coming of our light, Jesus, was naturally put just past the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, when the sun is lowest in the sky, December 21 or 22nd - by Christmas, the coming of the new sun (The sun turns around and days slowly lengthen again. ) we celebrate the coming of the spiritual sun/son. This is purposeful and planned, pointing to a great truth in Christianity. The Christian myth works - all myth always work on a different plane of consciousness and myth always teaches us inner realities that could not easily explained or understood without myth, but Christian myth is especially skillfully creative. It inspires the even the mind when it is told by a skillful writer.
We don't know exactly when the Magi arrived but it has always been guessed that it would have been soon after the birth. It does not matter, though, whether they arrived 12 days or 12 weeks or even twelve years, later, and neither does it matter if they never arrived to worship the new born Christ, for the mythic aspects still work: The wise men are often shown as belonging to the major races of man :African black, European white and golden Asian - we don't know much about them though we do know that the Magi are an actual sect of astrologers who worshiped Light in the form of fire - ie. the Zoroastrian religion - a gnostic religion of the Middle East (Iran) and India - which believes that the universe is a never ending battle ground for the forces of Light and the forces of darkness and they are very close to my own philosophy, in many ways. In their coming, in their acceptance of both his God-head and his kingship, they are symbolic of all of us and they showed that Christ came not only for the Jews but for all mankind. From the very beginning, Christianity was meant to be universal and open to everyone. Christian myth is always its most powerful aspect. I would suggest you read about the "Hunt for the Great Unicorn" tapestries if you want to do research into the mythic aspects of Christianity. There is always pure history (first century Middle Eastern politics, the astronomy of ancient times, for example.) and the mythic realm : the star, the wise-men, the search for the holy grail, the hunt of the great unicorn. One is for the mind, the other for the heart. I always prefer the myth to the details of the history, at least in my religion.
Facts prove nothing of any value in spirituality and religion. The Zoroastrians still exist but they are a minor religion of mankind. Gnosticism has always existed in one form or other. It is not a religion, itself, though elements of it often appear in religions.
