Pet Peeves: Christmas Edition

[hells_half_acre]

Ok, so, this is only mildly annoying...but...

A lot of people are doing "12 days of Christmas" things...and by "a lot", I mean the Winchester Family Business and maybe some other people...

But but...guys, the 12 days of Christmas take place between December 24th and January 6th, they don't take place BEFORE Christmas. It's the 12 days between when Jesus was born and when the Three Wise-Men/Kings showed up with presents....doesn't everyone know this?

It's easy to remember, because Orthodox Christians (Like Russian Orthodox) celebrate Christmas (open gifts) on January 6th. They take the day off school and everything...did no one else go to school with Russian Orthodox people? Is it only me?

PS: I'm not actually endorsing WFB as a fansite - I check it occasionally, because I like one of their writers and the motivational posters, but overall there's a lot that annoys me about it. I haven't actually found a fansite that I fully endorse in this fandom...besides the SuperWiki, but I'm not sure that counts (and even then, I get super annoyed whenever their twitter account promotes the "mythology" timeline they have that is RIDDLED WITH ERRORS AND COMPLETELY INACCURATE AND MAKES ME SO ANGRY!)

Comments

[akadougal.livejournal.com]

I am with you in all of this.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm not the only one. :)

[zestyzorra.livejournal.com]

I feel slightly ignorant because I didn't know any of this! (But now I know, whoooo knowledge is power! XD)

I swear, you need to start your own fansite, complete with excellent fic, the most accurate timeline, musings on cons & filming locations, and of course the clothing archive!!

Because, you know, you have all this free time! ;)

♥

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oh man, when you list everything I do...it actually kind of sounds like I COULD start my own fansite :P

Only, then I'd have to be more intelligent in my reviews, instead of writing them while I'm drunk ;)

And yes, all that free time...

[zestyzorra.livejournal.com]

Haha I think you should have a mix of intelligent and drunkenly intelligent, js js!

And if only we could get paid for it, then I'd quit my job and be your devoted assistant!!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Dude! It'd be so awesome! I really need to be independently wealthy...I'd love to quit my job and run a fansite with a devoted assistant!

[katsheswims.livejournal.com]

I knew the 12 days was after Christmas, but I had no idea why. And as far as I knew I never went to school with anyone who took Jan. 6 off. We always went back to school by the 4th or 5th, and everyone was there...But I'm from a very small town.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I guess maybe I had a mother who was more knowledgeable about this stuff and taught me? Also, I went to a Christian-based elementary school...

Ah well. In all fairness, I only knew ONE Orthodox Christian...so, I guess I can see why people might not be familiar with the subject. But, you'd think if you were going to do a 12 days of Christmas themed thing, you'd find out WHEN the 12 days of Christmas were, even if you didn't know WHY they were there...but, now I'm just ranting again, haha, and this no longer has anything to do with your comment. Sorry!

Congrats on knowing when the 12 days of Christmas were, even if you didn't know why! It appears you were still ahead of other people!

[baruchan.livejournal.com]

the 12 days of Christmas take place between December 24th and January 6th...doesn't everyone know this?

Well, I guess not everybody knows this, judging from what you've described. It's actually funny what people think they know about Christian traditions and doctrine.

From what I understand, I think the twelve days of Christmas is more of a Church of England/English thing than a general Christian tradition. I've never encountered references to Twelfth Night celebrations outside of English literature, in any case. It was always taught to us (I attended a non-denominational Christian elementary school and a Catholic high school, natch) that Christmastide starts on the evening of December 24th and ends on the Feast of Christ the King, the Sunday after Epiphany (January 6th), after which Ordinary Time of the liturgical year begins.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...if it's a church of England thing, that might explain why I think it's common knowledge when it isn't...but as I said in another comment, you'd think if you were planning to do a "12 days of xmas" themed thing, you'd do a little research and find out when the 12 days of Christmas actually WERE.

But yeah, although I was born without the ability to believe in God, I was christened Anglican and attended Anglican church services...went to a Christian-based elementary school, but a public high school (and it was at the public high school that I learned of the Russian Orthodox opening gifts on Epiphany, and not Christmas eve/day.)

[gryphenn.livejournal.com]

The SCA has 12th Night celebrations. It's a historical re-creation group.

That's how I knew about the 12 days.

[msninacat.livejournal.com]

I didn't know this but like you said if you were writing about it, you should take the time to google it. Of course I'm the one that was blathering about how hypocritical the people are with their "traditions" that were stolen from the pagans, so there ya go. lol Thanks for the info. Education is good.

Also, for SPN websites. I like the SuperWiki. It's pretty organized and if you find something messed up you can go in and "fix" it. XD

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, SuperWiki is really the most useful site out there...but sadly, I can't change that frickin' timeline they promote every once in a while...all I can do is put in a link to my own timeline and hope people are smart enough to see that mine makes a hellova lot more sense.

But yeah, people should take the time to google things. It's not that big of a deal, it's just slightly annoying for those of us who actually do know when the 12 days of Christmas are :P

I agree about the hypocritical people *cough*Christians*cough* who go on about their *traditions* as though they're sanctioned by God, when really it's pagan practices :P

Education is awesome!

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Hi
Wow. I didn't even know there IS something lie "twelve days of Christmas". I knew that orthodox people celebrate Christmas on January 6th, but I didn't know why. Always thought it had to do with the calendar.
Anyway: it's definitely not a tradition in Germany. We celebrate more or less until Silvester (eating the leftovers, really) and that's it. Next feast: Easter.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I guess not that many people know about Epiphany occurring on January 6th. Ah well. I guess Advent is more well known than the 12 days of Christmas.

Silvester! I love that name for it. I celebrated Silvester in Berlin once. It was fun.

I also really miss the Christmas markets, and traveling around getting different gluhwein glasses from different towns. :)

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Dammit... I just realized that I didn't have any Glühwein this year yet! Always had to drive :(
But Tuesday :-D