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I don't think we should take things so literally. I grew up in the Christian church & my husband is a preacher, & I had never heard of it until last year. I believe it is mainly a Catholic holy day.
If you do this you could pick apart the whole nativity & not put your wisemen in it(the Bible does not refer to them as kings) it possibly took them a long time possibly 2 years, the reason Herod had all males 2 & under killed.
I don't know why people are bothered by the stores & TV movies starting early, I like it, it gets me in the spirit, I also start listening to Christmas music early.
I take my tree down on Jan 1st, no reason just tired of it by then & I feel the same way about others, to me it looks kind of sad, & I don't know what trees & Christmas decor have to do with the Epiphany anyway.
It bothers me that some people are offended by " Happy Holidays" they say it takes the Christ out of Christmas. To me it acknowledges that we all have different beliefs
So if a store wants to do something with one of the most irritating songs we should also be irritated about the other songs & traditions that aren't correct (Mary/donkey, born in a stable, wise men being there right after birth etc.
I say I'm ready-bring on Christmas. Excuse me but I have to go & watch one of my fav Christmas DVD's ;)
It bothers me that some people are offended by " Happy Holidays" they say it takes the Christ out of Christmas. To me it acknowledges that we all have different beliefs
My grandmother never put her wisemen at the stable of her nativity scene until Epiphany, January 6th. They honestly started across the room and got closer each day. ;)
The Christmas Season is from December 25th to January 6th in the church calendar. So religious celebration of Christmas is those days, as defined in the traditional Christian calendar.
This has nothing to do with the song except that it illustrates that there are 12 days of Christmas and the first day is Christmas Day. Seems odd that Christians want to stop celebrating Christ on the first day rather than taking all 12 days. When we buy into Christmas being the last 12 days of Advent we are selling both Christmas and Advent short for money (retail/capitalism). Seems like that was the very thing that was preached against in the New Testament.
For me, commercialism and not celebrating the seasons according to traditional Christian calendar does far more to take the "Christ out of Christmas/Xmas" than a Happy Holidays greeting. I wouldn't be upset if someone told me to have a good day in the middle of the night either.
I'm so busy creating and selling products at crafts shows, all crammed in from October into December, that I don't have time to work on family and friends gifts and cards. I always add in a little note stating that if the 3 Wise Men could wait until January 6th to give their gifts, so could I! I figure I do my best cards after Dec. 25th when things slow down and I have some time. I think radio stations should continue with holiday music clear through Jan. 6th. Why does the celebration have to stop so suddenly? Love this discussion.....
In regards to "happy holidays" I think it's EXTRA silly because it came from "happy HOLY days" - still quite religious enough! The French don't have this problem - no one says "joyeux no�l" is keeping "Christ" (the French word for "Christ") out of "no�l"!
I had to insist that my church keep the Christmas decorations and manager up until the Epiphany. (I was the decorator and office manager so I got my way). I was shocked how many people didn't know what the 12 days were. The first year I decorated the church. I kept the manager empty until Christmas and then had the 3 kings move through the church until they arrived on the epiphany. Everyone actually enjoyed this and looked forward to the wisemen traveling and one year when I was injured I had a church full of volunteers to help them travel.
__________________ Mary Anne
sparkly-train.blogspot.com
We had a olive wooden carved Nativity set growing up in Israel, I have now inherited it, Jesus is not put into the manger until early Christmas morning, and the Wise Men turn up on Epiphany, and yes I am Catholic. We used to go to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity each Christmas morning...happy times.
I also remember many a 'where is Jesus gone, or Mary" being shouted out by my mother as one of my older siblings would rearrange the Nativity and see how long it would take for her to spot it...
Oh Good Grief, folks! The stamp set you're talking about is DARLING and funny! Funny as in, witty! For example, the stamp for the 3 French Hens is a French hen (and, look, it's wearing a French beret!) And the funniest is the stamp for the 4 calling birds. (It's a bird on the telephone...it's calling!!!)
I'm sorry you don't "get it" and can't appreciate the humor.
I understand the humour of the stamp set - it is clever - but while the French hen is still a French hen, the calling birds are still calling (via phone) but the pipers are NOT piping - THEY ARE SMOKING. Somehow the "witty" theme is not carried through on all the stamps.
I think it is ok not to get it. Just like people don't like stamps with -
kids with big heads
kids with no mouths
kids with no noses
Animals in clothing
cutesy
realistic
....
I don't dislike the stamp sets, because I just don't have to buy what I don't think I would use. We all have different likes and dislikes and that really is ok.
It bothers me that some people are offended by " Happy Holidays" they say it takes the Christ out of Christmas. To me it acknowledges that we all have different beliefs
I agree with this.
Exactly. I am Jewish, but most of my friends are Christian. I send Merry Christmas to ones who are pretty religious, and go to church regularly, and happy holiday or happy winter to others.
__________________ Ginny , A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. -Douglas Pagels
Enjoying this thread!
But I'm confused - are one or two different sets being discussed. Because from the first post (post #7) mentioning smoking, I assumed it was a set I hadn't seen...but all the other posts seem to refer to the Penny Black set which I have and love. And in that, the piper is most definitely piping, with a Scottish bagpipes.
I'd love it if someone could point me to the first set mentioned, my curiosity is piqued.
We usually put our tree up close to Christmas Eve and it doesn't come down till after Twelfth Night. It feels horribly early to me to see "12 Days of Christmas" projects already coming through the gallery, but then I've already seen decorations and trees on special offer .
Well it is a broad topic because I am talking about timing but it came up because of stamp releases and being told to plan for the "12 days countdown TO Christmas".
I know one of the sets being discussed is this one
I'm ok with it. I consider it artistic license and nobody says I have to buy it or stamp it.
I'm not ok with holidays (generally) and Christmas (specifically) being over before they have factually started.
This is a great topic and everyone has responded so graciously. It is interesting to hear of others' traditions and way of doing things. The main thing I agree with is, the disenchantment with the commercialism not only of Christmas but all holidays.
This thread has been extremely interesting! I am Christian, and grew up in a Christian home, but we never observed the 12 days of Christmas. I really enjoy learning about different ways that others celebrate. I've been singing the song all my life, but never bothered to learn about the origins.
I'm one of those that pretty much takes the decorations down by New Years, and I will confess, that once Christmas Day is done, I'm over it. But that's partly because when I was growing up, we observed Advent, so Christmas prep usually started the first week of December.
I think it's really great the way there are all these different traditions and beliefs regarding Christmas. Whether you do 12 Days of Christmas/Epiphamy, Advent, or just the observe the more retail/commercial version of the holiday, it's all good. As long as nobody tells me that I'm doing it "wrong", I'm okay.
__________________ Julie my gallery
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Phillippians 4:13
When I was a kid, we called Jan 6th (the 12th day of Christmas) Little Christmas. I mentioned that to someone the other day, and they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. We always put up our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and took it down on January 6th. So . . . I had to explain that Epiphany was when the Wise Men came.
(Kristen, now I'll step down off MY soapbox! LOL!!!)
I discovered recently that what the rest of the world knows as Epiphany is known as Little Christmas only in Ireland so I suspect you have Irish heritage or you have learnt this phrase from someone Irish. (I was in Ireland at the time when I heard this)
I like to put up my xmas tree in the first week of December and take it down on the 6th Jan (12th day)
I discovered recently that what the rest of the world knows as Epiphany is known as Little Christmas only in Ireland so I suspect you have Irish heritage or you have learnt this phrase from someone Irish. (I was in Ireland at the time when I heard this)
I like to put up my xmas tree in the first week of December and take it down on the 6th Jan (12th day)
Nope. I'm of Italian descent, and my family has always called it Little Christmas. So has my husband's.
I discovered recently that what the rest of the world knows as Epiphany is known as Little Christmas only in Ireland so I suspect you have Irish heritage or you have learnt this phrase from someone Irish. (I was in Ireland at the time when I heard this)
I like to put up my xmas tree in the first week of December and take it down on the 6th Jan (12th day)
Interesting, because it's also quite widely know here as Nollaig na mBan, or Women's Christmas, because traditionally the men would do more of the chores and leave the women free to meet up and have fun together ;-).
Personally I always knew it as Epiphany, but then my mother was French. And I've often heard Spanish people refer to it colloquially as "The Three Kings".
Different Opinion
lol I resemble that remark. Esp after a long night at the bar. 
