The twelve days of Christmas begins on December 25 and
end just before Epiphany, that falls on January 6th. Epiphany is a Christian
feast intended to celebrate the 'shining forth' or revelation of God to mankind
in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ. The observance originally
included the birth of Jesus Christ; the visit of the three Magi (Caspar,
Melchior and Balthasar) who arrived in Bethlehem; and all of Jesus' childhood
events, up to his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist.
The feast was initially based on, and viewed as a
fulfilment of the Jewish Feast of Lights known as Chanukah. This was fixed on
January 6th, but over time the western churches decided to celebrate Christmas
on December 25th. The eastern churches continued to treat January 6th as the day
marking Jesus's birth. This has given rise in the west to the notion of a
twelve day festival, starting on December 25th and ending on January 6th, called
the twelve days of Christmas. A well-known song came from these facts.
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