I always thought that the 12 days of Christmas were before Christmas, but recently have been informed that it's 12 days after Christmas. Did anyone else think the same?
by 
QuinnFan
ANSWERS: 9
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the 12 days are before and after i honestly thought everyone knew this but maybe thats just in the UK
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its actually the 12 days between christmas and epiphany... or at least thats what ive been told.
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I thought it was beofre. Isn't it before?
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I didn't know this until now.
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It's officially 6th Jan, when all the decorations should come down... :) So the 1st day is Christmas Day... and so on...
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I never actually thought about it until this year. I looked it up to answer another question and found that it was the 12 days starting on Christmas through the 5th (some start on day after Christmas and end on the 6th.) It leads up to the Epiphany which is supposedly when the magi (wise men) reached Jesus. http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html
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I thought it was before also. Nobody actually told me so, but it wasn't something I ever questioned.
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Originally (say, Victorian-era) it was the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany, that being the 12 days after Christmas. This is based in the christian religious tradition of the time in which Jesus was said to be born on Christmas morning while the Christmas Star burns overhead, and then later (on Epiphany) the Three Wise Men (or Three Kings) show up having followed the star to the location of the manger scene. They give presents to the child (gold, frankinscense, myrrh) which is the rationale for giving gifts on Christmas. Eventually the Father Christmas/Santa Claus tradition started to become more prominent, and the holiday shifted to give even more emphasis to the gift-giving. Probably to build up the idea of retail shopping days for Christmas, the 12 days idea reattached to the days leading up to the Christmas holiday, and a lot of people forgot about Epiphany altogether.
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Nope. I thought it was 6 days before Christmas and, and 6 days after Christmas.
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