Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Ruling Days is the traditional idea that the twelve days of Christmas are predictors for the twelve months coming up in the new year.  According to Google, this time is also called Kingdomtide, although I have never heard it called that around here. The first day of Christmas here was sunny but cold, which will probably be what we get in January.  Today has started the same way, too cold for me, but it could very well be what our February will be like.  It has been more than half a century, but I can clearly remember my Grandma Gean standing in front of her big wall calendar, the one that Rexall Drug Store gave her for free, and recording the weather conditions for each day during the twelve days of Christmas.  I can remember her referring back to it: "Well, June is supposed to be extra rainy, according to the Ruling Days." I wish Grandma was here to scoff at our weather satellites and the latest digital radar.  Her ruling days predictions wor...

The twelve days of Christmas is the time between Christmas Day and Old Christmas, or the Feast of the Epiphany.  All of us have heard the silly carol written about it, and if you are like me, it seems to never end.  I'm usually ready to move on at five golden rings. Last week, I heard a storyteller tell what the song is about, and I don't think it is so silly now. I don't know how much of this is truth, but it is entirely possible. It is a lovely tradition. In the sixteenth century, Henry VIII got mad at the Pope because the Pope informed him that he had to go by the rules, even if he was king.  Henry VIII declared himself the head of the church of England, and publicly beheaded Sir Thomas More when he wouldn't bow down to him.  It was a crime to be a Catholic, so this song was written to teach  children about their beliefs without danger of persecution.  Here is the meaning the storyteller assigned to each of the verses. My True Love refers to ...