All Episodes
Previous Next
Dec. 26, 2000 - Bill Cooper
54:39
Carols and Customs #3
| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
You You
You Bye bye.
White power!
This is power!
I can't die!
White power!
Thanks for watching.
Good evening.
You're listening to the Hour of the Time and I'm Michelle.
I hope you've been enjoying this special holiday presentation of the Carols and Customs of
Christmas.
This is part three in our series and tonight we will be feasting.
When contemplating your New Year's resolutions, resolve to do something significant that will benefit you and those you love.
Decide today to take a portion of your income every month and transform it into real money.
Money that cannot be harmed by inflation, Increased taxation, bank closures or economic collapse.
Money that has stood the test of time.
Make a significant resolution for a change.
that will benefit you and your loved ones for years and years to come.
♪♪ ♪♪
this day and has been commemorated in song, is is the ceremony of the Wassail Bowl.
At the early Saxon feasts it was custom to drink a Wassail or a toast to health to the gods.
The word Wassail means be thou whole or to your health.
The drink itself consisted of a combination of mulled ale, eggs, curdles cream, roasted apples, nuts and spices.
It was later called lambs wool A corruption of a Celtic word which pertained to any drink in which apples were used.
It was the custom to salute the apple trees, themselves temples of Celtic gods, on the eve of the winter solstice so that they would be more fruitful in the coming year.
This was called worseling, or wasling, them.
A similar custom is still observed in Denmark, when rural farmers who own fruit trees go out to the orchard at midnight and strike each tree, asking it to rejoice and be fruitful during the coming year.
This is the history and origin of wassailing.
As England gradually became more Christianized, the custom changed gods, and the wassail toasts were made to the Christian God.
Later, the ritual lost most of its religious significance, and the wassail toasts became more of a hear-hear to the health of all presence.
An interesting medieval legend concerning the origin of the Wassail Bowl relates that at one of the dinners, a bowl of wine was presented to the king with the words, Lord King, Wassail, or be in health.
Later, it was the custom of the stewards, upon entering the banquet hall, to call, Wassail, Wassail, and this was answered by the diners with a song or carol.
Thus, the Wassail Bowl has become a feature of all British Christmas celebrations and its drinking is always accompanied by song.
The Wasail Bowl is found even today in all the great country houses of England and is always kept filled from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Night.
In some country places, the young people carry the bowl as they go about caroling, offering drinks in exchange for alms.
Knowing about the history of the use of greenery, caroling, and wassailing, it throws a new light on our understanding of such Christmas carols as, Here We Come a-Wassailing, Among the Leaves, So Green.
Here is a much older, more traditional, English wassail song.
It's been a while Wandering among the fields of green, And now we come a-wassailing So plainly to be seen.
Oh, dear Grace, what time can we travel far and near?
May God bless you and send you a happy new year.
We are for daily beggars that go from door to door.
We are for labor children who you have seen before.
Oh, dear Grace, what time can we travel far and near?
May God bless you and send you a happy new year.
God bless the master of his house, the mistress of the house, and all the workers, the children, and all the people.
When early English carolers went about asking for alms, they sometimes carried the wassail
bowl and sometimes the Yule Baby, an elaborately dressed doll in a decorated box.
Which was supposed to be symbolic of the Christ Child in the cradle, and they always sang carols, both secular and religious.
In Middle Europe, the band of singing children carried a doll in a small cradle in place of the Yule Baby or the Wassail Bowl.
This was supposed to be left in the care of the most virtuous maiden in the village, who was supposed to guard it throughout the ensuing year.
After making the rounds of their neighbors' homes and those in the surrounding villages, carolers wandered home through the winter snow to the warmth of their own hearths or to the comfort of the village pub for a late-night tangerine of warm ale.
There they would raise their mugs, hailing one another with affection, and sing the old, familiar songs which over the years gradually adopted lyrics appropriate to the season, as demonstrated in this Irish song always sung during the winter holidays with a tankard of
ale in hand.
It's a beautiful song.
If we're only back to birthing, then there should be no need for more.
Who did I ever call a loser?
Well, now you've found cheer, and I think that we're here together.
The first pole of the year And here's your M1 fighter
Here's your M1 car Here's your M1 radar
And here's what my crew wants Here we fight in the heat of the moment
Here we raise the goals to threaten Here we pass by some chance of ending the war
But never end We forget about tomorrow
We're protected from your fear As we drink our beer together
And we're tinkered our heels Here's a grand M1 fighter
Here's a grand M1 car Here's a grand grade Raptor
I knew I might be wrong.
That's the view up above, like the fire beneath the snow.
the world.
It will wash the sins clear as we all sit back together and pray to love each other.
And here's to friends one type, but here's to friends more of all.
Here's to friends made masters, and they are mighty more of all.
Here's to friends one type, but here's to friends more of all.
You're an unmade lover, and you are mine to be in love You're an unmade lover, and you are mine to be in love
In the large country estates of Great Britain, the holiday festivities were elaborate and grandiose, as the homes were
magnificent.
On Christmas Day, the manor homes of the nobility were opened to all of the people in the villages nearby.
Christmas morning dawned brightly on the preparations being made for the wants of the multitudes of kinsmen, guests, and stray folk of every description.
None were allowed to go away empty.
The halls were full to overflowing with goodly companions of gentle folks, yet still room was found for the minstrels and peasants who on this day dined with the lord of the manor.
Rustic sports whiled away the hours before the great feast was served.
While hunting owls and squirrels was popular with the peasants, hunting of all kinds was a Christmas activity for many centuries.
In older days, Even the clergy came booted and spurred to Mass, with a hawk at wrist, ready for falconry and hunting, the moment Mass was said and breakfast over.
In his work entitled Ancient Mysteries, written in 1823, the British historian Holmes states, quote, Not long ago, in the metropolis of London itself, it was usual to bring up a fat buck to the altar of St.
Paul's.
with hunters' horns blowing in the middle of divine service, for on this very spot, or near it, there formerly stood a temple of Diana."
From hunting field, private chapels, and parochial church, the people trooped towards the great feast to be served by the Lord of the Manor, which had been in preparation for weeks, always singing as they went.
Master in this hall, all Indians today, Born from overseas and led the right way.
Noah, Noah, Noah!
Noah sings we hear!
Hosts of Noah, hosts of earth, Born in God's arms so dear!
Noah, Noah, Noah!
Noah sings we are!
But today her court was greater than a Catholic's heart.
Noel, Noel, Noel.
No.
Helluva pot of water, o man.
I've got a pot of water, o man.
In England, in 1415, a glutton mass was actually celebrated during the five days of the Festival of the Virgin Mary.
The people rose early and attended mass during which they ate and drank with the most furious zeal and rapidity.
The very altar itself was a receptacle for rich puddings and other victuals placed there for the purposes of the festivity.
A book of English history, written in 1823, describes the most incredible Christmas dish which, in our discussion of Christmas feasting, deserves mention.
Quote, Monday last was brought from Howick to Berwick to be shipped for London for Sir Henry Grey, Baron, a pie.
The contents whereof are as follows.
2 bushels of flour, 20 pounds of butter, 4 geese, 4 turkeys, 2 rabbits, 4 wild ducks, 2 woodcocks, 6 snipes and 4 partridges, 2 neats tongues, 2 curlews, 7 blackbirds, and 6 pigeons.
It is supposed a very great curiosity and was made by Mrs. Dorothy Patterson, housekeeper at Howick.
It was mere nine feet in circumference at the bottom, weighs about twelve stones, will
take two men to present it to table, and is neatly fitted with a case and four small wheels
to facilitate its use to every guest that inclines to partake of its contents at table."
In England, the principal dish of the Christmas feast was the boar's head.
On these festal occasions, the entire company would sing the Boar's Head carol as the procession of cooks and their assistants, led by the chief cook, marched through the dining hall carrying dishes for the feast.
The Boar's Head, which lay on the chief cook's platter, was wreathed in bay leaves and decked with rosemary, with a bright red apple in its mouth.
Records show that this custom dates back to the 12th century and is still preserved at King's College, Oxford, where the procession of cooks is preceded by the choir, led by a fellow of the college.
There is a legend connected with the ceremony of serving the boar's head at King's College.
It is said that many years ago, a student was walking on a hill near Oxford, studying his Aristotle.
Suddenly a wild boar rushed out of the forest and attacked him.
Having no weapon for defense, the student crammed the book down the boar's throat and thus saved himself from the beast.
The boar's head was then prepared and served to all the students amidst much rejoicing over their friend's miraculous escape.
The boar's head carol is one of the oldest of secular carols.
It was found in printed form as early as 1521.
It was found in a book in the city of Paris in the 17th century.
The poor man, the young blerk, and the rarest digg, All in satis of the deck with a game of hands,
And on every beak a cotton ball.
All for a great debt they're all, They've been down in the meadow.
A pure heart provided, We hold a golden thing of this,
When some day we learn, We'll take the end beyond we know,
But not with the marrow, When the hour is coming oh.
The boar's head is mentioned as being bedecked with vase and rosemary.
Up until Victorian times, rosemary was a popular Christmas decoration.
Legend says it was named after Mary, the mother of Jesus, and symbolized the purple cloak she was said to have worn on the flight to Egypt, although no such fashion records exist in the Bible concerning this journey.
The legend states that the rosemary was formerly white, but as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus rested by the wayside, Mary placed her cloak over a rosemary bush and the color was changed to purple.
In virtually every nation where Christmas is celebrated, the event is marked by some kind of special food.
In Greece, special loaves of bread are baked, in which coins are concealed.
The person who finds the coin is supposed to have good fortune through the following year.
In the Ukraine, people at one time observed a 39-day fast, which ended on Christmas Eve with a 12-course dinner.
One course for each of the Twelve Apostles.
This Feast of Christmas took three days to eat.
The Polish Oplatek or friendship wafer is shared at the close of the special Christmas meal.
In Sweden, Christmas Day is celebrated with special coffees and cakes.
This tradition of baking and cooking in honor of the holiday is observed everywhere.
But the true history behind our feasting Baking, partying, and toasting at the time of the winter solstice is ancient indeed, and goes back to the dawning of history.
Even in the days of the Old Testament, Jeremiah addressed the pagan customs being practiced by the children of Israel.
In chapter 7, verses 17 and 18, quote, Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle a fire, and the women knead their
dough to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods."
Obviously, as Jeremiah predates the birth of Christ by at least six centuries, he was not referring to Mary when he
spoke of the Queen of Heaven, a title erroneously bestowed upon her by the Catholic Church.
The Queen of Heaven, or the Mother of God, was a title owned first by Isis in reference to the child Horus.
It was also the title of Semiramis, with the child Tammuz.
The Queen of Heaven was known in all pagan cultures.
The Chinese Mother Goddess Xingmu, the German Virgin Goddess Hertha, the Scandinavian Goddess Disa, the Etruscan Goddess Nutria, the Druidical Goddess Virgo Patitura, The Indian Indrani, the Greek Aphrodite, the Sumerian Nana, the Roman Venus, and so forth and so on.
Festival days honoring this Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God, regardless of which pagan god you might care to reference, were always accompanied by much cooking, feasting, drinking, gifts giving, and the preparation of special cakes to honor the goddess and invoke her favor, fertility, and blessing of prosperity.
The baking of special desserts in honor of the Christmas season harks back to the most ancient of pagan feasts and festivals.
In Great Britain, mince pie became one of the chief delicacies at the Christmas feast.
It symbolized the gifts of the wise men and was supposed to be made of the choicest things from the East.
At one time the pie was made in an oblong shape to represent the manger in which Christ was born.
Plum pudding was and still is an important part of the English Christmas.
The story goes that centuries ago an English king and his party of hunters were lost in the woods on Christmas Eve.
The poor cook, faced with scanty provisions for a Christmas Eve dinner, put everything he had together in the cooking pot and thus made the first plum pudding.
It is said that the ingredients which he used formed the basis for the recipe of the plum pudding as we know it today, which isn't a pudding at all, but rather is a very heavy, dense, baked cake.
In America, we know a slightly enhanced version of the plum pudding as fruitcake.
While many people feel that fruitcakes improve greatly with age, There are just as many who feel that they are more appropriately used as heavy doorstops or paperweights.
Regardless of how you may feel about eating fruitcake, the fact remains that this represents yet one more Christmas tradition that predates the birth of Christ and harks back to the pagan custom of baking of cakes in honor to the goddess of fertility and prosperity.
And on that note, let's take a break for an antacid.
As I sat at my window last evening, a letterman wrote unto me
A little gilted invitation, saying you need to come over today.
Sure I knew that the ball were to take, so I went just for old friendship's sake.
And the first thing they gave me to tackle, was a fright on this poverty's cake.
Now there were plums, and prunes, and cherries.
There were zippers, and raisins, and cinnamon too.
There was nutmeg, the berries.
And the closet was nailed up with glue.
There were caraway seeds in abundance, that would build up a white stomach ache.
It would kill a man's wife, a very jealous wife, a misfortunate Christmas cake.
Miss Mulligan wanted to tight it, but really there was no use.
They worked at it all for an hour, and they couldn't get none of it loose.
So Kelly came in with a hatchet, and Murphy came in with a saw.
That cake was enough for the powers to paralyze any man's jaws.
Now there was nuts, and fruit, and berries.
There was citrus, and raisins, and cinnamon, too.
There was nuts, pickles, and berries.
And the crust, it was nailed on with glue.
There were narrow-winged leaves, and no fungus.
Sure, to fill up a pint on the cake, it would kill a man's voice after reaching the flank of his bogus-y Christmas cake.
Mrs. Fogarty frowned at the peacock, kept whining and blinking away.
So she fell on her planning and broken, and spilled from the whole room she came.
Oh, get away, she cried, you're not eaten!
Try a little bit more, for my sake.
No, thanks, Mrs. Fogarty, says I, but I'd like the riskiest of that cake.
Now there were plums, and prunes, and cherries.
There were citrus, and raisins, and cinnamon, too.
There was nutmeg, cloves, and berries.
And the custard was filled in with brew.
There were parrot-weights in the woundin' With a gallop of wings to make eight
It would kill a bat like a furry In a twinkle before it hit breakfast cake
Malorny was took with the colic McNaughty complained of his head
McRat lay down on the sofa And he swore that he wished he was dead
Miss Daly fell down in his barracks And there she did wriggle and shake
For every match swore he was poisoned For eight in the morning he'd take
Now there was not a spoon in Mary There were sippers and bread in the cellar of the school
There was match-made salt and berry And the crotchets were down and with blue
There were parrot-weights in the woundin' With a gallop of wings to make eight
It would kill a bat like a furry In a twinkle before it hit breakfast cake
In all legendary folk songs, the influence of the climate, customs, religions, and racial characteristics of the
people are to be seen.
And so it is with Christmas carols.
In the South lands, the carols tell of birds and flowers that guard the sleeping babe, And in the countries farther north they describe the fir trees and snow.
In the hill towns there are many songs of the shepherds and the manger, and in the lands facing the sea there are carols of the Christmas ships.
From grief comes one of the most interesting of the legends pertaining to the Christmas ship.
The Christianized version of the legend associates the ship with St.
Basil, who is to the Greeks as St.
Nicholas is to other nations.
Legend claims that St.
Basil was provided with a ship to aid him in delivering gifts to the children, just as St.
Nicholas is represented as using the reindeer sled of the Northlands.
The early legends tell us that in the seagoing lands, the three ships, instead of three camels,
were the vehicles of the wise men who followed the star.
The Three Camels of the Star.
you just heard.
I saw three ships, is an English-Irish carol dating back at least three centuries.
But the feasibility of the wise men using ships as their method of transport in the customs of a seafaring country does not really explain the origin or the significance of the Christmas ship.
In ancient days, a ship was always carried in the processions that honored Dionysus, the god of wine.
Dionysus was the son of Zeus and a Theban princess, Semele.
He was the only god whose parents were not both divine, being conceived by the divine seed of Zeus, but born by a human woman.
In the mixing of paganism and early Christianity, this Dionysian legend served well to parallel the biblical account of Jesus being conceived by the divine seed of God, but born of Mary, a human woman.
Mythology teaches that Dionysus taught men everywhere the culture of the vine, the planting of vineyards, and the fermenting of wine, believed to bring gladness to the hearts of men.
Early Christians of the Greek Isles, remembering the words of Jesus in the Gospels, I am the vine, ye are the branches, would already be familiar with the concept.
According to classical mythology, during his life Dionysus was captured by pirates who forced him aboard their ship.
But when the pirates tried to bind him with ropes, the ropes would not hold together.
They fell apart when they touched his hands or feet.
The helmsman of the ship believed this meant that Dionysus was a god and he should be set free at once.
But the helmsman was mocked by the ship's captain.
The captain ordered that the pirates raise the sails, and this they did, but the ship would not move.
Then, suddenly, fragrant wine ran in streams down the deck, a vine with many clusters spread out over the sail, a dark green ivy plant twined around the mast like a garland with flowers in it and lovely fruits.
At this point, Dionysus is said to have turned into a lion and the pirates, fearing for their lives, leaps overboard, turning into dolphins, all except for the faithful and perceptive helmsman on whom Dionysus had mercy.
The miracle of the ship was seen as a rescue from death, the guarantee of mercy from the gods at the moment of death, and the promise of life eternal in the heavenlies.
The ship was ever thereafter associated with ancient Greek festivals in honor of Dionysus, Many of whose ritual worship customs became associated with our Christmas observances.
The archetypical connection between traversing bodies of water and attaining eternal life dates back to the Egyptians.
Ancient Egypt's funerary texts are strewn with references to boats, notably the various solar and divine vessels on which the deceased hoped to voyage into the cosmic afterlife.
The idea was that the majestic vessels Many of which have been excavated from the Giza necropolis, and most notably from beside the south face of the Great Pyramid in 1954, were intended in some way to serve as symbolic vehicles on which the souls of the dead pharaohs could sail into heaven.
In these solar barks, the soul of the pharaoh, the Horus King, would cross the Milky Way to enter the Egyptian Duat, or heavenly kingdom of Osiris, thus attaining life eternal in the stars.
One can trace mystical shifts throughout the mythology of all countries.
Over the years, the purpose of these shifts changed in the stories associated with them, but their presence and connection with the concepts of life eternal after death continues to this day, even in the observances of customs of Christmas.
Having, in a rather sidelong manner, brought up the subject of the wise men by way of the three shifts, It is time to discuss these participants in Christmas Legend and to investigate the custom of the giving of gifts during the holiday.
This exchanging of gifts at Christmas was definitely influenced by the celebrations of the Roman Saturnalia Festival, as Tertullian records in his writings.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with the giving of gifts, in celebration of some event or just because you want to give one.
But in the mixing of paganism and Christianity, some have sought to link Christmas gifts with those presented to Jesus by the wise men.
This fit very well with the concept of the celebration of the birth of the S-U-N, Sun God, and so it came to be accepted that the gifts of the wise men must have been birthday gifts, that they were presented at the manger on the night Christ was born, and that this is the real meaning behind the exchanging of gifts at Christmas.
The subject of who were the wise men or Magi, what was the star that they followed, and exactly when all this occurred involves incredibly detailed research that we just cannot adequately cover in the time left in tonight's episode of the Hour of the Time.
Perhaps in some other context this material can be related to you so you can duplicate the research for yourself.
But suffice it to say for now that there is very strong scriptural and astronomical documentation to indicate that Jesus Christ was born on September 11, 3 B.C.
as we now reckon the calendar, between 619 and 739 P.M.
Palestine time.
The Magi do not even enter the story until well after this birth occurred.
Briefly, according to the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men, whose numbers are never specified, traveled to see Herod in Jerusalem and said, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?
For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
In the verses referencing this star that the Magi followed, the term, in the east, It's a translation of the Greek word Anatole, which means, in the rising.
Many people believe that the star seen by the Magi was exceptionally bright.
However, the Bible makes no mention of the brilliance of the star, only that the Magi took special note of it.
Whatever this star was, was important to them for its meaning, significance, and heliacal rising, not its brightness.
Another popular misconception is that, after first seeing the star, the Magi immediately followed the star from their eastern homelands to Jerusalem.
Tradition also depicts the Magi arriving in Bethlehem on the night of Christ's birth, finding the newborn Christ child in the manger while the shepherds stood by.
Yet Biblical accounts clearly demonstrate that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem over one year and three months after Jesus' birth.
In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2, verse 11, we read, And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him.
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
The first thing that should catch our eye about this verse is that the Magi found the young child in the house, not in a stable.
But of even greater significance is that the young child they found is described by the Greek word Paidon and the Aramaic word Talia.
These words are never used to describe a newborn baby.
When the shepherds arrived at the manger on the night of Christ's birth, according to the Gospel of Luke, they found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
The word babe in Luke is the Greek word brephos and the Aramaic word ula, both always and exclusively used when describing a very newly born baby.
Also, the shepherds were able to identify this child by the fact that he was wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Many people believe that these swaddling clothes were old, tattered rags that Mary and Joseph wrapped around the baby because they were so poor and had nothing else to put on him.
This, too, is not true.
Even to this day, the sons of kings and princes in the East are salted and swaddled immediately after birth.
The covenant of salt is one of the oldest known covenants and is mentioned several times in the Old Testament.
In Eastern lands, the taking of salt is a pledge, a promise of fidelity.
According to this ancient custom, if someone comes to your house and eats with you food which has been seasoned with salt, they can never betray you or do you harm, nor will you betray or harm them.
Christ made reference to this ancient and respected custom As did St.
Paul to the Colossians when he wrote, quote, Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, end quote.
With regard to the salt and swaddling customs associated with childbirth in Eastern cultures, a tiny bit of salt is rubbed on the baby to indicate that the parents intend to teach the child to be truthful.
The baby is then wrapped in swaddling cloth.
These are very fine linen strips, about 2 inches wide, which are wrapped round and round the baby's body to straighten him out.
Arms and legs are all made as straight as a ramrod.
This ceremony is a sign to God that the parents will rear the child to be straightforward before the Lord and free from crookedness.
The child is left in this position from 15 minutes to 2 hours while the parents pray Meditate and make their vows to God concerning their sacred trust which was given them when they received the child.
The Gospel of Luke concerning the birth of Christ records, And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.
We know that Mary was told by the angel that her son would be called the Son of the Highest.
Therefore, she rightly treated him as royalty and used swaddling clothes.
Understanding this ancient custom also explains why the Bible says that the shepherds, when they heard the angels' announcement of the birth, came with haste.
They understood these cultural customs and knew that the swaddling ceremony didn't last too long.
This put them under some time constraints to get to the manger.
If they delayed too long, they would miss the entire thing.
Thus they came with haste to the manger.
In the same way that the Gospel of Luke makes no mention of any wise men present at the manger to see the newborn babe on the night of Christ's birth, the Gospel of Matthew makes no mention of the presence of shepherds visiting the house to see the young child.
Upon finding the young child in the house, The Magi fell down before him as a sign of utmost reference to a king, the king of Israel born in Judea.
The Magi themselves opened the gifts that they had brought before presenting them to the king, which was the custom whenever gifts were presented to royalty.
The Magi's gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were very precious and costly indeed, suitable for giving to royalty.
Also, that there were three gifts given is no indication whatsoever that there were three Magi.
Although modern tradition consistently depicts three Magi, this is guesswork and has no scriptural verification.
There were many more Magi than three because this was a great moment in history and in the lives of these religious men.
Also, when traveling long distances Men of the Eastern culture normally moved in a large group or caravan for security purposes.
The company of Magi was not mistaken for a band of charlatan magicians or astrologers, but rather as their ambassadorial retinue.
This group of wise men and their entourage represented the astronomical elite and the courts of the East, and were so impressive that King Herod and the people of Jerusalem were astonished and amazed.
The traditional belief of only three wise men arriving at the manger with the shepherds on the night of Christ's birth, whether they traveled by camel, ship, or UFO, is simply not substantiated by anything scriptural.
Nor is the custom of giving gifts at Christmas a custom of Christian origin.
Nor were the gifts of the Magi birthday presents.
The gifts given at the time of the winter solstice was an ancient pagan tradition, based on the celebration of the birth of the S-U-N sun god.
The Romans gave presents during the celebrations of Saturnalia and of Calends.
Early religious leaders denounced the New Year's gift-giving and Christmas gift-giving took its place.
In the mixing of paganism and Christianity, some would have us believe that the exchanging of gifts grew out of the desire to emulate the unselfishness of Christ.
Regardless of its pagan origin, the practice has become universal.
How this tradition developed into the commercialized Santa Claus worship by which we are nowadays inundated will be part of our next program on this subject.
But back to the Magi.
Traditions with no scriptural basis at all have set the number of the Magi at three.
And they have been named Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.
The naming of the Magi is believed to have originated in medieval France, where they were called the Three Kings of Collin.
Melchior, said to be the king of Arabia, was supposed to be an aged man with a long beard who offered gold, an acknowledgment of the royal lineage of the king of Israel.
The second was Jasper, or Gaspar, The King of Parsis, a beardless youth whose offering was frankincense, significant of the great physician.
And Balthasar III was a dark-visaged Moor, King of Ethiopia, whose offering was myrrh, signifying high priesthood.
The same naming and numbering of the wise men was later adopted by most of the other European nations, including Italy, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Spain.
Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, and other Central American countries also have their versions of the Magi named and numbered, a custom that reflects their Spanish cultural heritage.
In 1731, at the Chapel Royal of St.
James, the King and Queen of England, then George II and Queen Caroline, made offerings at the altar of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, according to custom.
The Golden Carol of the Wise Men dates to the 18th century and was most assuredly sung in the chapel during such gift-giving
rituals as those observed by King George II and his Queen.
We've drawn light right out of the bar on Christmas in the morning,
And straight we knew it was right, the right feeling in the morning.
Then did we fall on bend and leap on Christmas in the morning.
And praise the Lord!
The Lord will let us see His glory at His joining.
Forever God's love is made unbreakable in the morning, To go before us both sleep and pray,
A faith in prophets' warning.
And may we thrive when death shall come on Christmas in the morning
And be in heaven a glorious home that's all Christmas morning
Around 1857, Dr. John Henry Hopkins, rector of Christ's Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania,
wrote the music and lyrics of the famous carol, We Three Kings of Orient Are.
are.
Nothing imaginable could have more permanently engraved in stone the unscriptural traditions we hold concerning the wise men than this carol.
And with this carol, we must close for tonight.
Tomorrow we will continue with our investigation into the carols and customs of Christmas and bring this series to its end.
Until then, good night and God bless each and every one of you.
God bless you.
▲
Export Selection