[Jolly festive music]
Hello, lovely people. Merry Christmas!
I hope with all of my heart that you're having a wonderful day
and if you're not - well, I'm holding you in the light and sending special love your way
hi this is editing Jessica from the future
and yes, when I filmed this, half of the tree lights were off - and no, I didn't realise until long afterwards
[Exasperated sigh] It's been a day.
Just trust me on this one.
It annoys me more than it annoys you. There is no need to comment on it.
It just pains me.
Also, while I have you here, I'd just like to point out: there is still Christmas merch available in my shop!
It will be the top link in the description down below.
Please ignore the lights.
That is all. Please continue, Jessica.
Welcome to the first video in my Christmastide series.
'What on Earth is Christmastide, Jessica?'
Well, good question.
Other than being the new—oh, bye… Bye, Tills.
Other than being the new way I am doing Vlogmas this year, Christmastide is the REAL Christmas season
and I'm going to tell you all about it in this video and about all the fun things we're going to be doing
in the next eleven days of videos!
[Applauding and cheering sounds]
Which you'll find linked in the description (if I have already released them)
If you're new to the channel and like what you’ve seen so far,
or you've been watching for a while, but you haven't yet subscribed,
then click that red button below to make sure you don't miss any of the magical videos that are yet to come.
Disclaimer: I am a Quaker and the religions I'm talking about in this video aren't mine
So please excuse any mistakes I make; I have done my best to wrap my head around things .
Also, maybe I'm making these videos because I have weird feelings about Christmas and religion and I'd like to explode them.
Please share your own thoughts in the comments below.
Maybe I'm also a bit obsessed with Christmas
because I'm in that strange midpoint in life where I’m not a child or a parent,
but Christmas is entirely within my own control.
I grew up having these massive family Christmases
with my grandparents and aunts and cousins all packed into the family home in the Lake District
and it was utterly magical.
The story book Christmas with snow and thirty people you love gathered around a table, laughing.
But then my grandparents died and my parents moved from our family home where I'd grown up
to a much smaller place much further away
So...they can't host Christmas,
which means that Christmas for the last few years is at mine,
and I'm working out what I really love so I can make an amazing Christmas for my babies.
But, currently, you...are my babies.
Hi! Me again.
This is about to get educational.
If you don't want to work your brain today, I suggest you step forward to this time-code,
at which there will be fun.
And then come back and watch this educational stuff - obviously.
Learning is the best.
So, nowadays we tend to think of Christmas as starting on the 1st of December
or earlier if those shops selling Christmas things before Halloween are to be believed.
And it finishes on Christmas Day
But, that period is actually called Advent
- hence, Advent Calendars.
Did anyone else really fight to be the one who opened the door
but then not really care about what was inside?
I used to make sure I was the one who got to the door,
but then give the chocolate to my brother because, ew, chocolate is gross
Unpopular opinions with Jessica.
Not where I intended this video to go.
The liturgical calendar is essentially the church year, or Christian year.
It’s a way of marking out the seasons by feast days and celebrations of saints.
These days, the festivals vary somewhat between different churches
(although the sequence and the logic is largely the same),
but a liturgical cycle divides the year into a series of seasons
So they each have their own mood, theological emphasis, and types of prayer,
which are then signified by different ways of decorating churches; colours of banners;
and the robes worn by clergy.
Think about it: there are colours that you associate with certain seasons, right?
What is Easter if not yellow and pastels?
The Christmas season is red and green.
Not just by accident.
You're also supposed to behave differently at home
and obviously each different sect within the Judeo-Christian umbrella has slightly different ideas
as to which feasts and days are the most important
and therefore should be honoured.
For example, during the early Middle Ages, this would lead to confusion, as people marked days differently.
'How old are you?'
'Twenty feast days old!'
'Well...I celebrate forty feast days a year, so that's obviously not right.'
Much like when we were in Malaysia
and I got overexcited seeing statues with two dates on:
the year it was built according to the Western Gregorian calendar
and the year it was built according to the Chinese calendar,
which is something like 496.
How do you say that correctly?
64 96?
4,696?
I mean...
Oh, gosh. We're gonna need to know that in the future.
If we follow just the Christian Church, however -
i.e. setting aside the Jewish calendar, which is different -
we get the Eastern Christians, who split the calendar into eight vaguely similar parts of seven weeks
adjusted to fit the Solar calendar.
See here!
And then the Western Christians,
who are specifically like Lutherans and Anglicans
(which is Church of England)
and then you get this!
What is this?
I honestly find religious history so ruddy interesting.
I mean, to be fair…
I think I find all history intriguing.
My dream is to make historical documentaries where I get to travel the world
and dress up in period clothes.
Basically, I want Lucy Worsley’s job.
So, Advent is the first season of the year.
Not the last as you would believe,
according to the way we currently do the year.
Well, according to calendars, I suppose.
Anyway.
Advent: first season of the year - not the last.
It begins four Sundays before Christmas;
so, the Sunday falling on or nearest to November the 30th
So, again, Advent Calendar – incorrect.
It's also meant to be a fast time,
So, if it's chocolate Advent Calendar, it’s definitely even more incorrect.
Advent ends on Christmas Eve at sunset, and then we come [drum roll]
Christmastide!
[Christmas Cracker snaps] Ah!
Thank you!
Maha!
OK!
[Clearing throat] Joke:
Why was the turkey allowed to join the band?
Because it had drumsticks!
No? She's not gonna laugh, she's not gonna laugh.
Fine.
Still gonna wear this hat.
She didn't want to be on camera today,
'cause apparently Christmas means that people don't have to be made to work by their wives
Customs of the Christmas season include carol-giving;
gift-giving; seeing Nativity plays; attending church services; and eating special foods,
such as Christmas cake!
Which I bake every year and no one eats.
Although in Britain, we now do all of that in Advent
rather than Christmastide, because the season was pulled forwards
probably by consumerism
or capitalism.
Insert your own antagonist here.
Families would generally give each other presents on each of the twelve days,
which is what Claud and I are going to be doing this series,
rather than giving this one big Christmas present
and we're gonna keep the gifts in line for the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ song!
[Sparkly sound effect]
Yeah, stay tuned until the end to see how on Earth that works out.
Basically, these gifts over the twelve days are meant to symbolize a wish for the corresponding month
of the next year.
Apparently,
you can also judge what the weather will be like by each of the twelve days,
but since it's December, I'm guessing you're hoping the whole year won't be that cold.
In England, in the Middle Ages, this period is one of continuous feasting and merrymaking.
So, Christmastide goes from Christmas Day
right up until January the 5th, which is the Feast of Epiphany,
which is when the three kings went to [inaudible] and visited Jesus.
I only have two hands; I don’t know how I’m showing you that.
It's also the day you’re meant to take down all of your Christmas decorations
and is also called Twelfth Night.
So, in Tudor England, Twelfth Night itself was solidified in popular culture
because Shakespeare used it as the setting for one of his most famous stage plays, 'Twelfth Night,'
which just happens to be my absolute favourite play and I've lost my crown, so...
we're down.
Early North American Colonists brought their version of the twelve days over from England
and adapted them to the new country,
sort of adding little variations as they went.
The Monday Christmas wreath may have originated with these Colonials.
They’d make a wreath from local greenery
and if there were fruits available nearby (because we didn't have fruit in England at the time, just saying).
They’d make the wreaths on Christmas Eve and it would remain hung on their home’s front door
in the beginning of Christmas night
- Christmas Eve -
through to Twelfth Night, or Epiphany Morning.
And then, as was their tradition in England, all decorations would be taken down Epiphany morning
and the remainder of the edibles would be eaten
if they were still edible.
Why am I telling you this?
Why is it important?
Well.
Due to the dominance of Christianity in Europe throughout the Middle Ages,
many features of the religious year became part of the secular or non-religious calendar.
We celebrate Christmas; Easter; Saint Patrick's Day.
You give someone a chocolate Egg even if you don't go to church
and there's a wonderful cross-over now between people of all faiths and none
- in some cases worldwide - and it's so great that we can share things now.
It's also really interesting to look back and see where things came from.
Even if you're not religious, the history of Christianity and paganism
are so core to many aspects of our world now
- even though they're very disconnected
- that considering them is pretty vital to learning about a modern world
and why we do the things we do.
In the next eleven days, I'm going to be sharing videos with you
that are a mix of like fun and silly things with a kind of Christmas theme
and snippets of interesting facts and history
because history is weird;
facts are fun, and I'm overexcited.
And finally: do Quakers celebrate Christmas?
Hi. Meet my Christmas tree.
Yes.
But, as you know from watching my other videos on Quakerism,
not all of us, because we don't all follow one rule.
We are fun that way.
Now let's go open presents.
[Instrumental 'Joy to the World']
Merry Christmas, later in the day.
So, I think we're pretty pooped by the day's…activities.
We’re about ready to settle down the TV...
Settle down?
We’re about ready to settle down on the sofa and watch some quality Christmas time TV.
The most important part of Christmas Day,
obviously.
C: I got my hoodie on!
J: I’m wearing a nightie and an over sized granddad cardigan.
J: It's very glamorous.
C: Tilly’s very sleepy.
C: Everyone's had too much to eat.
C: Walter keeps farting.
J: Walter farts every day.
C: I know, but especially when I give him [whispering] sausages
C: Goose.
J: You're terrible, and you spoil them. C: I know, I'm such a feeder.
C: I don't know why.
J: Sorry, you can continue talking about how you overfeed the dogs if you want
C: No, no.
J: …or I can give you your final present of the day!
[Jessica gasps]
J: But your first present of the next twelve days!
Both: Ooooo.
J: Yeah!
J: Because we're doing the 12 Days of Christmas,
C: Aww. [Sparkly sound effect]
J: You get a present every single day! C: Yeah!
C: That's cool! J: And it relates
J: to the magical 12 Days of Christmas.
C: Interlude.
C: Du du du du du du... J: Puppy interlude while I find the presents.
C: Come on.
J: Hang on, lady.
C: Ooo, the Great Christmas Bake-Off is on in a minute.
C: To be honest, I don't actually watch that.
C: Call the Midwife Christmas Special!
J: Noo! Yes! C: Yes!
C: That's on at 7:45.
C: Right, OK. J: All right, OK.
C: We've gotta do this quick.
[Singing]
C: Sorry. J: The day one present for you...
J: ...is this lovely envelope.
C: Ugh.
C: Is that all I get, an envelope? Grrr.
J: Geez! OK, do you wanna open yours first?
C: Yeah. That'll take a matter of like two seconds.
C: Oh, actually.
C: This is really well [inaudible]
C: What is this, superglue?!
J: She has already been given presents today, by the way!
Just...
C: [singing] Partridge in a pear tree!
C: Aww, I love you.
J: I wrote her a poem.
C: Oh, is it a poem?
C: I might be a bit... J: That took me ages!
C: Aw, yeah.
C: Awww.
C: When you read it out loud, it makes it more—yeah!
J: It's A-B-B-A
C: That's so sweet!
C: I love it.
C: Thank you. J: You're welcome.
C: [Inaudible]
J: Claudia was, er...iffy on this whole trying to find presents for the Twelve Days.
C: Mmhm.
J: But--so I'm intrigued.
J: It's a book.
J: Ah!
J: This has been me all day, by the way.
J: Just like, "Ahh!"
J: 'Why Was the Partridge in the Pear Tree? The History of Christmas Carols'!
C: I thought you'd like that. You like learning facts. J: I do.
J: I do.
J: Oh, look!
J: It has Christmas carols and then what they actually mean.
J: Just the kind of thing I love.
J: Thank you for knowing the dork that I am, my love.
C: Indeed.
[Both] Mwah!
[Happy snuggle noises]
J: Let's watch TV. C: Yes. Let's.
J: Like.
C: Like... J: Like all Christmases are supposed to end with
C: Oh, I thought it was gonna rhyme. I thought you were doing another poem.
C: What was the line again?
J: Let's watch TV...
C: Let's watch TV...
C: and be very merry...
J: because there's lots to see...
[Gentle wind blowing]
J: We're over-tired!
J: And we've eaten too much.
J: Feel free to continue this poem in the comments down below!
J: Oh, my God, I'm ashamed of us, too.
C: We would never be able to, um...what they called?
C: When you're like a poet on stage.
[Gentle wind blowing]
C: Tumbleweed.
C: OK, see you later!
J: Bye-bye.
[Jolly festive music]