Christmas is Western culture's most important holiday, and it is surrounded by lore passed down traditionally. Here are five facts about Christmas that are not widely known:

The number of magi is unknown.

The Gospel of Matthew records that magi (a word referring to Zoroastrian priests) gave the child Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt 2:11). Because three different gifts are mentioned, tradition (small-t tradition, not Apostolic Tradition) is that there were three givers. Matthew, however, does not specify the number of eastern visitors.

The Star of Bethlehem may not have been a bright object.

It is compatible with the Christian faith to believe that a miracle such as the Star of Bethlehem might have a natural explanation, with the "miracle" being in the nature and timing of the phenomenon. Many possible natural explanations for the Star have been proposed, but not all of them describe an astronomical object. One interpretation is that the "star" was actually the retrograde motion of the planet Jupiter, interpreted by the magi as an astrological sign. (Of course, nothing rules out the possibility that the Star was a purely supernatural phenomenon.)

The Twelve Days of Christmas do not even start until Christmas Day.

Our culture today inexplicably tends to stop celebrating holidays the day after that holiday. Thus the radio stations that play Christmas music throughout December return to regular programming on December 26, and most Christmas trees are taken down before the new year. Traditionally, though, the period before Christmas has long been called Advent, with a distinct season starting Christmas Day. The Twelve Days of Christmas last through January 6, the feast of the Epiphany.

Good King Wenceslaus was not a king.

The subject of the Christmas carol is Wenceslaus I, the Duke of Bohemia and patron saint of the Czech people. He lived in the 10th century and died a martyr's death when he was assassinated. The page mentioned in the song was named Podevin, and while he may have helped St. Wenceslaus with his charitable endeavors, tradition says he was killed after he avenged the murder of his master by killing the chief assassin.

Poinsettias are not poisonous.

These plants, originally from Mexico, are members of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae, many of whose members are toxic. Poinsettias themselves, however, do not contain any particularly dangerous substances, though it is inadvisable to get the sap in your eyes.

Thanks for playing, Michael! You guessed that the fossil in the Friday Fossil Guessing Game was of a mastodon tooth. It is indeed the tooth of a Columbian mammoth (story). You win this lovely interesting cobbled-together banner! You can just enjoy its niceness, or you can post it on your website. Or tile it as your desktop background. No, I'm not holding my breath for you to do that. Oh, and if you're not Michael, check out his blog "The Deeps of Time," to which I subscribe.


Should I impose more contests, trivia games, and such on the blogosphere? Because I can't be serious all the time, and I am inclined to keep occasionally doing these things.

For some weekend fun, try to guess what this is a fossil of. (Yes, fossil guessing games are considered "fun" at Leave the lights on.) This object was unearthed in a paleontologist's yard by Hurricane Ike. Makes me wonder how many unrecognized fossils were unearthed in non-paleontologists' yards!

The first person to guess correctly, or the person whose guess is closest, will get, well, some sort of prize. I'm thinking a lovely graphic. It may not be good sportsmanship to use Google to help you, but if you're comfortable with it, then nothing is stopping you.

Trivia #2 was not wildly popular, but neither was it totally ignored. Thanks for playing, Anna! You were correct on all four of the questions you attempted.

1. The mental disorder involving multiple personalities is called, descriptively, multiple personality disorder, or in the Psych Bible (the DSM-IV-TR), dissociative identity disorder. I was fishing for the wrong answer of schizophrenia, which contrary to the popular imagination, does not involve switching among multiple personalities at all. The confusion probably comes from the fact that some schizophrenics hallucinate that they hear voices.
2. Yeah, I meant a car that uses hydrogen as fuel. Thanks for correcting my sloppy writing. Steam would come out of the tail pipe of such a car.
3. Concupiscence is what I was looking for.
4. Jimmy Akin, Catholic apologist.
5. Richard Dawkins, atheist apologist. His writing on evolution is much more coherent, though.

More Friday Trivia!

1. What is the name of the mental illness in which an individual has more than one "personality" and switches among them, often without knowing it?


2. Say you had a hydrogen car. Would would come out of the tailpipe?


3. What's the Catholic term for what Freud called the "id"? (Hint: It starts with a C.)
   


4. Who is this guy?


5. And who is this guy?

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Last week's trivia questions were real stumpers! Anna got two 1/2 correct, which is very good. I wonder if I would have done as well. (Obviously, I picked questions I already knew the answer to.) Here are the answers.

But first, I want your trivia questions! Post them in a comment and see how many people can come up with the. (The more Google-proof the question, the better... in other words, try not to include hints that can be used as Google keywords.) Don't forget to come back later with the answers.

1. Anna was correct with "hammer." These are the English names of the bones of the inner ear: malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and stapes (stirrup).
   
2. Anna was on the right track. These are quark flavor quanta. (It took me ten minutes of research to figure out what to call them.) Technically, "up" and "down" are both part of isospin. It would have been more correct to give a list of five, not six: isospin, top, bottom, charm, ___, where the blank is strange (or "strangeness"). You cannot possibly guess this. You just have to know it.
   
3. Anna was correct with ciborium. A tabernacle is a box or cabinet, not a covered vessel.
   
4. What? Nobody knows the infamous work of Jack Chick when they see it?

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Instead of a "media" post as is usual for Friday, here are some trivia questions for your weekend! Leave a comment with your answers. No peeking!

1. What is the third member of the group "anvil, stirrup, ____"?
   
2. What is the sixth member of the group "up, down, top, bottom, charm, ____"?
3. In Catholicism, what is the name of the covered vessel used to store consecrated hosts?
   
4. Identify this:

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