If you're interested in any other Christmas traditions, it's possible I may have already posted about them. Check out the last several previous posts to see if you can find what you're looking for.
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Last year the Christian radio station I listen to had a call-in competition drawn out over twelve days. On day one, the caller had to finish the line from the song: "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..." Each day added another line, until on day twelve the caller had to complete all twelve days.
I can comfortably count down from about the seventh day of Christmas; anything above that gets a little shady.
As with just about any information available today, the roots of this song are controversial. Some agree with Christian meanings, others deny the possibility. And as with anything, you can use whatever information you find to fit the argument you wish to present. (I found a good article supporting non-Christian roots for this song at snopes.com, if you wish to read further. This article swayed me to believe the secular origins to be more true than the religious.)
First of all, the twelve days begin on December 26th and end on January 6th. Some cultures celebrate Christmas during this time period rather than on December 25th. January 6th is referred to as Epiphany, marking the day the Magi visited baby Jesus.
Even though this song probably did not originate from Catholic persecution as many claim, the Christian interpretations giving to it in later years are still kind of fun. I'm going to tell you what they are anyway.
So, here we go...
Day 1 - A Partridge in a Pear Tree: The partridge represents Jesus and His devotion to His people, as a mother partridge is devoted to her chicks even to death. The pear tree represents the cross that Jesus died on.
Day 2 - Two Turtle Doves: Old and New Testaments
Day 3 - Three French Hens: Three virtures of faith, hope, and love...or the three gifts of gold, frankencense, and myhrr given to baby Jesus by the Wise Men.
Day 4 - Four Calling Birds: Four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John
Day 5 - Five Golden Rings: The Law of Moses, Pentateuch, Torah...(all words for the first five books of the Bible)...Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy
Day 6 - Six Geese A-Laying: Six days of creation in which God created all things. Eggs may also represent new life, or creation.
Day 7 - Seven Swans A-Swimming: Paul wrote about seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, & compassion.
Day 8 - Eight Maids A-Milking: The Beatitudes - those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, the meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
Day 9 - Nine Ladies Dancing: Fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Day 10 - Ten Lords A-Leaping: Ten Commandments
Day 11 - Eleven Pipers Piping: The eleven faithful disciples (Judas was the twelth disciple, but betrayed Jesus)
Day 12 - Twelve Drummers Drumming: Twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed. (Refer to Rich Mullins' song "Creed" for an easy reference.)
Next post: The Candy Cane, Interpreted
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