Symbolic interpretation of "The 12 days of Christmas"
Some
Christians assign symbolism to the gifts in the song. One of the most common versions of these assigned meanings is:
The 'partridge in a pear tree' means there is only one God and is also symbolic of
Jesus (see
Luke 13:34).
The 'two turtle doves' are the
Old and
New Testaments.
The 'three French hens' are the three Persons of the holy
Trinity or the three
virtues: faith, hope, and love.
The 'four calling birds' are the
Evangelists:
Matthew,
Mark,
Luke, and
John; or their
Gospels.
'Five gold rings' are the first five books of the
Bible, or the
Pentateuch.
'Six geese a-laying' refer to the six days of
the Creation.
'Seven swans a-swimming' are the seven
sacraments and the seven
gifts of the
Holy Spirit.
'Eight maids a-milking' are the eight
Beatitudes.
'Nine ladies dancing' are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.
'Ten lords a-leaping' are the
Ten Commandments.
'Eleven pipers piping' are the eleven faithful
Apostles.
'Twelve drummers drumming' are the twelve
doctrines in the
Apostles' Creed.
This interpretation is usually taught with a story that
English Catholics, suffering persecution in the 16th century, wrote the song with these hidden meanings. The song would have served as a pedagogical tool, however, some sources say that it was merely a "memory and forfiets game" originally played by children.
However, this ignores the fact that 16th century English Catholics were being persecuted by people who were also Christians, and none of the doctrines supposedly taught by the song were points of controversy. The
urban legend debunking site
Snopes.com argues that
"[t]here is no substantive evidence to demonstrate that the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was created or used as a
secret means of preserving tenets of the Catholic faith, or that this claim is anything but a fanciful modern day speculation..."
[1]There are 29 days until CHRISTMAS.
We spent the day with my parents. Good to have quality time with them. The kids
