THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
This is the carol including what each day represents and some personal observations :
On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me :
1 ) A Partridge in pear tree 2 ) Two Turtle Doves 3 ) Three French Hens 4 ) Four Calling Birds 5 ) Five Golden Rings 6 ) Six Geese-a-laying 7 ) Seven Swans-a-swimming 8 ) Eight Maids-a-milking 9 ) Nine Ladies dancing 10 ) Ten Lords a-leaping 11 ) Eleven pipers piping 12 ) Twelve Drummers drumming
The first day of Christmas is the Partridge , which is Jesus Christ , who died on a tree ( the cross ) and God the Father is the ‘ True Love ’, the giver of all gifts .
Two Turtle Doves are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible . Doves also customarily symbolized the Holy Spirit in the literature and paintings of the time .
Faith , Hope and Charity and the Holy Trinity are represented by the three French Hens .
The four Calling Birds are the four Gospels of the New Testament . One can see the four Evangelists ‘ calling ’ to new believers and conversions after the time of Christ .
The five Golden Rings evoke the Hebrew Torah ( Law ), or the Pentateuch . The first five books of the Old Testament . To say it is ‘ Golden ’ is an understatement .
The six geese a-laying characterize the six days of Creation and the seven Swans a-swimming stand for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit . The eight Maids-a-milking are the eight Beatitudes and the nine Ladies dancing reveal the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit . It ’ s not clear what geese , swans , maids and ladies dancing have anything to do with this besides being part of the daily lives of people of that era .
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