THE MEANING BEHIND THE "12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS" SONG

My Dear sweet friend over at The Homeschool Lounge posted "The Meaning Behind The 12 Days of Christmas Song" a few days ago and after receiving permission, I wanted to share it with all of you.

THE MEANING BEHIND "THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS" SONG

Against a backdrop of tall, shadowy firs, a rainbow trio of

Christmas trees lights up the night (location unknown).
There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me.
What in the world do leaping lords, French hens,
swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out
of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?


This week, I found out.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. 

Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

    







     Christmas is one of my favorite holidays - Easter is the other. It is the time of year when everyones hearts grow softer and kinder, they are more giving and their spirit is joyful. 


     Although this will be a very small gift giving Christmas, it will be more focused on the real reason we celebrate Christmas... The birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have already begun unit studies on Joseph and Mary, then we'll move onto studying the town of Bethlehem, the Wise men, and finally the birth of Jesus.


     We will be touring the LIVE re-inactment of the town of Bethlehem where Jesus was born here in Santa Clara. You can watch it below.









We will also be baking a lot of cookies, cakes, making jars of Christmas Blessings, a huge Gingerbread House, tree ornaments and making some family gifts as well. We'll be watching many movies, singing Christmas Carols and Hymns. Our oldest son, his wife and our grandson will be here from out of town this year and so will one of our daughters although I wish "M" could be here too.


We have enjoyed focusing more on Jesus this year and it really puts the Christmas Season in perspective. Not to mention our stress levels are way down. I for one can do without all of the commercialism of Christmas. We all need to get back to the true meaning of what Christmas is, so for our family... it begins this year. Well, that is what our Christmas will entail so I am so looking forward to Christmas this year.


So I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.