We are somewhere in the first quarter of the Twelvetide—the 12 days following Christmas. In the old days, December 25 was only the beginning of Christmas which started on that day, and went on till January 6th, which was considered by some to be more important than Christmas day itself! The 12 days mark the journey of the Magi, the three wise men, who set out to see the Baby Jesus on seeing the star, and ends at the feast of Epiphany, on Jan 6th, when they actually met Him.
The Christmas song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ has always intrigued me as I could never make head or tail of the strange array of gifts given on each day. And I am sure that many others are confused as well. But things started falling into place after I realized that each gift was symbolic of something in Christian belief or ritual, and is linked to Twelvetide. And what exactly are these gifts?
On the first day, someone’s true love gives her a partridge in a pear tree. Apparently, this symbolizes Jesus Christ himself.
The second day brings a gift of 2 turtle doves—which stand for the Old and New Testaments.
The 3 French hens of Day 3 are the virtues of faith, hope and charity.
Particularly confusing are the gifts of the fourth day—viz, 4 calling birds. What on earth are calling birds? Well, opinion is divided. They could be blackbirds or starlings or crows! But the number 4 stands for the 4 gospels.
The 5 golden rings of the fifth day are a more conventional gift and stand of the five books of the Old Testament.
6 geese-a-laying symbolize the 6 days of creation, and this, in some weird way, seems to make some sense!
The day after that brings 7 swans-a-swimming. These stand for the seven sacraments recognized by the Catholic Church —Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Anointing of the sick, Marriage and Holy orders.
The intriguing 8 maids-a-milking symbolize the eight beatitudes or the sacred blessings which mark the opening of the Sermon on the Mount.
Continuing with pretty ladies, the next day brings 9 ladies dancing, which are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, namely love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The nimbleness of the ladies is matched by 10 lords-a-leaping who come along on the tenth day. These symbolize the Ten Commandments.
The 11th day brings along accompaniments for the dancers and prancers in the shape of 11 pipers piping, who represent the 11 faithful apostles. I do feel the pipers could have come ahead of the ladies dancing.
And the last noisy day brings along 12 drummers drumming—symbolizing the 12 points of the apostle’s, i.e., the 12 points of faith that Christians believe in.
This carol was first published in 1780, but is believed to be much older.
Someone has gone to the trouble of calculating the cost of these gifts and has estimated the total for 2022 at a whopping $45,523.27. And this is when each gift is counted only once (i.e., assuming that the second day brings only the 2 turtle doves, and not another partridge in a pear tree).
Here is to the continuing spirit of Christmas—peace and joy to all our fellow-people!
–Meena
Millennial Matriarchs 