We all know that The 12 Days of Christmas is a song we sing during the holiday season, but what in the world does it really have to do with the holiday? How can someone’s “true love” and a partridge in a pear tree really have anything to do with the date of Christ’s birth? Here’s the scoop…
Love Isn’t Always Romantic
True love is never romantic love. True love is agape love and agape love is defined as an unconditional love for everything. Unconditional — as in the person would die for you, regardless of what you did to that person. Getting to see the picture?
A Dangerous Time
The period of time when The 12 Days of Christmas was written was dangerous for believers. They were being persecuted and executed in many parts of the world. The 12 Days of Christmas is a way they could celebrate in code. After all, who would think twice about a children’s song about love, birds, lords and maids?
The Symbolism
So just what does the symbolism mean in The 12 Days of Christmas? First is the “true love”. We’ve already figured that one out. The true love is God. But what about the other symbols?
There is much debate about what the other symbols mean, but a few that many agree on are the partridge (which would represent Christ), the four calling birds (which represent the four gospels of the bible) and the seven swans are the Sacraments of the Holy Spirit.
Speaking of Debate
Speaking of debate, while some disagree on what the symbols mean, others disagree the song is a Christmas “code” at all. But isn’t that the way it is with all religion? Some people having faith and others dismissing or trying to disprove it?
Is The 12 Days of Christmas really a code? I’d like to think so. Just as the fish in the sand. What do you think?
