"The Twelve Days of Christmas” is a century's old song
that originated in 1534 England, and was believed to have been written
as a catechism lesson for Catholic children after King Henry VIII
broke ties with Rome and started the Church of England. And why this
break... because Pope Clement VII refused to grant the king an
annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
However, after
the king's death Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was able to finalize
said break by initiating doctrine changes that forever allied the
Church of England with the Protestant Reformation. And with those
changes came a banning of the open practice of Roman Catholicism
throughout England. Started in 1558 and lasting until 1829, Roman
Catholics were not only forbidden to practice their faith but were
shunned and punished...with some even being put to death...if
caught doing so.
But Roman Catholicism lived on in so-called
“Merry old England” but in secret of course. Veiled and shrouded in masked musings with words
spoken in ever so hushed tones became the order of the day as it
was the only way that Catholicism could survive in England during those dark times.
And survive it did via Roman Catholic tenets and doctrine being
passed down from parents to their children...passed down but in a way so
as not to let on what was really being done.
And what seemed to
be on the surface just a simple children's counting song about
animals and such...a song whose words could easily be
remembered...was to believers a song not only to be sung but to be
learned from...a song that in reality was anything but simple for
the song that became a carol was a child's lesson in the tenets of
the Roman Catholic faith.
And so the song...now a carol...that was actually the doctrine of
the Holy Roman Catholic Church...catechism if you will...was born
and is still sung and beloved to this day. And yet it remains a
carol with two meanings...one meaning has it being just another
oh-so pretty Christmas carol and the other meaning has it deeply embedded
in believers faith via code words and numerical alludings that are
key to the Catholic faith and it's age old traditions.
And tradition one according to the Holy Roman Catholic Church is
that Christmas celebrations are to last twelve days, beginning with
Jesus' birth on Christmas Day (December 25th) and ending on
Epiphany Day (January 6th)...the day upon which the Magi visited
the baby Jesus bearing three gifts...gifts having both a symbolic
and a spiritual meaning. And with the gift of gold being the symbol
of both divinity and kingship on earth; the gift of frankincense
being a symbol of deity, holiness and righteousness; and with the
gift of myrrh being a symbol of bitterness, suffering, affliction,
and ultimate death, the life of Jesus the man and the ultimate
death of Jesus the Son of God was forever foretold in the gifts of
the Three Wise Men.
But like I said said before “The Twelve Days of Christmas”
as written was a song based upon numbers...numbers having a religious
connotation to believers whose meaning had to be hidden at the time it was anonymously written. So let's break down both the numbers and
the words so we can truly understand the theological lessons
many believed were secretly being taught.
But first a little side note...
We all know the gifts
“my true love” sent over the
twelve days...at least at face value we do...as in
“A
Partridge in a Pear Tree; Two Turtle Doves; Three French Hens; Four
Calling Birds; Five Golden Rings; Six Geese a Laying; Seven Swans a
Swimming; Eight Maids a Milking; Nine Ladies Dancing; Ten Lords a
Leaping; Eleven Pipers Piping; and Twelve Drummers
Drumming”...which in today's economic market would have a current face
value of $34,558.65 according to the PNC Financial Services Group
who has been tracking the carol's price cost numbers for over 30
years. But that is not the total cost for each of the gifts, except
for the
"twelve drummers drumming," is repeated multiple times as per
the carol's actual wording, bringing the dollar cost of
“The
Twelve Days of Christmas” gifts up to a whopping $156,507.88.
Me thinks the religious aspects of the gifts is a much better bargain if you will.
Now let's look at the actual meaning and corresponding numbers...as per believers and the
faithful...behind each gift in relation to Catholic doctrine and
let's start with the twelve times repeated words “True Love.”
“True love”...the giver of the gifts would be God the
Father with the “partridge in a pear tree” being His son
Jesus Christ on the cross. The “two turtle doves” refer
to the Old and New Testaments, while the “three French hens”
stand for faith, hope and love, which are the primary virtues
taught in the New Testament.
The
“four calling birds” would represent the four gospels of
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, with the
“five golden rings” heralding the first five books of the Old Testament. The
“six geese a-laying” refer to the six days of creation,
and the
“seven swans a-swimming” represent the seven
gifts of the Holy Spirit (prophecy, serving, exhortation, teaching,
contribution, leadership and mercy) while some others say the seven swans
are a reference to the seven sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Anointing of the sick, Marriage and Holy orders).
The
“eight maids a-milking” are the eight beatitudes,
with the
“nine ladies dancing” being the nine Fruits of
the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). The
“ten lords
a-leaping” stand for the Ten Commandments, while the
“eleven pipers piping” represent the 11 faithful disciples.
And lastly, the
“twelve drummers drumming” symbolize the
12 points of doctrine from the ancient Apostles’ Creed.
And while to many this carol remains just that...a carol to be sung
at Christmastime whose pretty yet oddly chosen words have a deeply
religious meaning to those of faith while at the same time it is
just pretty sung words to others. Though I personally cannot tell you which
side of that particular coin is the truth, I can say that
“The
Twelve Days of Christmas” is a classic carol born from Roman Catholic persecution, and yet in its
very ambiguity and its hauntingly repeated words it is a carol that
will be around for many years to come.
And with that I will also say that a carol such as “The Twelve
Days of Christmas,” especially with its particular numerical
patterning as well as its irregular syllable context, has also been
subject to parody over the many years. And while some might think
it quite sacrilegious to turn a time-honored carol into a political
statement of sorts, I feel that a parody of this carol is but a rightful slap in
the face to those who abide by the monstrosity known as political correctness. So here
is my version of this Christmas classic and it's my gift to the
politically correct everywhere...said with a smirk and a wink of
course.
The Twelve Days of a Trump Christmas...in descending order due to time and word constraints...LOL. On the Twelfth day of Christmas the 'talking heads' gave to me Twelve libs imploding; Eleven
fake news stories; Ten U.N. screwings; Nine whores a-lying; Eight
charges filed; Seven caravans coming; Six new subpoenas; Five
tweets from Trump; Four Comey leaks; Three swamp rats; Two summits
more; and an
'Ocasio'nal-Cortez faux-pas.
