Category: Inspiration

Seven swans a-swimming signifies the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit – Rom. 12:6-8

Six geese a-laying represents six days of creation.

On the 5th Day of Christmas, “five golden rings” represents Five books of Moses. (The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch”, gives the history of man’s fall from grace.)

On the 4th Day of Christmas “Four calling birds” represents the Four Gospels  – Four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

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On the third day… “Three French Hens”

French Hens were very expensive during the 16th century (when the song was written), and thus are symbolic of the three costly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh given by the wise men (Matt. 2:10-11). An alternate significance is symbolism depicting the value of the three Christ virtues, faith, hope, and charity (sacrificial love) (1 Cor. 13:13). Other forms of the song use the French Hens to symbolize the three persons of the trinity. But let’s look at some other traditional trappings.

The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.

Wassail is from the Old Norse ves heill, meaning “good health.”
Recipe…coming soon

Ancient peoples, such as the Druids, considered mistletoe sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter when all other plants appear to die. Druids would cut the plant with golden sickles and never let it touch the ground. They thought it had the power to cure infertility and nervous diseases and to ward off evil.
Mistletoe comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “little dung twig”
Mistletoe (Viscum album) is from the Anglo-Saxon word misteltan, which means “little dung twig” because the plant spreads though bird droppings.

So there you have it folks, a couple of factoids. Never know when they’ll come in handy for ya;)

Two turtle doves represents the The Old and New Testaments.

The “partridge in a pear tree” represents Christ. The “True Love” one hears in the song is not a boy or girlfriend but Jesus Christ, because truly Love was born on Christmas Day. The partridge in the pear tree also represents Him because that bird is willing to sacrifice its life if necessary to protect its young by feigning injury to draw away predators.
The songs gifts are hidden meanings to the teachings of the faith. The “true love” mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earthly suitor, it refers to God Himself. The “me” who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge which feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, much in memory of the expression of Christ’s sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but thou wouldst not have it so…”

Don’t forget the Santa Tracker