The Twelve Days of Christmas - Christian tradition holds that the twelve days of Christmas represents the journey of the wise men starting with the birth of Christ and culminating with their arrival at the manger, twelve days later, where the Lord revealed that Jesus was the son of God and the saviour of the world. The 12th day is celebrated as the Feast of the Epiphany and the 12-day period is known as Christmastide, a festive season. Then there is the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," in which each day is celebrated with a new set of gifts whose number coincide with the number of the day within Christmastide. There has been a lot of speculation about whether there is any significance to the types of gifts given on each day, however, there is no evidence to support the theories describing the meaning of the gifts or the purpose of the lyrics.
At our Christmas luncheon this year, one of our members provided a new explanation for the lyrics. This explanation was cited by Canadian hymnologist, Hugh D. McKellar, in a 1979 article decoding the meaning of the song. McKellar offered no objective evidence for his theory, claiming that it was for him a subjective truth. The theory is entertaining, nonetheless, it will probably never achieve the popularity of Dan Brown's, detective novel, The DaVinci Code, which uses alternate interpretations of religious history to give the storyline a sense of relevance and authenticity. Most of us would probably be absorbed entirely just memorizing the lyrics of this popular song, The Twelve Days of Christmas!
