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Archive for the ‘Halloween Meaning’ Category

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” is today a popular fun Christmas song that most of us sing a long to without really knowing its origin or its meaning. While many may consider it a children’s nonsense song it is believed to have been written in England with hidden meanings to help English Catholic children remember different articles of faith during the persecution by Protestant Monarchs in the 16th century. This was a time when to be caught with anything in ‘writing’ indicating adherence to the Catholic faith could not only get you imprisoned, it could get you hanged!

During this time in England when it was a crime to be a Catholic, the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song has been suggested to originally have been an “Underground Catechism” used as an aid to understand and spread the teachings of the religion. It was a way to camouflage and uphold their religion which was illegal to be practiced publicly or privately!

Let’s take a look at the symbols. ‘True love’ does not represent a suitor in fact it represented ‘God’, the “me” who receives the gifts is suggested to be every baptized person. The gifts themselves represented different ideas as follows:

The “Partridge in a pear tree” was Jesus.

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments of The Bible

3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity – the Theological Virtues.

4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch”, which relays the history of man’s fall from grace.

6 Geese A-laying = the six days of Creation.

7 Swans A-swimming = the seven sacraments – gifts of the Holy Spirit.

8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes (solemn blessings)

9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

10 Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments.

11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles.

12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed.

However not all believe this version of the history of the song to be true. In the book “A Celebration of History” by Leigh Grand, the words to the song were written around the late 1700′s and the music came some time earlier from France. He suggests that the song is nothing more than a child’s memory game. According to Grand the song has no religious significance whatsoever! He says that the object of the song was to facilitate a game where the child had to remember which gift came next and loose a turn if forgotten.

No matter what version you believe this song reinforces the idea of gift giving associated with the history of festivities. If one gift is given each day in this song then we can recount a total of 364 gifts given with 184 of them being birds. Birds must have been a prized gift back in the old days!

In recent times an economist computes each year the cost for all the gifts in this song adjusted to inflation. In 2005 the computed Christmas Price Index cost for all the gifts in the song was $72,608. This is done purely for fun from an economist’s point of view!

If you want to listen to this famous Christmas song you can download or play it for free over the internet at: http://www.christmasgifts.com/music.html or you can purchase a copy from Amazon.com – Enjoy, sing-along, get into the festive spirit and see how good your memory is!

As a Christian mom, Easter means much more to me than filling baskets with chocolate treats and watching children hunt high and low for their presents each year. Although those activities are a lot of fun!

More importantly for me, though, Easter is the time of year where I can talk with my children about Jesus’ death on the cross, His resurrection, and what it means for them – eternal friendship with Jesus!

For young children, the concept of salvation can be very difficult to understand. There are a lot of tools that can help you explain God’s gift to us and why His Son had to die on the cross.

You can make salvation bracelets out of colored beads or salvation books out of colored paper, and explain the significance of each color. You can also purchase toys from your Christian bookstore to help explain God’s plan of salvation in a child friendly way.

At Easter time, with so much yummy candy around, why not use jellybeans to teach your children the true meaning of Easter? Here are some suggestions of what the different colors can represent.

Black – This color represents sin. Sin is what separates us from God.

Red – This represents the blood Jesus shed when He died for us. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can erase our sin.

White – The white jellybean represents how clean our hearts are after Jesus’ blood removes our sin.

Green – Green is the color of grass and growing things. Now that Jesus has cleaned our hearts, we can grow to become more like Him.

Purple – This is the color of royalty. We need to remember that Jesus is the King of Kings. Now He is the king of our hearts.

Yellow – This represents the streets of gold that are in heaven. When we die we will live with Jesus in Heaven forever.

Pink and Orange- You can be creative with these colors! Perhaps one is to give to a friend, and tell them the Good News of Jesus too.

You and your husband have been invited to a costume party for Halloween. But neither of you have anything to wear! Should you run to the local discount store and buy anything that will fit you? Of course not! Be unique and original with couples’ costume sets you can find online!

Some of the funniest choices for couples’ costumes I found were:

Salt and Pepper Shakers – These light-weight costumes would be perfect on those balmy Halloween nights. Complete with shaker top hats, these costumes will be the talk of the party.

Bowling Ball and Pin – There is no better couple than the bowling ball and pin. This set would be great at a Halloween party for your bowling league!

Hot Dog and Mustard – A holiday treat, even on Halloween, is the hot dog. Why not dress like one and be your own treat?

Ketchup and Mustard – The same mustard costume paired with its favorite complimentary condiment.

Pizza Slices – Your favorite pepperoni snack has now become a costume. Make a pizza box purse for that night’s festivities to complete the ensemble.

Traffic Lights – Whether you are thinking stop or go, these costumes will let you know! The front lights up for party fun. Included is a hat that resembles the top of the light.

Some of the more outrageous couples’ costumes I found were:

The Plug and The Socket costume set
The Ball and Chain costume set
The Lock and Key costume set
The Nuts and Bolts costume set
The Handcuffs costume set

I say “outrageous” because of the placement of the props on the costumes. When you look them up, you’ll understand.

Many of the couples’ costumes you will find should be worn to adult only parties. The hidden meanings of the various costumes won’t be lost on children and could make for more uncomfortable moments instead of good, clean fun.

Although some of these costumes are rather expensive, some are reasonably priced. Buy one this year and you’ll be the talk of Halloween parties for years to come.