The Twelve Days of Christmas

   In Spring and Summer the garden wreaths itself in a splendor all its own; but in winter, when all the world lies sleeping beneath a blanket of snow, it falls to us to create the splendor at Christmas.  As the world descends into darkness, we light a light.
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   The “Twelve Days” project is a plan for turning the garden into a tableau of the items named in the popular Christmas song, arrayed along the garden paths, to be displayed from Christmas to Epiphany.  The designs were unveiled two years ago on facebook and in the Library’s Garden Window, and they will be re-posted each year, each on its own day.  A single page version of the 12 Days is pictured below.  Copies suitable for coloring are available at the Library for anyone who would like to have one.  
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   Last year we unveiled the first full scale, full color 1st Day of Christmas – the Partridge on a pear (see below).  Each year more will be added to the display until the entire dozen is complete.
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   The story behind the song’s seemingly non-sensical lyrics is that it was a mnemonic device (a memorization tool) used as a catechetical aid by priests during times when the Church was suppressed and forced into hiding.  It is a hold over from the days of altar rocks and hedge row masses, back when one could be hung for being a priest, or for giving sanctuary.  The “gifts” are a kind of a code each symbolizing some article of faith and each and every one of them coming from God the Father who in the song is called “My True Love”.  The symbols are explained briefly in the green box below with a more detailed discussion next to the full versions as they are completed.