On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six geese a laying . . .

I was surprisingly inspired by today’s six geese, but in a different way than the previous days. I’m going to do things a little backwards today, because my inspiration actually comes from the religious interpretation instead of the secular as it has in days past.

So here’s the scoop. Geese were among the first birds to be domesticated. Our Neolithic ancestors discovered that, rather than spending days searching for animals to kill or nests to rob, it was easier to capture them live and keep them penned by the cave. The heard or flock could be increased by having them mate. The food supply became more regular as one could just go outside and slaughter a bird or other animal in the pen for meat or collect eggs from the fowl nesting in the enclosure. Since geese were a common barnyard fowl in England and been the topic of a lot of folklore, it is natural that geese were included in the carol, Also, over time, goose became a traditional Christmas meal.

Because of their migration habits, they were often considered to be a symbol of the solar year and also fertility. Ancient Egyptians believed that a mummy’s soul rose up in the form of a goose with a human head.  The Roman goddess, Juno (rules heaven and marriages), considered the goose sacred. Why? In 387 B.C. the geese in her temple cackled and honked, warning the Romans that barbarians were close. Ever since then, the geese were honored for their protective services.   Medieval seafarers had a strange tale on the origin of the goose.  It seems that on the hull of their ships grew this long, goose-shaped barnacle.  Coincidentally, there was also an Arctic goose that migrated around England. Since this goose and the barnacle looked a lot alike, the sailors said that the goose originated from the barnacle and in some tales a seaside tree.

Why was this so important? Well, because the goose came from a tree it was suddenly all right to eat because it was then considered a ‘fruit’ and not the ‘flesh of animals.’ By the 18th century, the goose was the customary Christmas dinner.  The boar had been hunted to extinction, so it was no longer served. But, many homes served a string of sausages around the goose as a reminder of the boar in days past.

While geese were among the first animals to be domesticated, they were not, and still are not, as common as chickens in barnyards. The reason is that they are not as prolific as chickens in terms of laying eggs. While chickens lay eggs regularly, geese only lay 30 to 50 eggs per year. This limits their usefulness as egg producers and also means that it takes longer to increase the size of the flock for meat production. While geese are known to mate for life, the mating is not monogamous as the males will often mate with multiple females making for a lifetime polygamous relationship. Of course, this helps in breeding as you can cull the males for meat, while keeping a larger portion of the flock in the form of egg laying females, knowing that the remaining males can be counted on to mate and fertilize the eggs of all of the females.

It is thus interesting to note that our lover has given his true love six female geese that are currently laying eggs, thereby providing her with both a supply of eggs as well as the possibility of increasing her flock by allowing them to be fertilized and hatched. Being larger than chickens, the eggs of geese are also larger than chicken eggs. Goose eggs are also very rich tasting and are good for making deserts. So, here we are again, six days into the twelve day celebration and the focus remains on foods for the feasting.

Now as for today’s board, it stems from the religious interpretation of the 6 geese laying as the six days of creation that confesses God as Creator and Sustainer of the world.

Day 1: The heavens, the earth, light and darkness.

Day 2: Heaven

Day 3: Dry land, the seas, and vegetation.

Day 4: The sun, the moon and the stars.

Day 5: Living creatures in the water, birds in the air.

Day 6: Land animals and people

So here are the elements of the six days included in this Garden of Eden Observatory wedding.

Adding spice to your life,

Lia

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Five Golden Rings . . .

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Four Colly Birds . . .

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Three French Hens . . .

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves . . .

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree . . .