Christmas - Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly

 ♫Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly♪

 

After a big fuss on Monday, the Wreath is up.  

I’ve had a new front door this year and the suction cup I used on the old door doesn’t stick on fake-wood grain. I dashed around like a mad thing and came up with a compromise, an ‘S’ hook wrapped in Duck Tape, so it wouldn’t scratch the new brass, hangs from the door knocker holding my beautiful wreath.

It’s just a bog-standard wreath except for the model of a red cardinal bird nested in the middle – I used to live in Texas so I’m allowed cardinals – but it set me thinking, why do we strew the house with green stuff in darkest time of the year?

So I trawled around in the place we all go for information these day – the internet. There’s a lot of speculation and ‘I believe this so it must be true’ about greenery at Christmas. I agree, to a point, that evergreens must have been mystical – remaining green with life when all else dies – a promise that spring will return and a safe haven for nature spirits to rest over winter. 

But I’m a scientist and I need proof.

The first ‘real’ information I could find was the decorations around the Roman Festival of Saturnalia. Holly is sacred to the god Saturn and they gave sprigs to friends as gifts. Ivy was used by the Romans to advertise places that sold wine: mulsum – honey and wine together – was an important part of Saturnalia.

The Roman writer Pliny the Elder tells us that Celtic priests used Mistletoe in fertility magic – any barren animal given mistletoe in a drink would become fertile. The Romans regarded Mistletoe as symbolising peace, love, and understanding. The Victorians seem to have turned all this into the tradition of a kiss under the mistletoe – I couldn’t find any reference earlier than Victorian for that one.

It is from the Anglo-Saxon festival of Yule that we get the candles. Yule was a festival to welcome the return of the sun and they lighted candles to encourage the longer days to come back.

Christianity appropriated a lot of the imagery of earlier festivals. Ivy needs to cling to grow, therefore it symbolises that people need to cling to God to grow spiritually. All the evergreenery symbolises the everlasting life with God. A Wreath is a circle, to symbolise eternity. The Romans used wreaths to celebrate a Victory so now we have wreaths as a symbol of victory over evil.

I have always had a sneaking admiration for the first person who clung to the old ways. I imagine them saying “But Father, it’s not pagan at all. Holly is for the crown of thorns and those red berries, why they’re like the blood of Christ.”