Portland Observer, December 15,1982 Section II Page 3
'Deck the halls with boughs of h o lly ...
“ The G lory o f Lebanon shall
came unio thee. the fir tree, the pine
tree and the box together, to beauti
fy the place of thy sanctuary
— Isaiah 60:13
From the earliest time evergreens
have signified eternal life and their
use is one o f the most beautiful
Christm as traditions. The art of
using evergreens, cones and fragrant
herbs dates back to the Egyptians,
thousand o f years before the birth
of Christ. References to the use of
wreaths and garlands of leaves are
found in Oriental literature, in the
traditions of the Druids, and in the
records of the ancient Hebrews.
The decorative use of flowers and
fruits was continued by the Greeks
and Romans during the early part of
the C hristian era but the church
leaders decreed that this "p agan “
practice must cease. However, the
usage was too deeply rooted in cus
tom and in the 7th century the Pope
decided not only to allow but to en
courage the popular use of greens
and flowers.
Holly
The holly holds special s ig n ifi
cance for Christm as. The name
“ h o lly ” is believed to be derived
from the word “ h oly.” H olly was
used in ceremonies long before the
Christian era; the Druids considered
it to be holy and used it to cure the
sick. It also was believed to keep evil
spirits from the houses and to pro
tect the house from lightning.
Branches hung around the house
and stable were a good omen and it
was believed that cattle would thrive
if holly were placed where they
could see it.
In England and Scotland the h o lly
leaves with heavy spines were called
“ he" and those that were smooth
referred to as "she," and the leaves
were believed to determine who
would be the head of the household
the following year.
The Scotch-Irish who settled in
Pennsylvania continued this custom
and believed if holly were brought
indoors during good weather the
w ife would rule the home, but, if
brought in during bad weather, the
man would be master.
• The ceremony, "B urning of the
Greens" comes from the notion that
I f holly were left in the home after
T w e lfth Night it would bring bad
3uck. Another belief was that if holly
¡were left inside too long spirits
w ould disturb the maidens o f the
household.
5 One custom said holly must be
burned, not thrown away, let bad
Juck come to the household; another
custom said holly must be kept until
the follow ing year to protect the
house from lightning.
H o lly is a popular symbol of
Christmas throughout the world. In
Italy sprigs are used to decorate the
manger at Christmas. In Germany it
is called “ C hristdorn,” signifying
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the crown o f thorns placed on
Christ's head at the Crucifixion. An
old German legend says the holly
berries were originally yellow but
were turned red by the blood of
Christ. To the Pennsylvania Dutch
the red berries signified the blood of
Christ and the white flowers the
purity o f his conception.
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Mistletoe
Mistletoe, which is a parsitic plant
growing on trees, is steeped with leg
end. Scandinavian legends say the
mistle toe must always be suspended
to serve as an instrument of good to
counterbalance its earlier destruc
tion.
In ancient B ritain the Druids
made a stately procession into the
woods to procure m istletoe, with
that found in the oak tree consid
ered especially sacred. When the
chosen oak was found the leader cut
the sacred plant, which fell into a
cloth held by a group o f maidens.
Sacrifices and incantations followed
and when the crowd dispersed each
was given a small piece to place over
their doorway.
Early Christians called the mistle
toe "all-heal” and it was considered
to be a symbol of the healing powers
o f Christ and used to decorate
churches at Christmas time. It was
considered so sacred that enemies
made a truce when they met under
its branches. The early Christians in
England gave each other a sacred
kiss of peace and goodwill before re
ceiving mass. "S alute on another
with a holy kiss." (Romans 16:16)
As a decoration in homes, mistle
toe, along with hotly and other
greens, has long brought good fo r
tune. Lovers through the ages have
sealed vows with a kiss under the
mistletoe, which ht.ng« happiness,
good foxune Jong life and fertility.
Yule log
The worship of trees had a signifi
cant place in the history o f man.
Back in the ancient days when a
place was cleared in the forest for a
new village, a group o f trees was left
in the center of the clearing. One of
these was designated as the “ mother
tree“ — the source o f life and re li
gious activity. As settlements grew,
pioneers set forth to new areas, tak
ing with them their household gods
and customs.
From this ancient tree worship
came the Christmas observance of
the Yule Log.
In France the Yule Log was called
“ La Tronche” — the tru n k — and
was lit for a few minutes on Christ
mas Eve. Then the fire was put out
and the log covered w ith a cloth.
The children beat the cloth with
sticks to see if they could bring the
log to life again, but their efforts
were o f course fruitless. The ch il
dren were then sent away to ask for
giveness for their sins and while they
were gone their parents hid presents
under the cloth. So when they re
turned to try again, they found their
presents.
The Yule Log might have origin
ated in the Greek ceremony cele
brating the birth of Apollo and A r
temis. This comes from the tradition
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An old tale tells how. when Mary and Joseph were on their way to
Bethlehem they sew a cherry tree. Because they could not reach the
fruit. Mary asked Qod's help and the tree held Its limbs down to her.
o f the Mother Leto worshipped in
the form of a tree trunk or log.
The Yule Log was also considered
to be the fire mother o f the Sun
God. The log was half-burned on
Christmas Eve after a gift cere
mony, then stored as protection
against lightning. The ashes were
buried by fruit trees to insure great
er productivity during the following
year
Cbrlatmaa tree
Although the German people are
usually credited with originating the
Christmas Tree, the idea began
much earlier.
The Egyptians took date palms—
signifying the triumph of life over
death— into their houses during
winter solstice. The Romans
trimm ed trees with trinkets and
small masks o f Bacchus. V irg il
wrote about decorating trees with
toys. In northern Europe the Druids
tied apples and cakes to tree
branches to honor Odin and candles
to honor their own god. Balder.
In his story, "The First Christmas
Tree,” Henry Van Dyke said W ini
fred, a missionary, went from Eng
land to take C hristianity to the
Druids. He begged them not to wor
ship their gods and make sacrifices
to them, but to take a small fir tree
into their homes to celebrate the
birthday of Christ.
Martin Luther is said to have been
walking home through the forest on
Christmas Eve. He tried to tell his
family about the beauty of the stars
and the trees but words failed him.
So he brought in a small fir tree and
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decorated it with candles.
In Lithuania trees were decorated
with small windm ills or birdcages
made of straw; in Norway with fish
nets; in Sweden with strings of flags;
in Poland with feathers and rib
bons.
The Christmas Tree did not arrive
in England until 1829 when a Ger
man living in London decorated a
tree for his children The first deco
rated tree in the U.S. was supposed
to have been set up during the Revo
lutionary War by homesick Hessian
soldiers.
'
A myth explains why Christmas
Trees are decorated with tinsel. A
poor woman trimmed her tree care
fully but during the night spiders
covered it with their webs. When the
Christ Child saw this he turned the
webs to silver.
Under the mistletoe
Channel set diamonds to comple
m e n t y o u r m o s t fa s h io n a b le
outfit. Handcrafted in precious 14k
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size most suitable for you.
From our Art Contempo Collection.
Design copyiighled
1982
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did not know she’d take it so,
Or else I ’d never dared:
Although the bliss was worth the blow,
I did not know she’d take it so.
She stood beneath the mistletoe
So long I thought she cared;
I did not know she’d take it so,
Or else I ’d never dared.
Counter Cullen
Thank you fo r your
patronage during the past
year.
We wish you a
Happy Holiday Season.
Devlin's Cafe
1332 N. S kidm ore St.
Brlnolnn h nw «
Yule Log.
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