Christmas Celebrations and Traditions

Few people know the history of Christmasassociated mistletoe with their goddess of love,
Celebrations and Traditions. The idea to celebrateFrigga. Thus, the custom of kissing under the
Christmas on December 25th dates back to themistletoe probably originated from this belief. The
4th century. The Catholic Church wanted toearly church banned the use of mistletoe in
eclipse the festivities of a rival pagan religion thatChristmas celebrations because of its pagan
threatened Christianity's existence.origins. Not to be outdone by pagan traditions,
Romans celebrated the birth of their sun god,Church fathers suggested the use of holly as the
Mithras that time of year. Although, it was notappropriate Christmas greenery.
popular, or even proper, to celebrate people'sThe use of a Christmas tree originated in 16th
birthdays in those times, church leaders decidedcentury Germany. It was common for the
that in order to compete with the pagan sun godGermanic people to decorate fir trees, both inside
celebration they would organize a festival inand out, with roses, apples, and colored paper. It
celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Facts notis believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant
withstanding, Jesus' birth is thought to be in thereformer, was the first to light a Christmas tree
spring, December 25th was chosen as the officialwith candles. While coming home one dark winter
birth celebration as Christ's Mass so that it wouldnight near Christmas, he noticed the beauty of
compete head on with the rival pagan celebration.the starlight shining through the branches of a
The December 25th celebration was slow tosmall fir tree outside his home. He replicated the
catch on in colonial America. The early colonistsstarlight by using candles attached to the
considered it a pagan ritual and it was banned bybranches of his indoor tree. The Christmas tree
law in Massachusetts in colonial times.was not widely used in Britain until the 19th
The word for Christ in Greek is Xristos. Duringcentury. In the 1820's the Christmas tree was
the 16th century, Europeans began using the firstbrought to Pennsylvania by German immigrants.
initial of Christ's name, "X" in place of the wordNamed for America's first ambassador to Mexico,
Christ in Christmas as a short hand form of theJoel Poinsett, the poinsettia plant was brought to
word. Although, the early Christians understoodAmerica in 1828. Native to Mexico, the poinsettia
that X stood for Christ's name, later Christiansplant was thought to be symbolic of the Star of
who did not understand the Greek languageBethlehem in the 18th century. Thus the Poinsettia
mistook "Xmas" as a sign of disrespect. Thisbecame associated with the Christmas season.
myth is still perpetuated today.The actual flower of the poinsettia is small and
Santa Claus, St Nicholas, originated in Turkey inyellow. Surrounding the flower are large, bright red
the 4th century. He was very pious from an earlyleaves, often mistaken for flower petals.
age, devoting his life to Christianity. He becameThe production of hard candy has been around
widely known for his generosity for the poor.for centuries. It wasn't until early 1900 that they
However, the Romans held him in contempt. Hewere decorated with red stripes and bent into the
was imprisoned and tortured. When Constantineshape of a cane. They were sometimes handed
became emperor of Rome, he allowed St.out during church services to keep the children
Nicholas to go free. Constantine became aquiet. One story told about the origin, probably
Christian and convened the Council of Nicaea infolklore, has been passed down from the 1800's.
325. St. Nicholas was a delegate to the council. HeAs the story goes, a candy maker in Indiana
is especially noted for his love of children and forwanted to express the meaning of Christmas
his generosity. He is the patron saint of sailors,through a symbol made of candy. He had an idea
Sicily, Greece and Russia. He is also, of course,of bending one of his white candy sticks into the
the patron saint of children. The Dutch kept theshape of a Candy Cane. He incorporated several
legend of St. Nicholas alive. In 16th century Holland,symbols of Christ's love and sacrifice through the
Dutch children placed their wooden shoes by theCandy Cane. First, he used a plain white
hearth in hopes that they would be filled with apeppermint stick. The color white symbolizes the
treat. The Dutch spelled St. Nicholas as Sintpurity and sinless nature of Jesus.
Nikolaaas, which became Sinterklaas, and finally, inNext, he added three small stripes to symbolize
Anglican, to Santa Claus. In 1822, Clement C.the pain inflicted upon Jesus before his death.
Moore composed the poem, "A Visit from St.There are three of them to represent the Holy
Nick," which was later published as "The NightTrinity. He added a bold stripe to represent the
Before Christmas." Moore is credited with creatingblood Jesus shed for mankind. When looked at
the modern image of Santa Claus as a jolly fatwith the crook on top, it looks like a shepherd's
man in a red suit.staff because Jesus is the shepherd of mankind.
The Druids used Mistletoe to celebrate the comingIf you turn it upside down, it becomes the letter
of winter, two hundred years before the birth of'J' symbolizing the first letter in Jesus' name. The
Christ. They gathered this evergreen plant that iscandy maker made these candy canes for
parasitic upon other trees to decorate theirChristmas, so everyone would remember the
homes. They believed the plant had special healingtrue meaning of Christmas. A Catholic priest,
powers for everything from female infertility toGregory Keller, invented a machine to automate
poison ingestion. Scandinavians consideredcandy cane production during the 1950's.
mistletoe a plant of peace and harmony. They