History of Christmas Traditions
A Historical Look at the Lore and Icons of the Holiday Season
Nov 29, 2008
Christmas Day – December 25th
The day is sacrosanct despite the fact that no one really knows the exact birth date of Jesus. In all likelihood, the date has pagan roots, for it is believed that the day was chosen so celebrations could occur around the time of Roman winter festivals such as Saturnalia, (the feast date honoring the temple of the god Saturn on December 17th and 23rd), and Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, (a holiday that took place on December 25th and that commemorated the fact that days were becoming longer.) Since the translation of that holiday literally means ‘birthday of the unconquered sun’, it is thought that the first Christian Roman Emperor – Emperor Constantine – chose this day of the ‘unconquered sun’ as the ideal day to celebrate the birth of the Lord’s son.
Known in Central America as the ‘Flower of the Holy Night’, poinsettias have become the floral icon of Christmas. The ‘Flame Leaf’, (another of its nicknames), was brought to the U.S. about a hundred years ago by Dr. Joel Poinsett, the first American ambassador to Mexico.
The legend around the poinsettia tells of a girl named Maria and her brother Pablo, who, despite living in bleak poverty, looked forward to the yearly Christmas celebrations where the village church would display a manger scene. Every year, by Christmas day, this replica of the Christ Child’s birth would be overflowing with presents from townsfolk.
Always too poor to give a gift, one Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo gathered weeds to present to the Baby Jesus. Even though other children in town mocked them for their dismal gift, the siblings wanted to give Jesus something to show their love. Legend has it that the weeds then miraculously blossomed into red flowers that were shaped like the star that shone over Bethlehem that fateful night.
We can thank the Vikings and Celtic Druid priests for every kiss given and received under the mistletoe.
Some 200 years before Christ was born, Druid priests revered the mistletoe for its magical ability to stay green even during the harsh winter months. While they also believed that the berries had powers to heal and ward off evil spirits, there was actually a tradition among Romans to view the plant as a peace symbol, since it became common for enemies to meet under the mistletoe when declaring peace.
It was the Scandinavians, however, who saw the plant as being a symbol of their goddess of love, Frigga. It is very likely that the plant’s association with her that the kissing beneath the mistletoe tradition began.
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