***For full illustrated version of this article, visit Christmas Customs at www.janebaileybain.com***
Have
you written your Christmas cards? Stocked up on mince pies? Put up the tree? On
these cold winter days, we need a festival to feel good about life. Our midwinter
customs go back a long way....
Christmas
really began in the fourth century, when Christianity became the official
religion of Rome. Celebrations for Jesus’ birthday were moved to the midwinter
solstice, conveniently coinciding with the ancient festival of Saturnalia.
People were already decorating their houses with evergreens, feasting and
exchanging small gifts. Now they could carry on carousing in a suitably
Christian spirit.
It
wasn’t just the Romans who celebrated the turning of the year. Many of our
traditions have Norse or Teutonic origins. Viking children got midwinter
presents from Father Odin, riding on his eight-legged horse. The English word Yule comes from the Scandinavian ‘wheel’ (hjul). Cart wheels and spinning-wheels were ceremonially bound to
prevent their use. The Yule log was hauled in from the woods on the solstice –
around Christmas Eve - and kept burning for the next twelve days. This is the
sacred time set aside for celebrations, and marks the period between Christ’s
birth and the arrival of the Three Kings (Epiphany).
Advent
literally means ‘coming’ (ad-venire).
Christians decorate their houses to welcome the holy child. Pine branches
symbolize his promise of eternal life. The fir tree with gifts was introduced
to Britain by Prince Albert after he married Queen Victoria in 1840. Wreaths on
the door are another Germanic custom, circles symbolizing eternity.
Holly
was used by the Saxons in their sun-return festivals. It is named the
‘holy-tree’ because berries like blood-drops appear about this time.Ivy
is another evergreen, originally dedicated to the Roman god Bacchus (Greek
Dionysius): the French word ivre
means ‘drunk’! To Christians, its twining tendrils are a symbol of everlasting
love.
Mistletoe
was known to the Celts as ‘all-healer’: a sprig brings good luck, not to mention
an excuse for kissing. It was venerated
by the druids, who believed it was seeded by lightning: these pagan
associations exclude it from church decorations.
Candles
on Christmas Eve guide the Holy Family towards shelter. They recall Hanukkah,
the Jewish festival of lights, which is celebrated around this time of year.
Midnight chimes were once a protective noise to drive away bad spirits. Carols
(Latin choraula, a flute-player) were
originally circle dances accompanied by singing: St Francis of Assisi introduced
joyous hymns and set up the first Nativity crib in 1224AD. Nowadays children
attend a Christingle service, carrying an orange (representing the world), tied
with a red ribbon (blood of Christ), decorated with a candle and sweets.
We prepare seasonal
food: sugared and spiced to mask the taste of stored ingredients. Each country
has its own specialities. Eat a mince pie in a friend’s house on each of the
twelve days of Christmas for a happy month in the coming year. Round biscuits,
puddings and pies recall the shape of the sun; the blue brandy-flames around a
plum pudding recall the ancient solstice festival.
