Plants of the Winter Solstice: The Pagan Roots of Christmas Decorations

Season's Greetings!

It's cold, dark, snowy... just as I would expect from late December in Canada. With that said, I have to admit that even though this season is not my favorite, it has its moments. Like today's pure sun in a clear blue sky (amidst a bitterly cold wind), and tonight's view of hundreds of stars, plainly visible, despite the fact that I live in a populated area.

Christmas has just passed and the New Year is around the corner. I just completed my first year of learning about and observing (albeit, lightly and solitarily,) pagan holidays. It was a journey that I informally embarked upon last November 1st, which just happened to be the traditional Celtic New Year, when I found a video that celebrated Samhain. I had no particular intention of celebrating every holiday, but I began to look forward to them, finding the roughly 1.5 months between each one (three months between high holidays) to be just the right amount of time to acknowledge and observe the passage of the year. Before I knew it, this past November 1st came along, officially marking my first full year of following the year through a few traditions and rites based on traditional Celtic holidays. I will try to do a post that delves into this adventure more specifically very soon, as well as try to document some of my thoughts as I continue to observe these holidays throughout the coming year.

I think one of the aspects of observing and celebrating these holidays that I enjoyed most was learning so much about the plants, flowers and trees that are also associated with these holidays. Each time a holiday came along, whenever possible I enjoyed the decorating w


ith the plants and flowers that seemed to represent each passing season so well. Such natural tools really enhanced my study and practice of these occasions, thanks to their symbolism, meaning and aesthetic value.

Since we just celebrated Yule a few days ago and are in that time of year between modern-day Christmas and New Year celebrations (or the 12 days of Christmas, to anyone who still observes that tradition), I thought it might be fun to reflect on everything that I have learned about some of the more traditional and historical origins of a few of the plants that we still use today at this time of year.

Evergreen Christmas tree: In today's modern world, of the many plants and decorations that were once traditionally used to celebrate the season, the evergreen is still the most well-known. Although the deepest, most historical origin of the use of evergreens in winter celebrations is somewhat obscure, it appears that many groups of people have historically decorated with evergreens to celebrate festivals during the cold winter season. For example, during the Roman festival of Saturnalia (a festival held on December 17th), houses were decorated with evergreens, and religious and spiritual symbolism of evergreen trees in Viking and Saxon cultures of Northern Europe were also profuse. Of course, it's well known that our modern-day use of Christmas trees came via Germany, where it has been a popular indoor decoration since the 16th century. 

Evergreen bouquets: This year I ordered a beautiful Christmas bouquet that mainly consisted of a variety of evergreen branches and a few Amaryllis flowers. I love that evergreens celebrate life even in the depths of winter. If someone isn't able to have a real Christmas tree indoors for the holidays, I think evergreens in a vase are just as beautiful, feel fresh and are appropriately uplifting. They make for a stylish and beautiful decoration to keep in the house well into the winter, long after the Christmas tree has overstayed its welcome.

Mistletoe: I always find this plant to be fascinating, because it essentially is a parasitic plant that grows on a variety of host trees. Mistletoe can be very troublesome to its host tree, potentially causing reduced growth, a reduction in the number of branches and even death. Despite its pesky nature, mistletoe became incorporated in Christmas traditions via the Druidic ritual of oak and mistletoe, a ritual which involved, among other things, making an elixir from the mistletoe to cure infertility. This no doubt contributed toward the pervasive notion of mistletoe being associated with love and fertility. Through the ages, it has also earned the reputation of bringing good luck, peace and friendship. 

Holly: Holly has been a mainstay in Christmas decorations, and it's no doubt because, like the evergreen tree, it's a symbol of everlasting life and greenery even in the darkness of winter. Christians adopted holly as a religious symbol for the holiday because its stiff, prickly, waxy green leaves were reminiscent of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore and its red berries symbolized the blood he shed during the Crucifixion. In pre-Christian times, however, it was customary to place holly leaves and branches around homes in winter and was thought to shelter tiny fairies, and druids believed that holly remained green to keep the earth beautiful while their sacred oak was dormant for the winter. Druids also supposedly wore holly in their hair as decoration. (Source.)

Yule Log: Although this tradition is somewhat obscure (unless one searches for the Yule log on YouTube, where there are plenty of crackling Christmas fireplaces to view for hours on end), apparently burning a log in this season was once one of the most common winter traditions in northern Europe. Many scholars suggest it originated from Germanic groups of pagans, but early modern Christians seem to have eagerly adopted the practice and burned their yule logs during the twelve days of Christmas (which would be December 25th-January 1st.) The idea was to turn day into night during this dark time of year, with the log symbolizing the sun as it slowly began its return following the solstice. On these dark December nights, I can't help but share some of the excitement of those early people who celebrated the gradual return of the sun following Yule celebrations. There are endless amounts of speculation as to what the exact origins and early meanings of the burning log were, and it is quite fun to read through historians' speculations: one place to start is Wikipedia.

This year, I celebrated with an abundance of plants decorating my home: I had a beautiful Christmas tree, a bouquet containing a large variety of evergreens and beautiful Amaryllis (which don't appear to have any Western European pagan roots, as they were discovered by an explorer in the Andes in the 19th century, but they are beautiful and lightly scented and thus a welcome addition to my decor), and a Yule log burning for hours on end... on my television! (Unfortunately, I don't have a fireplace to burn a real one.)

What are some of your favorite plants to use in your home to decorate and celebrate during this time  of Solstice, Yule, Christmas, New Year and winter celebrations?