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There are many old stories involving mistletoes. Vikings believed that mistletoe could bring the dead back to life. One of their Gods. Balder had a dream he was going to die and his mother was frantic because he was god of the summer sun and if he dies the earth would die. She went to all the elements, animals and plants to ask them not to kill him. Because his mother did this, he was teased and has things thrown at him. However, Balder’s enemy Loki found that mistletoe did not have to obey Balder’s mothers request because it has no roots of its own and therefore did not count as a plant. He therefore made a poison dart with the berry and tricked Balder’s blind brother in to shooting him with it.

For three days the elements tried to bring him back to life, eventually Balder’s mothers tears changed the mistletoes berries from red to white and this raised him from the dead. People now kiss under the mistletoe to thank it for helping. Druids in Britain believed that mistletoe could perform miracles.

There were many different things they felt it could do such as making humans and animals fertile, healing disease and providing protection form witchcraft. They even had a special ceremony where they would cut the mistletoe down five days after the new moon appears following the winter solstice. They caught it in a white cloth so the ground did not contaminate it and then sacrificed two white bulls, said prayers and the priests would give out sprigs of mistletoe to the people to keep them safe from storms and evil spirits.

Kissing Under Berries

Mistletoe has been considered to symbolise sexuality because of the colour and consistency of the berry juice. It is also considered to be an aphrodisiac because it grows from the soul of the oak tree. This link to sexuality and the fact that it was felt to aid fertility may be why there is a tradition for kissing under it. It may also be from the Viking story of Balder and how his mother used mistletoe to raise him from the dead and people kissed under it to thank it. There is also a Roman festival where mistletoe was used as part of the celebrations.

If a man kisses a woman under mistletoe he should remove a berry and then when all of the berries are gone then no one can kiss under it any more. This is not done so much these days, probably because the plant is poisonous and removing berries may not be safe. There are many legends about kissing under mistletoe. Some say that couple who do it will be lucky and ones that do not will not be. Some say that unmarried women who do not get kissed will remain unmarried for another year.

Couples will get married and have a long happy life if they kiss under mistletoe. It was also believed that by placing a sprig of mistletoe under her pillow, an unmarried woman would dream about her prince charming. Burning mistletoe will also show whether a woman will have a good marriage – steady burning is good but fickle burning indicates she has chosen an unsuitable partner. There are ancient tales which tell of enemies making up under trees bearing mistletoe. They may drop their weapons and embrace agreeing to a truce until the next day. This could have led to the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe.

Mistletoe is a tradition for Christmas in many countries. It is also traditional to kiss underneath it but many people do not know what started this tradition and why we do it.

Christmas Mistletoe

Christmas Mistletoe Wallpaper

The word mistletoe was derived form anglo-saxon words. The word mistel meant dung and tan meant twig. It is felt this was because often birds would leave droppings on a branch which contained the mistletoe seeds. In ancient times people thought that the bird landing on the branch caused the plant to grow rather than understanding about the spread of seeds.

In France an ancient story says that mistletoe was found growing on the tree which was used to make the cross of Christ which is why it was denied a place to live and had to be a parasite, living on other trees.

Characteristics of Mistletoe

Mistletoe grows on hardwood tress, things like oak or apple and is a parasite. This means that it needs the tree to survive and it actually roots in to the bark and takes the trees nutrients. It can damage the tree, perhaps making the branches grow funny but it does not normally kill it because it would die if the tree did.

The mistletoe does produce its own food using photosynthesis like other plants and trees. However, is it most common for it to attach itself to another plant or tree and can even be found growing on top of another mistletoe plant.

The plant keeps its green leaves all year long and flowers in many colors, depending on the variety. It can also have berries that are either red or white.

The plant itself and the berries are poisonous. A small amount can cause stomach ache or upset stomach and too much can kill. It is dangerous to animals as well as people so keeps pets as well as small children well away.

Spreading the seed

The berries that mistletoe grows in the winter, tend to be eaten by birds. The birds perch on branches and the seed comes out through their droppings and then sprout roots into the bark. The birds also wipe their beaks on the branches to rub off the sticky berry juice and this can also spread seeds. It just takes six weeks for the plants to start to grow.

There are many Christmas traditions. Some families have their own ways of celebrating, particular food they like to eat, ways they like to decorate, songs they like to sing etc. Many of the traditions that we tend to follow date back a long way but some may be much more modern than we may realize.

Christmas Decorations

Christmas Tree Decoration

Christmas Tree Decoration

Evergreens and garlands were hung by ancient Egyptians , Chinese and Hebrews as they were thought to represent eternal life. In Europe pagans tended to worship evergreen trees, In medieval times Germans used fir trees as a representation of the Tree of Paradise in the Adam and Eve story when they were doing plays about it. The trees were decorated. In Germany the use of trees became popular with settlers from Germany introducing them to America in the 17th century. People also decorate with mistletoe, holly and ivy which are very traditional and can be gathered for free. In the 1890’s tree lights were used by decorators and the tradition caught on and nowadays no trees are without lights.

Christmas Activities

Christmas Preparations

Christmas Preparations

These days having lights on the outside of houses an din trees is very much part of the Christmas tradition. Along with decorating Christmas trees and the insides of our houses, some people like to compete with who can have the best or the most lights on their house. This is a modern tradition but many activity stem from much further back. Many churches and schools re-enact the nativity to remind everyone of what they are actually celebrating. This was a custom started by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223 to make the story available to all. Many people also celebrate the season by singing traditional carols, this was a tradition where people would visit their neighbors and knock on their door and sing to them. Normally a group of people would go out but this tradition has .

Christmas Food

Chocolate Christmas Cake

Chocolate Christmas Cake

There are many traditional foods and these will be different depending on which country you live in and maybe even which part of a country you live in. Some families have traditions of their own or specific ways of cooking the foods. In USA it is traditional to eat green beans soaked in mushrooms soup, figgy pudding and fruitcake. Also it has the foods of the season such a turkey, squashes and potatoes and other foods which were traditionally eaten in winter festivals such as roasted meats and baked goods. Many of these baked goods are shaped to represent traditional Christmas things such as cookies like stars or trees and chocolate cakes that look like yule logs. Some cookies are even hung on the Christmas tree as are chocolates in Christmas themed shapes.Many people overeat at this time of the year.

Many people think that the history of Christmas is simply all about the birth of Christ, the presents stemming form the gifts that he was given. However, it dates back much further and many of the traditions stem from very varied places.

Christmas Birth

Christmas Birth

Europeans used to celebrate the Winter Solstice which is the longest night. They would celebrate the rebirth of the sun as the nights got shorter again and they would kill livestock which would not survive through the winter and feast on them from late December to early January.

In Scandinavia the Norse people celebrated Yuletide where they would burnt giant log and feat until it burnt out.

In Rome, the festival of Saturnalia was celebrated from 17th to 24th December and there was feasting, gambling and the giving of gifts. Also roles were not upheld meaning slaves could disobey their masters and children did not need to do as they were told by their parents. There were also other festivals that occurred around this time as well.

Christmas Blessing

Christmas Blessing

During the fourth century Christians decided that they needed a celebration around the solstice to compete with the pagan ones. Church leaders therefore decided on December 25th for the Feast of the Nativity and it increased in popularity and importance over the following years although Easter was still seen as more significant.

In the middle ages Christmas was a mix of feasting and drinking as well as caroling for money. Behavior tended to be riotous and so religious puritans began to show their disapproval. They felt that it was blasphemous to behave in such a manner while celebrating Christ and so Oliver Cromwell canceled it in 1645. Soldiers even had to check on people to make sure that they were not cooking meat. A similar viewpoint was taken by Puritan sin America and Yuletide was banned in Boston for 32 years.

Jesus Christ Jerusalem

Jesus Christ Jerusalem

By the late 18th century Christmas was celebrated again in much the manner it is today. Washington Irving from New York, write many Christmas stories which have laid the way for many of the traditions that are celebrated today. Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree to Britain and a popular engraving of his family in front of it led to the tradition being taken up all over the country.

By the 20th century Christmas was a much more commercial event with presents tending to be the main focus.

For many people the main focus of Christmas is the gifts. Children are excited by the prospect of receiving presents and the adults spend a long time shopping for the right thing and hunting for bargains all through the year.

Parents are also happy when they receive their Christmas Gifts, like moms for an example.

Gift giving does seem to stem from the belief that gifts were presented to Christ just after he was born. Some Churches still celebrate the day that the magi arrived with gift giving rather than exchanging gifts on December 25th which is the usual custom.

Romans tended to trade gifts during Saturnalia and French nuns distributed gifts to the poor on St Nicholas Eve in the 13th century. But it was not until the 18th century that gift giving started to become more common.

Gifts were supposed to be a representation of Gods gift of Christ to mankind or the gifts that were given to the baby. However, in the 18th century stores started advertising Christmas gifts in newspapers. Within 20 years Santa Claus appeared everywhere and in 1867 Macy’s stayed open until midnight on Christmas Eve so that everyone had time to do all of their gift buying.

These days stores start to bring out their Christmas things in September and decorate in October. They really want to cash in with what has become a massive commercial operation. Many stores rely on Christmas to bring in more sales than any other time of the year which is why they start to get everything in the shops so early. It means that almost a quarter of the year has them focusing on getting consumers to buy Christmas gifts.

Some people like this as it means that they can buy early and spread the expense but others find it very annoying. It can mean that you end up spending more money as you buy something early to later find something much better that you buy as well.

If you want to decorate you computer  backgrounds, check out our section with beautiful Christmas Gifts wallpapers.