 |
|
|
 Editorials | Issues | December 2007 
The 12 Myths of Christmas
 Emily Klein & Stacey Becker - THonline
go to original
A look at the symbols that had little or nothing to do with Christianity but now have much to do with Christmas
Christmas. Perhaps the only time of year when hanging socks on a wall and decorating a tree doesn't put a person's mental health in question.
Many American families have navigated store aisles this holiday season for candy canes, wreaths, mistletoe and anything red and green without wondering what makes these symbols of the season so significant - and why exactly they appear in homes year after year.
Dean Manternach, assistant professor of religious studies at Clarke College, said many cultures have adapted Christmas symbols to fit their societies and traditions over the years. Some symbols have religious meanings, while others simply signify a time of happiness and celebration.
"I think it's important that families stop and intentionally think about giving these common Christian symbols their own meaning," Manternach said.
Today the TH takes a closer look at the origins of 12 of the most common Christmas symbols.
Dec. 25
"The date for Christmas is rather contentious," Manternach said.
The earliest Christians did not celebrate Christmas at all, but the merger of cultures and traditions came together by the fourth century A.D. The Rev. Doug Wathier, associate professor of religious studies and theology at Loras College, said by 336 A.D. Christians in Rome were celebrating the birth of Christ on Dec. 25.
The winter solstice fell on Dec. 25, making it the perfect day to celebrate the rebirth of the sun, according to the Roman calendar.
"The cult of the sun god was especially popular with the Romans between the second and the fourth centuries, a time when Christianity was struggling to establish itself as a legitimate faith," Wathier said.
So the Christians gave the date new meaning by adopting it and relating it to the religion's namesake, Jesus Christ - known to the Christian world as the son of God.
"Some scholars propose that by selecting Dec. 25 as the date for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, Christian leaders hoped to convince sun god worshipers to celebrate the birth of Jesus rather than the birth of the sun," Wathier said.
Stockings
The tradition of hanging socks near a fireplace with hopes that one morning they'd be filled with goodies started with the legend of St. Nicholas, a real person who died around 350 A.D.
Wathier said one form of the legend tells of a poor man with three daughters of marrying age. Nicholas knew their father didn't have enough to provide their dowries, or the traditional marriage payment to the husband.
One night Nicholas climbed to the roof and dropped sacks of gold down the chimney. The gold landed in the daughter's stockings, which had been hung there to dry. Years later, the "stockings were hung by the chimney with care."
Lit Christmas Trees with Ornaments
Evergreen trees have long been a symbol of life in the church because they stay green all year long.
But there are a number of stories about the origin of the tree as a Christmas symbol.
One is that on Christmas, an eighth century missionary named St. Boniface was in Germany teaching the natives about Christianity. He witnessed people preparing to sacrifice a young man at a sacred oak tree. So, according to legend, he cut the tree down with a single swipe and proclaimed that no blood would be shed on the night of Christ's birth. Then Boniface pointed to a small fir tree nearby and told the people to find one and take it into their homes, serving as a symbol of peace and immortality-Based on another legend, Martin Luther was walking through the snow-covered woods one night and was struck by the beauty of the evergreens under the night sky, Manternach said. So he took a fir tree to his home and decorated it with candles to celebrate Christ's birth and remind him of the lovely sight in the forest.
The history of decorating the trees also is disputed. One possibility for the practice, Manternach suggested, derives from the German tradition of putting on plays throughout the year. At Christmastime, they told the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
The Germans decorated fir trees with apples to symbolize the tree of life and the forbidden fruit. Later they started adding wafers and oranges. Eventually the decorations evolved into all sorts of brightly-colored ornaments.
"Official" Colors of Christmas: Red and Green
The colors red and green are repeated often in Christmas traditions. The evergreen trees once decorated with apples was one example. Another is the brightly-colored holly berry.
"The red berries symbolize the drops of blood on Christ's crown of thorns," Manternach said.
Santa & Rudolph
The jolly fat man in a red suit with a long beard has become the quintessence of Christmas for many children in America. Wathier said Santa Claus became an important folk figure in America in the second half of the nineteenth century when people started celebrating the season in large numbers.
The Santa Americans have grown to know and love resembles the old European gift bringer, St. Nicholas.
Wathier said the basic framework of the contemporary Santa is based on the writings of Washington Irving and Clement Moore and illustrator Thomas Nast.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was designed by a Montgomery Ward advertising copywriter in 1939 as a promotional gimmick. The Reindeer with the bright nose got his own television special in 1964, and the claymation kids classic has become a staple of the season.
Garland & Tinsel
These two uniquely different Christmas decorations have uniquely different beginnings.
Plants like holly, ivy, laurel, spruce and pine are used for garland because they stay green year-round. Wathier said ancient people viewed the plants as seasonal symbols of new or eternal life.
The pagans of northern Europe used garland in their homes during their winter festival called Yule.
Garland also has traditions steeped in Christian beliefs. Wathier said laurel, for example, represents the triumph of Christ. Holly became a symbol of the Virgin Mary's love for God, while it's spiky leaves and blood red berries remind Christians Jesus ended his days wearing a crown of thorns.
Many believe that tinsel was created in the late nineteenth century by craftsmen in Germany who created thin strips of silver foil that could be placed over the branches of Christmas trees like icicles, Wathier said. The angel-like strips were called engelshaar, or angel's hair.
Bells
Bells have long been considered symbols of celebration, especially when more than one is used at once, Manternach said.
During the holiday season, they are hung on trees, tied around reindeers' necks and rung at the end of the popular Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."-In the church, bells also are used to summon people to prayer, Manternach said.
Poinsettias
Poinsettias were first brought to the United States in the early 1800s. The plant was named after Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Manternach said.
Poinsettias are known as the "flower of the holy night."
Fable has it that there was once a poor Mexican child who had no gift to give the Christ child, Manternach said. So the child prayed and some say she gathered weeds to give as an offering. Then up came a dazzling red and green plant, now known as the poinsettia.
But is the plant poisonous? Dr. Phil Olson of Vanderloo and White Veterinary PC, in Dubuque, said the plant is considered to be of low toxicity. Typically ingestion of the plant by pets results in vomiting but is not life threatening, he said.
X-mas
The term X-mas, which some ridicule as a cheap, abbreviated way to take "Christ" out of Christmas, actually has ancient roots in Christianity, according to religion experts.-The feast commemorating Christ's birth was originally known as the "Birth of the Lord," Wathier said. The English word "Christmas" appeared in documents from the eleventh and twelfth centuries written in old English as Christes masse, which means "Christ's Mass."
The English speakers soon formed a contraction of "X-Mas" from the two words.
The Greek letter chi looks like an English "X." And the Greek letter rho, or "P," is sometimes superimposed on top of the X because XP is a very old abbreviation for "Christ," Manternach said.
"It's a very ancient and common Christian monogram," he said.
Candy Canes
These sugary treats have evolved from their red and white beginnings into an array of colors and variety of flavors. The origins of the candy, which is used as much as a tasty treat as it is for decoration, may remain a Christmas mystery.
One candy cane urban legend suggests the candy started with the choir master of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. He asked local candymakers to transform white sticks of candy into the shape of a shepherd's crook and he handed them out to children during the Christmas season to ensure good behavior.
A more recent urban legend tells of a candymaker in Indiana who added red strips to the white cane in the early twentieth century. Wathier said the legend asserts the red stripes represent the blood of Christ while the white stripes represent Christ's purity.
Mistletoe
This small plant that's supposed to have the power to get anyone standing under it to kiss may have roots in Norse mythology.
"These plants, which continue to thrive as everything around them appears to wither and die, may have symbolized the promise of new life or eternal life to these ancient peoples," Wathier said.
The Norse story of mistletoe has a few variations. Wathier said the story begins with Frigga, the goddess of love, her son, Balder, the god of the summer sun, and a nightmare foretelling death.
Frigga went to air, fire, water, earth and every animal and plant seeking a promise that no harm would come to her son. But she didn't consult with mistletoe.
Long, mythical story short, Balder didn't make it.
The tears she shed for her son's new life turned into pearly white berries on the mistletoe plant and in her joy Frigga kissed everyone who passed beneath the tree on which it grew.
Wathier said the story ends with a decree that who should ever stand under the mistletoe no harm shall befall them. Only a kiss, a token of love.
Wreaths
Wathier said these circular decorations that are created by twisting branches of greenery come from the Anglo Saxon verb meaning "to twist."-In Ancient Greece and Rome, wreaths of greenery were worn as crowns of victory and were believed to be a sign of divine favor.
Wathier said when the Bible mentions wreaths they are usually associated with joy, triumph and honor. In general terms, the wreath's circular shape represents eternity since it has no beginning and no end.
For many Americans, Christmastime is a season steeped in holiday traditions. Sometimes the true meanings of those traditions are forgotten, lost or never known at all.
But as Manternach suggests, each family has the ability to bring its own meaning to these 12 symbols of Christmas and the many others. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us