Mistletoe Man - China Bayles 09
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The Mysteries of Yuletide Herbs
Our modern Christmas is far removed from its ancient roots as a solstice festival, and Christmas as we know it in America today owes much to the story of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth and to the Church's influence on the holiday. But the celebration of yuletide dates back to times and cultures before the spread of Christianity, and the familiar herbs of the Christmas season hold ancient mysteries that may surprise you.
Ancient peoples of many cultures observed the winter solstice on the shortest day of the year (around December 21), when the sun, worshiped as a deity, seemed almost to disappear from the sky. Particularly in the northern regions, the solstice was celebrated in both fear and hope: fear that the dark would triumph over the light; hope that the light would be born from the dark. This darkest day, paradoxically also the birth of the light, was a time for revelry, for feasting and drinking. In these festivals, a number of plants took on special symbolic meanings, some of which linger, transformed, to this day.
Oak and Holly
In Celtic myth, the Oak King (symbolizing the new solar year and the waxing sun) ruled from the winter to the summer solstice, while the Holly King (symbolizing the old solar year and the waning sun) ruled from the summer to the winter solstice. An oak log (the yule log) was burned to herald the coming of new light, while holly was brought into homes and places of worship to bid farewell to an old year and a dying god. In early Rome, the oak was dedicated to Zeus, because its hospitable leaves shaded the god's cradle in his birthplace in Arcadia, and oak-leaf crown was awarded to anyone brave enough to save the life of a Roman. At first, the Church forbade these pagan practices, but when the people persisted in their celebration, the priests gradually assimilated the plants into Christian rites and Christian myths emerged to explain their meaning. The oak was said to symbolize the hospitality offered to the Holy Family, while holly (now called the holy tree) sprang up in the footprints of Jesus, its thorny leaves and scarlet berries symbolizing the crown of thorns and the dying Christ's blood.
Ivy
Ivy was held in high esteem in the ancient world. Its leaves formed the crown of Bacchus, the god of wine to whom the plant was dedicated. (In Roman times, the practice of binding the head with ivy was thought to prevent intoxifi-cation, and holiday hangovers were eased by drinking an infusion of ivy leaves in wine—something like the hair of the dog that bit you.) During wedding celebrations, Greek brides wore an ivy wreath as an emblem of fidelity, a significance reflected in an old Christmas carol: "Christmastide comes in like a bride, with holly and ivy clad." Revelry was an important part of the yuletide festivities, in whatever culture they were celebrated.
Mistletoe
To the Druids, this plant was neither herb nor tree but something of both. Since it grew in midair, often on the branches of the sacred oak, they thought of it as a gift of the gods and believed that it was suspended over the magical threshold between this world and the spirit world. In Scandinavian mythology, the sun god Balder was killed by a dart made of mistletoe (Shakespeare calls it "the baleful mistletoe"). The god's death symbolized the end of the waning year, and his restoration to life (at the plea of the other gods) the beginning of the new. Mistletoe was given into the keeping of the goddess of love, and it was ordained that all who came under it should exchange a kiss of peace and reconciliation. By Victorian times, this tradition had evolved into the ritual of the Christmas kiss: Each time a gentleman kissed his lady, he was required to pluck one of the mistletoe berries. Since the kissing ended when the berries were gone, it was to everyone's advantage to hang a sprig with a great many berries.
Evergreen herbs
In the British Isles, wood sprites were thought to take refuge in the branches of evergreen herbs that flourished even during the darkest days of the year: rosemary, cypress, yew, juniper. As garlands and wreaths, these branches were brought into the house to signify hospitality to the spirits of the woodland and to keep them from casting unpleasant spells over the new year—a practice we continue in the form of our "Christmas tree." The Church attempted to keep evergreens out of its sanctuaries but yielded during the Renaissance, when the "decking of the hall" became an essential part of the religious celebration. The significance of rosemary as a part of holiday festivals was explained by another legend: that Mary washed her blue cloak and spread it over a rosemary bush to dry, turning its white blossoms to blue, the color they have been ever since.
Frankincense and Myrrh
These two plants (originating in Arabia, Somalia, and Ethiopia) produce valuable gums that are used as incense in ritual purification ceremonies by many peoples, including Hebrew, Egyptian, and Arabic. The biblical author Matthew names them as gifts brought to the Christ child, from which Christmas gift-giving is said to derive. But this practice has other origins, as well. The Roman feast of Saturnalia honored the god Saturn and was celebrated from December 12 through 17. Candles were exchanged, symbolizing the coming of the light, as well as gifts of honey, figs, and coins.
One of the very great pleasures of learning more about the mysteries of the "useful plants" lies in recognizing the many different roles they have played in the history of human cultures. While the early magical origins of our familiar Christmas plants may have been hidden by later cultural forces, it is fascinating to uncover them and to know that the herbs and plants that play such an important role in our favorite celebrations were loved and respected by people who lived millennia ago, in a time and place very different from our own.
References and Resources
If you would like to receive the most recent issue of the Alberts' newsletter, Partners in Crime (including a list of their books), please write to Partners in Crime, P.O. Box 1616, Bertram, TX 78605. Or you may visit the Partners in Crime Web site at http://www.mysterypartners.com, where you may download the recipes and subscribe to a free E-mail newsletter. (Susan Albert's herbal newsletter, China's Garden, is no longer being published.)
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Flora's Dictionary: The Victorian Language of Herbs and Flowers, by Kathleen Gips, TM Publications, 1995.
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