Santa Claus . A big ol’ red - and - white stocking hung by the fire . Nativity fit . Most classicChristmas imageryis pretty self - explanatory . Then there ’s the holly , genusIlex , which find its room onto holiday cards through a more roundabout route .
Christmas is kind of the new kid on the stoppage as far as holly symbolization is interest . The stalwart industrial plant ’s power to stay vivacious through the wintertime made it a raw pick for pre - Christian winter festival . The Roman feast ofSaturnalia , celebrated at the darkest fourth dimension of the year , celebrated the god of agribusiness , innovation , and time , and the changeover into sunniness and spring . Roman citizensfestoonedtheir houses with garland of evergreen plant and tie cheery Buddy Holly press clipping to the gift they exchanged .
The Celt of ancient frog sawgreat magicin the holly ’s bright “ berries ” ( technicallydrupes ) and shining leaves . They wore holly coronal and sprig to many sacred rites and festivals and viewed it as a form of protection from malevolent spirit .
Christianity ’s spread through what is now Europe was tedious and complicated . It was scarcely a one - shot , all - or - nothing takeover ; few people are eager to give up their direction of aliveness . Instead , missioner in many areas had more luckblendingtheir messages with existing local tradition and notion . Holly and embellish tree were used symbolically by new Christians , just as they ’d been used in their hedonist twenty-four hour period .
Today , some people associate the holly bush not with the story of Jesus ’s birth but withhis dying , comparing the works ’s setaceous pull up stakes to a crown of thorns and the berries to drops of blood . But most citizenry just enjoy it — despite the fact it ispoisonousand can be hazardous to minor andpets — because it ’s cheerful , picturesque , and exuberantly animated at a time when the rest of the world seems to be still and asleep .
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A variant of this clause was originally print in 2017 and has been updated for 2023 .
