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CHAPTER 4

Customs and Traditions

Of all the customs and traditions that give Christmas its colorful flavor it would only be appropriate for the Christian believer to investigate them.  So many Christians practice a variety of customs and traditions at Christmas time without ever pondering their origins.  Where did they come from?  In this section we will attempt to track those traditions down and find if there is any Biblical meaning to any of these Christmas customs. 

The Christmas Tree:

While there are many ideas about the origin of the Christmas tree, it is widely believed that Martin Luther began the custom in Germany.  The sight of an evergreen tree on Christmas Eve, with stars blazing above, is said to have made a great impression on him and he put a similar tree, decorated with lighted candles, in his home.  Some scholars hold that the evergreen tree, a symbol of life to the pagans, became a symbol of the Savior and thus an integral part of the celebration of his birth.  Encyclopedia Americana 1994, book #6, P. 667

As early as the 17th century, Germans had transformed this pagan symbol of fertility into a Christian symbol of rebirth. According to legend, the Christmas tree tradition began with the founder of German Protestantism, Martin Luther. While walking through the forest on Christmas Eve, Luther was so moved by the beauty of the starlit fir trees that he brought one indoors and decorated it with candles to remind his children of God’s creation. In 1841 Prince Albert of Germany gave his wife, Queen Victoria of England, a gift of a Christmas tree. This was reputedly the first Christmas tree in England, but the custom spread quickly. German immigrants took the Christmas tree to other parts of Europe and to the United States and Canada, where it soon became a popular tradition.  Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta 2000

Among the German tribes the oak-tree was sacred to Odin, their god of war, and they sacrificed to it until St. Boniface, in the eighth century, persuaded them to exchange it for the Christmas tree, a young fir-tree adorned in honor of the Christ child.  Luther is said to have originated the lighting of the Christmas tree with candles, and Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert, to have popularized it in England as part of the Christmas celebrations.  It was the German immigrants who took the custom to America.  Such pagan practices were made part of the Christian celebration of Christmas, but at the same time new specifically Christian observances were introduced to recall the birth and early life of Christ.  The Christian Calendar, P. 22

A number of legends offer fanciful explanations for the origins of the Christmas tree.  According to one, St. Boniface (c. 675-754) began the custom in the eighth century.  One Christmas Eve this English missionary to the German-speaking peoples came across some pagans preparing a human sacrifice before an oak tree.  He struck the oak tree a single blow with his axe, which felled the tree.  Duly impressed by the miraculous feat, the people abandoned their old ways and embraced Christianity.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 141

Most people have heard that the Christmas tree originates in the tannenbaum and is some sort of vestige of Teutonic vegetation worship.  This is partially true.  However, the custom of using pine and other evergreens ceremonially was well established at the Roman Saturnalia, even earlier in Egypt.  The Book of Christmas Folklore, by Tristram P. Coffin, P. 20
 

The Yule and the Yule Log:

Many researchers believe that in the early Middle Ages, people in northern Europe celebrated a midwinter festival called Yule, Juul, or Jol…In medieval times, Yule became another term for “Christmas” or “Christmas season.”  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 641

Consequently, the people adopted this season for the slaughter of the heards and the preparation of preserved meat for the winter.  The slaughter also furnished the festival tables with a feast of fresh meat.  Special autumn beers may also have been brewed for this festival, and used to toast the gods.  At this time of the year people lit ceremonial fires and honored their dead ancestors.  Some authorities claim that this feast venerated the Germanic god Odin, others that it venerated the Norse god Thor.  This festival probably marked the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 642

Some say the festival began on the longest night of the year (the winter solstice), a day that ushered in the month known as the “Yule Month.”  The Yule celebration lasted over a number of days and involved feasting, fire, and sacrifices…People gathered around the fires listening to ancient legends, singing songs, eating, drinking, and offering sacrifices to the gods.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 643

“Yule” is the Chaldee name for an “infant” or “little child;”  The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, P. 93

In past eras many European people burned Yule logs in their homes at Christmas time.  Often these enormous logs burned throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas.  The many customs and beliefs associated with these logs suggest that at one time they were thought to have magical powers.  According to a variety of folk beliefs, a burning Yule log or its charred remains could not only protect a household from evil powers, but also confer health, fertility, luck, and abundance.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 648

Many writers trace the Yule log back to the ancient pagan holiday of Yule.  Although little can be determined for certain regarding the early history of this celebration, most authors agree that it included the burning of great bonfires.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 648

Christmas observances have also assimilated remnants of ancient midwinter rituals that celebrate the returning light of the sun following the winter solstice. For example, many cultures continue the pre-Christian custom of burning Yule logs during the midwinter season; the Yule log symbolizes the victory of light over the darkness of winter. The tradition of lighting the Yule log is still observed, especially by Europeans. Families light the log on Christmas Eve and keep it burning until Epiphany. Some families save the remains of the Yule log to help kindle the fire the following year. According to ancient tradition, the ashes provide protection against bad luck during the year.  Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta 2000

Burning the Yule log was adapted to English custom from the ancient Scandinavian practice of kindling huge bonfires in honor of the winter solstice.  Encyclopedia Americana 1994, book #6, P. 666

Northern European tribes celebrated their chief festival of Yule at the winter solstice to commemorate the rebirth of the sun as the giver of light and warmth.   Encyclopedia Americana 1994, book #6, P. 666

To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain, and central Europe.  Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season.  Encyclopedia Britannica, P. 283

As Christianity spread to northern Europe, it met with the observance of another pagan festival held in December in honor of the sun.  This time it was the Yule-feast of the Norsemen, which lasted for twelve days.  During this time log-fires were burnt to assist the revival of the sun.  Shrines and other sacred places were decorated with such greenery as holly, ivy, and bay, and it was an occasion for feasting and drinking.  The Christian Calendar, P.22

The Yule-feast marked the winter solstice and gave rise to the yule-log and the Christmas cakes, a survival of the ancient practice of offering a sacrifice in the expectation of good crops in the coming year.  Dictionary of Pagan Religions, by Harry E. Wedeck and Wade Baskin, P. 78

Gift Exchange:

In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merry making and exchange of gifts.  Encyclopedia Britannica, P. 283

Christians traditionally exchange gifts as a reminder of God’s gift of a savior to humankind. Gift giving also recalls an ancient Roman custom of exchanging gifts to bring good fortune for the New Year. In most cultures that celebrate Christmas, a mythical figure delivers gifts to children. Many of these legendary gift givers bear a passing resemblance to pre-Christian elves and pranksters, who would distribute gifts while also making mischief in the community. As cultures adapted to Christianity, however, the gift givers often required that children behave well in order to receive their treats. This good behavior usually entailed obedience to parents and recitation of verses from the Bible. If the children misbehaved, they might receive a lump of coal or a switch rather than sweets and toys.   Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta 2000

The festivities accompanying Christmas are also thought to come from another pagan Roman festival held in mid-December.  This was in honor of Saturn the god of seed-corn, which was celebrated on 17, 18 and 19 December.  In late Roman times, these three days, known as the Saturnalia, were an occasion of merriment, feasting and the exchange of presents.  The Christian Calendar, P. 22

Exchanging of gifts, so in harmony with the significance of Christmas, may have been influenced by a similar custom (strenae) among the pagans on January 1.  Gifts are exchanged by the French on January1, by the Spanish and Italians on January 6, and by other nationalities on December 25.  New Catholic Encyclopedia, book #3

Much of the merriment associated with the Roman feast of the Saturnalia, including the giving of gifts, has been transferred to Christmas.  Dictionary of Pagan Religions, by Harry E. Wedeck and Wade Baskin, P. 78

Historians trace midwinter gift giving back to the ancient Romans.  The Romans bestowed gifts and good wishes on friends and family during Kalends, the new year festival.  The oldest and, thus, perhaps the most “traditional” of these gifts were small twigs from the groves of the goddess Strenia…In addition to exchanging gifts with friends and family, many Romans offered gifts and vota, wishes for prosperity, to the emperor.  The Romans also gave one another gifts for Saturnalia, a winter festival occurring about a week before Kalends.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 237

Santa Claus:

Nicholas, Saint (lived 4th century), Christian prelate, patron saint of Russia, traditionally associated with Christmas celebrations. The accounts of his life are confused and historically unconfirmed. According to tradition he was a native of Patara, formerly a city in the ancient district of Lycia, Asia Minor (now Turkey). Nicholas entered the nearby monastery of Sion and subsequently became archbishop of the metropolitan church in Myra, Lycia. He is said to have been imprisoned during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian and to have attended the first Council of Nicaea, but this is unlikely. At the end of the 11th century some Italian merchants transported his remains from Myra to Bari, Italy, where his tomb is now a shrine.  Nicholas is the patron saint of children, scholars, virgins, sailors, and merchants, and in the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century) he was regarded by thieves as their patron saint as well. Legend tells of his surreptitious gifts to the three daughters of a poor man, who, unable to give them dowries, was about to abandon them to prostitution. From this tale has grown the custom of secret gifts on the Eve of Saint Nicholas. Because of the close proximity of dates, Christmas and Saint Nicholas's Day are now celebrated simultaneously in many countries. Santa Claus, the designation for the jolly, bearded figure of folklore who is credited with bringing gifts to children on Christmas Eve, is an American derivation of the Dutch Sinter Klaas. His feast day is December 6.  Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta 2000

The beloved image of Santa Claus as a fat, jolly, bearded old man derives from St. Nicholas, an austere-looking 4^th century Christian bishop of Asia Minor, who was noted for his good works.  The idea of gift giving associated with this saint spread from Asia Minor to Europe and was brought to the United States by early Dutch settlers.  The American writer Washington Irving contributed to the concept of St. Nicholas as a laughing holiday figure, and in 1822, Clement Moore composed his Visit from St. Nicholas (“Twas the night before Christmas”) with its noted description.  But the image of Santa in fur-trimmed dress that ultimately captured the imagination was drawn in the United States by the cartoonist Thomas Nast in 1863.  Encyclopedia Americana 1994, book #6, P. 667

Symbols, originating largely from classical or Teutonic-Celtic paganism, such as lights, greenery, and special foods, gradually became associated with Christmas, as did St. Nicholas, whose feast on December 6 had been a time for giving gifts, especially to children.  New 20^th Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, P. 182

He was a very popular saint among Eastern Christians, and his cult was introduced into Germany by the Byzantine princess Theophano who became the wife of Emperor Otto II  (reigned 973-983).  It spread to England, where some 400 churches were dedicated to him.  In the west, Saint Nicholas became know as the patron saint of children, apparently through some fanciful elaborations of his kindness to the three sisters.  One of these tales was that he restored to life three children who were killed by a wicked innkeeper, who had cut up their bodies and pickled them in brine.  Encyclopedia Americana 1999, book #24, P. 238

The idea of Santa Claus has parallels in other countries.  The Reformation influence down graded the role of saints, so in Germany the image was replaced by the Christ Child, who in popular legend became Kris Kringle.  Encyclopedia Americana 1999, book #24, P. 238

Elves:

Folk descriptions of a magical and mostly invisible race of beings can be found in the lore of peoples from all parts of the globe.  This belief was particularly common among the peoples of Europe and Asia.  In Europe these beings were known by many names.  Folklorists often refer to them as “fairies,” a common English term for these creatures.  Some trace belief in fairies back to the ancient Romans and their legends about the deities known as the “Three Fates.”  Indeed, some folklorists locate the origins of the English word “fairy” in the Latin word for “fate”, fatum.  Eventually, the Three Fates evolved into spirits known as fata in Italian and fada in Spanish…Folk beliefs advised people to tread warily if they sensed that these magical unpredictable creatures were about.  On the one hand, elves and fairies often used their powers to aid humans, for example, by providing gifts of food or toys for children, or by breaking evil enchantments.  On the other hand, if provoked they could just as easily harm humans.  They sometimes stole human children, ruined crops, and caused household accidents.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 176-177

Father Christmas:

Some English folklorists trace Father Christmas back to the late Middle Ages; others believe he originated at a later date…Father Christmas always took on the form of an adult male.  Some portrayed him as hale and hearty, while others depicted him as gray and wizened.  These contrasting images may reflect the influence that important folk figures, namely, Father Time and the Roman god Saturn, had upon the invention of  Father Christmas.  According to the ancient Romans, abundance, equality, and conviviality marked the lives of Saturn’s subjects while the god reigned on earth.  The Romans revived these ideals during the Saturnalia, the mid winter festival held in his honor.  In later times these qualities became synonymous with the Christmas season.  Eventually they took shape in the image of a large, robust man nicknamed Father Christmas.  Popular images of Father Christmas usually showed him wearing a red or green robe with fur trimming and a crown of holly, ivy, or mistletoe.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 203-204

Christmas Décor (holly, ivy, and mistletoe):

The pagan people of northern Europe garlanded their homes with greenery during the winter festival, Yule…Further south, the Romans also decorated their homes with greenery during their winter festivals, Saturnalia and Kalends.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 263

The ancient Egyptians associated ivy with Orisis, a god who did and was resurrected.  To the Greeks ivy symbolized Dionysus, the god of wine.  The Greeks told a legend that explained this connection.  A nymph had once danced herself to death at the feet of Dionysus in a frenzy of adoration.  In recognition of her devotion the god changed her body into the ivy plant, which casts an adoring embrace around all it encounters…Ivy also became the symbol of the Roman god of wine, Bacchus.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 293

The ancient Romans as well as the pagan peoples of northern Europe adorned their homes with evergreen boughs for their winter festivals…The custom of decking homes and temples with greenery during the heart of winter passed on into later northern European Christmas celebrations.   Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 382

Frazer [antropologist and classic scholar] claimed that the pagan peoples of ancient France, Britain, and Ireland held mistletoe to be sacred, and they harvested it in special ceremonial ways.  These peoples believed that mistletoe possessed magical powers and that the rare plants that grew on oak trees were the most powerful of all.  Mistletoe gained its power in part from its ability to live halfway between heaven and earth.  Therefore, when the Druids, or pagan priests, harvested the plant, they cut it with golden sickles and were careful never to let it touch the ground.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 383

The ancient Norse also reserved a special place for mistletoe in their mythology.  Balder, the Norse god of sun and summer, was beloved in heaven and on earth.  His mother, Frigga, the queen of the Norse gods, loved Balder so much she set about extracting a promise from every thing on the earth to refrain from harming her son.  She disregarded the puny mistletoe, however, thinking it powerless to damage the sun god.  This omission provided an opportunity for the evil god Loki to scheme against Balder.  Loki obtained some mistletoe and fashioned it into a spear.  Then he brought it to Hodur, Balder’s blind brother, the god of night.  The other gods were amusing themselves by tossing all sorts of objects at Balder and watching them turn aside at the last minute, bound by their promise not to harm the god.  Loki offered Hodur the spear, assuring him that it, too, would turn aside before it could hurt the sun god.  Hodur threw the mistletoe spear at his brother. It pierced Balder’s chest and killed him.  Encyclopedia of Christmas, by Gulevich, P. 383    

… ancient Europeans believed that the mistletoe plant held magic powers to bestow life and fertility, to bring about peace, and to protect against disease. Northern Europeans associated the plant with the Norse goddess of love, Freya, and developed the custom of kissing underneath mistletoe branches. Christians incorporated this custom into their Christmas celebrations, and kissing under a mistletoe branch eventually became a part of secular Christmas tradition.  Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta 2000

Celtic and Teutonic tribes honored these plants at their winter solstice festivals as symbolic of eternal life, and the Druids ascribed magical properties to the mistletoe in particular.  Encyclopedia Americana 1994, book #6, P. 666

The religion of the Druids, the priests of the ancient Britons, is supposed to have been somewhat similar to that of the Brahmins of India, the Magi of Persia, and the Chaldeans of Syria.  They worshipped in groves, regarded the oak and mistletoe as objects of veneration, and offered sacrifices.  Christmas and its Associations, P.28

The mistletoe is probably a Celtic element introduced to invoke the blessing of the vegetation spirit.  Dictionary of Pagan Religions, by Harry E. Wedeck and Wade Baskin, P.78

Many of the plants used at Christmas are symbolic of fertility.  Certainly any evergreen (fir, yew, laurel) with its ability to retain verdure in the barren months is appropriate, but y far the most interesting are the holly, the ivy, and the mistletoe.  Holly, with its pricking leaves, white flowers, and red berries symbolizes the male reproductive urge.  In fact, in the English carols and in the Shrovetide dances, the holly is the male and the ivy is the female.  This use of the plants was most likely borrowed by the Christians along with other customs of the Roman Saturnalia.  The Book of Christmas Folklore, by Tristram P. Coffin, P. 23

The ivy was traditionally the plant of the Dionysians anyway, in some myths the god’s form having developed from it.  As Dionysius is the god of wine, ivy is even today the “bush” that “good wine needs not,” and reportedly can prevent drunkenness.  However, it also has outright fertility properties.  In Ireland, collecting ivy leaves and placing them under one’s pillow enables one to identify the girl he will marry.  And when ivy joins with holly, it takes its place as the un-liberated, subordinate female, the ivy-girl of the holly-boy, and speaks of the willingness of the female to submit.  The Book of Christmas Folklore, by Tristram P. Coffin, P. 24

Since earliest times in Europe, this hemiparasitic plant, Aeneas’ golden bough, has been regarded as mysterious and sacred, symbol of the sun, bestower of life, aphrodisiac, protector against disease and poison…The plant, whose white berries tinge with gold as they wither, was especially sacred to the Celtic Druids.  On the sixth night of the moon, a white-robed priest cut the mistletoe with a golden sickle, catching it in a white cloth, never allowing it to touch the ground.  Along with two sacrificed white bulls, it was offered in prayer to the gods, symbol of peace and prosperity.  The Book of Christmas Folklore, by Tristram P. Coffin, P. 26