december2014

early church in

Jerusalem. After

an argument with

members of the

synagogue, he

was accused of

blasphemy. While

waiting for his

trial, he said he had

seen God the Father

and Son, though this

wasn’t enough to save

him – he was stoned

anyway.

Mistletoe

Mistletoe is a

parasitic plant

which

perches

on a

tree

branch

and

absorbs

nutrients from the trunk – hardly one of

the most romantic forms of life. But it

has been inspiring people to go at it for

generations. Mistletoe has a large mytho-

logical background across many cultures.

The Greeks believed that Aeneas, the

famous ancestor of the Romans carried

a sprig of mistletoe in the form of the

legendary golden bough. In Eddic tradi-

tion, mistletoe was the only thing able to

kill the god Baldur, since it had not sworn

an oath to leave him alone. Amongst other

pre-Christian cultures, mistletoe was

believed to carry the male essence, and by

extension, romance, fertility, and vitality.

Its use as decoration stems from the fact

that it was believed to protect homes from

fire and lightning. It was commonly hung

at Christmas time only to remain there all

year until being replaced by another sprig

next Christmas. The process by which

mistletoe became associated with kissing

is currently unknown, but it was first re-

corded in 16th century England as a very

popular practice. Mistletoe carries a pretty

good legacy, for a parasite of a plant that

causes diarrhea and stomach pain when

ingested.

Santa

Most people know that Santa’s origins lie

in Saint Nicholas, which generous Saint

who gave presents

to needy children.

However, many other

figures evolved into the

conglomerate we call

Santa Claus. For one,

the Dutch Sinterklaas,

who himself has basis

with Saint Nick, was the

main inspiration for Santa

Claus. He is nearly identi-

cal to Santa: he wears red

and white, knows if you’re

naughty or nice, and has elf

helpers referred to as Zwarte

Piet. However, the legend

takes on a much darker

legend when one hears that

the Zwarte Piet’s duties also

include punishing naughty

children with “jute bags and

willow canes”. He also differs

from Santa in the facts that he

wears a bishop’s hat and comes

on steam boat from Spain, rather

than the North Pole. Another large

influence into Santa’s design is the

British Father Christmas, a figure devel-

oped in the 17th century as the embodi-

ment of holiday joy and mirth. Odin also

exists as a potential pagan inspiration for

Santa Claus; he lead a hunting party with

other gods on Yule, a German holiday at

roughly the same time as Christmas; he

rode Sleipnir, a legendary horse with 8

legs; like Santa, he has 8 reindeer; and he

would fill children’s’ boots with candy,

as mentioned earlier. The modern Santa

Claus, contrary to popular belief, was

not created by Coca-Cola,

but has been in American

folklore since the late 18th

century. His name comes

from an Ameri-

canization of

Sinterklaas,

and some-

where along

the way,

he lost

his

bish-

op’s

hat.

One

could

write

an en-

tire list on the origins of

individual

com-

po-

nents

San-

ta’s

story –

suffice

to say

that they

all have

interesting

origins, and I

would suggest

further read-

ing. There may

be a couple

levels of

separation,

but nearly

every

strange

tradi-

tions we

practice

around

the

holiday sea-

son stem

from Christianity, and further than that,

even have a basis in Pagan religions and

pre-Christian traditions. And really, do the

connections to Christianity even matter?

Christmas is the one time of year where

everyone (or nearly so) is friendly, gener-

ous and gets along with each other, does it

matter the inspiration? As a non-Christian,

I believe we can all learn something from

the Christmas spirit,

regardless

of race,

religion, or

creed.