Pagan fertility rights are also incongruously attached to the Christmas date. Seed grain is exposed on Christmas night in hopes that the dew which falls when the heavens celebrate will make the seed more fertile. Trees and shrubs, including the staff of Joseph of Arithmea, are said to flower on Christmas night. From these beliefs have created the practice of decorating houses with greenery, although mistletoe is associated with earlier Druid traditions. They feature Virgil the poet and the Sybil, an oracle, in the company of Old Testament prophets honouring Christ's birth.
People are ready to party according to the old ways.
But they have some trouble with solemn church observances. Christian commentators complain about the celebration of the Feast of Fools over Christmas. On St. Stephen's day, December 26, it's the custom to enter the church with a piper in order to chose a Lord of Misrule. Revellers tend to strip down and cavort around wearing a two-eared hood, an ornamental sword and a single shoe. The priest might be required to dress in rushes while his horse is solemnly decked out in clerical red.