Evening star., 1948-12-13
Rp Eanice Welch Foster

We'd travel a long and devious
way to go back to our early Christ
mas celebrations, for the roots OF
our Christmas observances go deep
into the folk lore of such ancient
peoples as the Egyptians, Romans
and Druids.
Here in our land when we keep
this sacred festival. everything we
associate with the day has been
passed on to us from some other
country. Carols and food, gift-giv-
ing and decorations, greeting cards
and candles were all in use hundreds
of years ago. There are just two
things which are. in their use, orig
inal with us; one is the use of that
noble bird the turkey as our main
dish for Christmas dinner, and the
other the poinsettia as part of our
decorations. The Red men were
using wild turkeys when our first
settlers came to these shores, and
one of our ambassadors to Mexico
brought back poinsettiaS to Wash
ington with him. and spent much
time and patience in finding the
right conditions under which to grow
them here. The Spanish name is
long since forgotten. because so
enthusiastic were his fellow botan-
lists about this flaming, beautiful
plant with its crimson bracts and
glossy green leaves. that it was
named for DR.. John Poinsett OF
North Carolina. its discoverer. No
plant lends itself more beautifully
to the Christmas color scheme. than
does this one.
Christmas, as a religious festival
was not celebrated until about $50
AID. and there were definite rea-
sons for choosing December 70 as
Christ's natal day. For many years
various celebrations had been held
"when the earth began to awaken
under the kiss of light" which was
A poets way of describing the Win
ter Solstice. In ancient Egypt az
this time a great fete was held IN
honor of the goddess Isis ana
Romans held a wild revel honoring
Saturnalia. Scandinavians built
huge fires to defy the intense cold
ate quantities of food and sweet
meats, and quaffed great drausnts
of mead, as they looked FORWARD
ionringly to the day when land
locked rivers would be open once
more to navigation.
In the great roofless temples OF
the Druids, at this season. torches
blazed to tighten the darkness as
one and all turned out to watch
the ceremony of cutting mistletoe,
holly and ivy with which to dec
crate the temples. Preceded by
blaring Of trumpets, the Arch DRUID
himself, clad in flowing white robes,
with golden necklaces and arm
bands, cut the mistletoe, which had
many mystic traits ascribed to 1t.
A regular ritual attended Its cut
ting; as bards sang its praise the
priest climbed to the lowest branch
of a sturdy oak, and with a golden
sickle cut this sacred, parasitic plant
from the tree. Under no circum-
stances must it touch the ground,
since that brought dire fate upon
all, so it was caught in the volu-
minous folds of his white robe. The
prelate then broke 1t into small
pieces. giving a twig Of 1t with his
blessing, and a prayer for divine
guidance and natures benef1cience,
to each of his followers. This twig
was cherished and carried home
to be hung in the doorway, where
one caught under 1t was given a
kiss to seal friendship and peace
with that household. The Scandi-
navians, too, revered this sacred
plant and If perchance enemies met
underneath it truce was declared
for "a hours. the pact sealed with
q kiss of friendship. Many his
torians think that gave rise to its
use in our homes. but because OF
its association with so much OF
pagan customs. to this day mistletoe
is never used to deck Christian
churches. The Druids believed that
the holly which they used so Law
ishly, was proof that no matter
how cold, dark and dreary this
season might be the glossy ever
green with its brilliant red berries
showed that the sun never actually
deserted the earth.
During the very earliest celebra-
tions of the Christmas season it be-
came the custom of the very poor to
wander about singing carols in the
streets. Men. women and children
were rewarded with money, food and
even clothing, for among supersti-
tious people custom is sacred, and
they were afraid some dire evil
would befan them if at this time
they did not provide the necessities
of life to needy ones. To this day
we are apt to loosen up our purse
strings at Christmas time, gladly
forgetting that the poor are AL
WAYS with us.
In many lands the Yuletide began
the 9Th of December and lasted until
Twelfth Night, the gift giving pre-
r@A;y~