The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery
was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that
spring was not far away.
Although
holly is the only traditional decorative green which remains of the once famous
duo of Holly and Ivy both have an ancient association with the winter
festivities.
The
Romans used holly during their Solstice celebration, known as Saturnalia and it
had a close association with the God Dionysus.
Holly
boughs were given as gifts during Saturnalia as it was believed to protect
against lightning strikes and ward off evil spirits.
The
Druids also held holly in very high esteem as a plant of death and
regeneration.
The
ancient custom was to decorate the doorway with intertwined garlands of holly
and ivy which represented unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly
with its red berries representing the color of life and life’s blood was the
Goddess and female while Ivy was the eternal representation of consort to the
goddess and therefore was masculine in nature.
The
Tradition stands that the first in the household whether male or female to
bring Holly into the house would rule the roost for the coming year.
When
Christianity spread across Europe, holly became synonymous with the word
"holy."
It
invoked great symbolism, its prickly leaves represented the crown of thorns
worn by Jesus and the bright red berries represent the drops of blood He shed
on the cross.
Legend
tells that the berries of the holly plant were once yellow in color but were
stained red by the blood of Christ.
Holly
as with all the evergreen’s holly symbolizes eternal life.
