The Accoutrements of Xmas

    I was set to musing on this subject on finding myself surrounded by random xmas decorations in my workplace. 

A consideration of the origins and symbology of popular motifs appearing at xmas.

There is a marvellous mish-mash of traditions evident.

Of the 19 items below the jump, I found:

        Four partly or wholly christian

        Seven secular

        Eight pagan  (see Right)

             pagan
    Note: I do not like and generally do not use this term, because it has a pejorative flavour, and is used by Christians to denote any other (and thus by implication inferior) religion but their own. It smacks of cultural arrogance of the worst kind, and is closely akin to the Roman word "barbarian", which has root meaning related to babble, and pejoratively refers to anyone whose language is unintelligible, and by implication, inferior, not proper speech.

Santa

Christianish. Saint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Empire, now in Turkey. Although buried locally, his bones were stolen in two lots and are now in Italy at Bari & Venice. He was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity.
    In Northern Europe he was blended with aspects of Odin and Yule, a midwinter event, whence the flying through the sky, the beard and the bringing of gifts.
    He was not invented by the Coca-Cola company.

    There is a full and interesting page for Santa/St. Nicholas at Wikipedia


Did you hear about the upside-down Santa? OH OH OH

Reindeer

Secular  I wondered if the "rein" part of the word was related to the reins on the animals pulling Santa's sleigh. Not so. Dictionary.com tells us "reindeer" contains redundancy, in that "deer" has been appended to old Norse/Germanic words which already meant reindeer. Words like hreinn & khrinda go back to indo-european, and a word relating to "horn", which described the horned animal we know as a reindeer, and which the North Americans know as caribou. Confusingly, the concept of a reindeer sleigh for Santa was created in the USA in New York, perhaps by someone ignorant of caribou.

Bells

Pagan The tradition of Christmas bells has its roots in paganism. Early pagans believed the ringing of the bells would ward off evil spirits. The Catholic church adopted the bell-ringing tradition

Jingle bell

Secular, associated with the sleigh. Originated as warning sound generator on harnesses, especially noiseless sleighs on snow.
The "Jingle Bells" song title is a command, Jingle!

Presents

Pagan origin, with christian mixture. wikipedia:  Gift giving was common in the Roman celebration of Saturnalia, an ancient festival which took place in late December and may have influenced Christmas customs,  People exchange gifts based on the tradition associated with St. Nicholas, and the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh which were given to the baby Jesus by the Magi.
Also see Odin & Santa.

Candles

Pagan Associated with winter solstice, were traditionally attached to Xmas trees, but the fire hazard led to replacement by electric lights as soon as they were invented.

Holly/Mistletoe

Pagan Associated with Celtic Druids and powers for good luck and anti-evil. ...the association of holly with winter celebrations almost certainly pre-dates Christianity. Druids wore holly wreaths on their heads.

Xmas tree

Pagan European. Wikipedia quotes Britannica, then adds more in a christian vein. However I have learned that the christians are very big on putting a christian gloss on local customs they cannot overwrite.

 "According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime."

Alternatively, it is identified with the "tree of paradise" of medieval mystery plays that were given on 24 December, the commemoration and name day of Adam and Eve in various countries. In such plays, a tree decorated with apples (to represent the forbidden fruit) and wafers (to represent the Eucharist and redemption) was used as a setting for the play. Like the Christmas crib, the Paradise tree was later placed in homes. The apples were replaced by round objects such as shiny red balls.


Note: They even have a xmas tree at Bethlehem, v strange.

Pine cones

Pagan From xmas tree, but also added to wreaths, and displayed separately as a symbol of a symbol, I guess.

Glass balls

Christian? Red balls = apples from tree, see above. A bit confused when hung on evergreens, but there you go. Other colours have been added to the confusion.

Stars

Christian Representing the biblical star of Bethlehem.

Wreath

Christian There is a German Protestant origin for the Advent Wreath, commemorating the days leading to xmas.  Wikipedia here. I fear it has been confused or reduced to a plainer wreath hearking back through Rome and Greece to the Etruscans.

Wassail

Pagan I have never encountered this term in New Zealand, even though carol singing is relatively common. It is an Old English toast, adopted from the Old Norse ves heill meaning "be healthy!" In the 1600s the word became synonymous with carol singing, though it can still refer to a toast, apparently.

Ribbons

Secular General decorative item, took off as popular in the 1800s.
        And confusedly, ribbon trees seem to be popular in the USA. Note the ribbon colours, see next entry.

Green, White & Red

Pagan The traditional colours of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red. Blue and white are often used to represent winter, rather confusedly as in New Zealand it is midsummer.

Snowman

Secular European winter tradition, not directly related to xmas, Used rather confusedly in New Zealand as it is midsummer.

Candy cane

Secular First mentioned in association with Christmas in 1874, and as early as 1882 was hung on Christmas trees.

Xmas pudding

Secular From about 19thC as xmas pudding, but the dish has roots much earlier, originally included and was to preserve meat. I guess this would be where they hadn't thought of or couldn't just freeze it?

Tinsel

Secular Originally represented icicles, first made from silver, then lead (up to Seventies, then banned as toxic), aluminium, now almost exclusively plastic. Also the name means sparkle, was used to enhance candles/lights on trees.