by Pam North

Amid the celebration and fanfare of the holiday season lies a wealth of fascinating stories that spawned the traditions and legends
commonly associated with Christmas.  Some are fact, and some are fiction.  Here are just a few.

MISTLETOE:  The Druids regarded mistletoe as a sacred plant, making sure that it never touched the ground.  They dedicated it to the Goddess of Love, which explains its connection to the kissing custom.  Originally, when a boy kissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her.  When the berries were finally used up, the kissing ceased.

SANTA CLAUS:  Also known as Father Christmas, Santa Claus (from the Dutch "Sinterclaas") is based on a real person, St. Nicholas, a Christian leader from the Middle East nation of Turkey.  Thought to have been born around the year 245 A.D. to wealthy parents, Nicholas devoted his life to the Church, eventually becoming archbishop of Myra.  Tortured for his beliefs until
Emperor Constantine changed the official religion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, Nicholas died sometime around 350 A.D.
The traditions of gifts and stockings supposedly began when Nicholas, about to give up his wordly possessions to become a bishop,
heard of a family with three daughters, all of marriageable age, but unable to wed because they were without dowries.  Nicholas, as the story goes, dropped three bags of gold down the chimney, and some of the gold coins fell in the girls' stockings, which were hung to dry on the fireplace.

TINSEL:  As Mary and Joseph fled through the mountains of Judea from King Herod's murderous wrath against the first-born male children, they tired and took refuge in a cave.  A spider spun a dewdrop-laden cobweb over the entrance to hide their presence from passing soldiers.  The bright tinsel symbolizes this sparkling cobweb.

POINSETTIA:  It was the custom in Mexico for villagers to leave gifts for the Baby Jesus in their church on Christmas Day.  One small boy had no gift, so he prayed for a way to show his love for the Infant.  His prayer was answered when a flower bloomed where the boy knelt.  The flower was a bright red color, and was formed like a star, and so the poinsettia is known today as the "Flower of the Holy Night."

ROBIN:  The  night was cold in the stable, and Mary was worried that the fire would go out, and her Baby would have no warmth.  She asked each animal in the stable - the oxen, the donkey and the horse - to breathe upon the dying fire to fan the embers.  The animals would not rouse from their sleep, and ignored Mary's request.  A small brown bird flew in and puffed its feathers near the coals to renew their fire, ignoring the mounting heat that burned its breast.  And so the the robin still wears a breast of red to signify its service to the Infant Jesus.

STORK:  This noble bird gave her plumage to cushion the Christ Child's bed in the stable at Bethlehem, and so now she is blessed as the patroness of all bablies everywhere.

CANDY CANE:  A humble candy maker devised it as homage to Christ.  The hard candy symbolized the church's foundation on solid rock.  Formed in the shape of the Good Shepherd's staff and also forming the J of Jesus' name, the cane's colors were red for the virgin birth and white for Christ's sinless nature.  The three small red stripes signified the scourging of Christ on the way to the cross, and the large red stripe served to remind people of the shedding of blood by Christ as payment for the sins of humanity.

SAGE:  When Mary and Joseph saw that there was approaching danger of being found by Herod's soldiers, Mary beseeched first the rose and then the clove to spread their leaves to shelter her Child from discovery.  Each plant refused, fearing for its own safety, and Mary then went to the sage, which unhesitatingly enfolded the Infant in a soft embrace, screening Him from view until the soldiers had passed.  Since then, the rose has had thorns, and the clove has had ill-smelling flowers, while the sage has become highly regarded for its curative powers.

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER:  The poem was written by Bob May to answer his four-year-old daughter's question as to why her mother wasn't like other mothers.  Evelyn May, Bob's wife, had been stricken with cancer, and had been bedridden for two years.  Bob May devised the story of the reindeer, embarrassed by his different nose, to communicate to his child, Barbara,
that even though some creatures are strange and different, they often have the miraculous power to make others happy.  The little reindeer's unique nose, which had been a subject of ridicule among the other reindeer, became the bright beacon that led Santa's reindeer team through the foggy night so that the world's children could receive their Christmas gifts.  The allegory was completed by Bob May in 1938, and by 1947 some six million copies of the poem were in circulation.  It now occupies a permanent niche as a Christmas classic.

While the symbols of the holiday season are recognized simply because of their long association with all the Christmases we've ever known, knowing the origins of their existence brings added dimension to enjoying them.