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Christmas Legends and Traditions
Traditions are your
links to the past. They are gifts from your ancestors that give you ideals
to live by. No other traditions are more cherished than those celebrated at
Christmas. With the Christmas celebration comes old customs that, somehow;
makes the season more meaningful. You love your Christmas stockings, cards,
cookies, & poinsettias that are apparent every Christmas season. But,
did you ever wonder where the
tradition came from?
Table of Contents
Legend
of the Christmas Stocking
The
Legend of Santa Claus
The Christmas Candle
The
Legend of the Mistletoe
The
Legend of the Poinsettia
The
Legend of the Christmas Tree
Christmas Cards
Christmas Cookies
The Legend of the Christmas Stocking
The custom was founded by the most
influential figure in the shaping of today's Santa Claus, St. Nicholas of
Myra, a fourth-century bishop who was known for his charity and wisdom.
According to legend, a poor Italian father was faced with selling one of his
three daughters into slavery in order to afford the dowries needed for
others to marry. One night the daughters had washed out their
stockings and hung
 them
over the fireplace to dry. Having heard of the family's misfortune,
the good saint decided to pay them a visit. Late that night, in the
darkness riding his faithful white steed he stopped by their house and saw
the stockings through the window. He secretly tossed three bags filled
with gold coins down the chimney. The bags fell into the stockings
that were hanging by the fire. His kindhearted gift made it possible
for all three maidens to marry. A variation of the story is that he
tossed the bags threw the window into the stockings. This idea may
have accounted for the gifts being delivered to those without chimneys.
Through his life, St. Nicholas tried to help others while
inspiring them to do the same. Legends of his unselfish giving spread
all over Northern Europe. Like so many other traditions in our
country, the legends were introduced by immigrants who brought beliefs when
they crossed the Atlantic.
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The
Legend of Santa Claus
Like
the tale of the Christmas stocking, the story of Santa Claus originated in
Europe during the fourth-century when a bishop named St. Nicholas of Myra
spread goodwill
 and
generosity throughout the land. He was known to go about on a white
horse giving anonymous gifts by night. His traveling clothes were
bishop red and he carried a staff. His unselfish acts of kindness
spread throughout Europe and the children thought of him as a giver of all
good things. When he died on December 6, his remains were taken to
Italy and a church was erected in his honor. That day soon became a
day of celebration, gift giving, and charity.
In the sixteenth century, the celebration of catholic saints
was banned and St. Nicholas Day became merged with Christmas celebrations.
Although the gift-giving Saint took on a non-religious form, the generous
spirit still remained. Eventually, the image of the Saint became a
sort of mystical being, known for rewarding the good and punishing the bad.
Like so many other traditions in our country, Santa Claus is
a product of many different cultures. In Europe, he was depicted as a
tall-dignified religious figure riding a white horse through the air.
The Dutch immigrants presented Sinterklass (meaning St. Nicholas) to the
colonies. Many English-speaking children pronounced this so quickly
that it sounded like Santa Claus. The tradition of the Santa Claus or
St. Nick in a red suit was brought to us by the Scandinavians. Black
Peter, an elf who punished disobedient children, accompanied the German's
St. Nick.
As Christmas evolved in the United States, new customs were
adopted and many old ones were reworked. In North America, Santa Claus
eventually developed into a fat, old, kind, generous, man who was neither
strict nor religious.
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The Christmas Candle
Throughout medieval Europe, a very large
candle, called the Christmas candle was burned until the twelfth Night, in
remembrance of the arrival of the Wise Men to Bethlehem. In Victorian
times, candles represented good
will for those less fortunate and were placed in windows December 25 to
January 6 to indicate welcome to any passerby needing shelter and
food. Certain beliefs were attached to candles. Some people
believed the flames from the burning candles frightened away evil spirits
during the darkest days of the year. The Norwegians believed that
Christmas candles must not burn out on Christmas Eve or bad luck would
plague the family. Legends tell us that candles in windows guide the
Christ Child as he wanders from house to house on Christmas Eve looking for
a place to stay. Thus, no traveler can be turned away on Christmas Eve
in case the Christ Child might come by.
The custom of lighting candles on trees indoors started
in Germany. To them the candles represented the stars and is one
custom that founded its way to America. Today, especially at
Christmas, candles signify the message of the season. A candle
burning in the window of some Christian homes symbolically lights the way of
the holy family, as well as welcomed guests.
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The
Legend of the Mistletoe
Baldur was the god of light
and spring, purity and beauty. He was the son of Frigga, the Norse
goddess of love and marriage. Baldur was often disturbed by dreams that his
life was in danger. To protect her son, Frigga went about the land demanding
promises from all the other gods and all the natural elements such as, fire,
water, air and earth not to harm her son. But, in her haste, she
forgot to speak to the mistletoe, which was considered too puny and
insignificant to do him harm.
Baldur had one enemy, Loki, a god known for causing evil
toward his fellow gods. When he heard that the mistletoe was ignored, he
ordered another god to hurl a mistletoe dart into Baldur's heart, killing
him. Baldur's mother was heart-broken and cried many tears. Her
bitter tears fell onto the mistletoe causing pearl-like berries.
Because Frigga was liked by many gods, her plea for her son to come back to
life was answered. She was so delighted that she went about the
 land
kissing everyone under the white berries. She then declared that the
mistletoe would never again be used as a weapon and said, "All who stand
beneath the mistletoe must kiss in friendship and peace." It is said
the myth of the mistletoe spread throughout the land, and whenever enemies
met under it, they laid down their weapons and declared a truce.
There were many beliefs associated with the mistletoe. In
ancient times, it was believed to be sacred, to have come from heaven,
possessing mystic powers because it grew without roots and never touched the
ground. It was also considered as a giver of life and protector against
disease and poison. The plant was believed to encourage romance, to bring
happiness and good luck, and to promote peace.
Despite all these positive beliefs, the English church banned
the mistletoe around 1600 because of its pagan superstitions. Some
Christians believed that the mistletoe was originally a tree whose wood was
used to make the cross on which Christ was crucified. It then shrank from
shame into a parasite bush. In the late eighteenth century, people in
England began using the mistletoe in their home Christmas decorations. The
pagan customs were forgotten and the plant was associated with happiness,
peace, and good luck. It was hung in doorways where guests would walk under
it providing an opportunity to kiss for no reason!
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The
Legend of the Poinsettia
In Mexico, it is an old custom to take flowers to church on Christmas Eve in
honor of the Christ Child. According to legend, long ago in a small mountain
village in Mexico, there lived a boy named Mario. Each year Mario
watched the villagers walk to church Christmas Eve carrying bundles of fresh
flowers. Mario could not afford to buy fresh flowers so, he would look in
the fields for wildflowers that might have survived the cold winter up in
the mountains. One Christmas Eve, as he was searching for wildflowers,
a voice called out to him. "Mario, pick up the weeds that are growing where
you kneel and take them to the Christ Child." Mario answered, "I
cannot take these weeds to the Baby Jesus!" The voice gently
replied, "the simplest gift, when given with love, will be the most
beautiful to him." Mario listened
 to
the voice and placed the green weeds around the manger, as the other
children teased him. But to everyone's astonishment the weeds
turned into a
beautiful red flower with bright green leaves. Mario
could not believe his eyes. It was the most beautiful flower he
had ever seen. The other villagers who witnessed the miracle knelt
before the manger. Mario understood what the angelic voice was trying to
tell him. He knew that the most important gift for the Christ Child was the
give of love.
The plant was brought from Mexico to America in 1836 by Dr.
Joel Poinsett, the first American minister to Mexico. It was
introduced to him by Mexicans who called it the "Flower of the Holy Night."
The plant was cultivated in the 1890s by Albert Ecke in California. The city
of Ventura, California, is called the "Poinsettia City." Today, the
Poinsettia plant is considered a Christmas symbol and brought into homes in
early December. Their beauty remains throughout the holiday season.
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The Legend of the
Christmas Tree
There
once was a poor woodcutter who lived with his family deep in the forest. On
Christmas Eve they sat down for dinner when they heard a knock at the door.
There stood a child in torn and ragged clothes, pale and hungry. The
woodcutter invited the child in for food even though they did not have much
to share and gave him a bed to rest. The woodcutter and his family
prayed to God, thanking him for a warm and safe place to live. In the early
morning they awoke to the most beautiful singing they had every heard.
They went to the window and saw the orphaned child standing with a choir of
angels singing a lovely Christmas carol. The child was no longer
wearing the tattered clothing but dressed in a magnificent robe surrounded
by a glowing light. When the child saw the woodcutter and his
family he said, "I am the Christ Child, I have received your kindness and
now this is my gift to you." He broke a branch from a small fir tree and
planted it. He told them, "From this day forward, this tree shall bear
fruit at Christmas and you shall have plenty even in the cold winter." As
they stood listening, the branch grew into a beautify tree covered with
fruit.
 The
Christmas tree as we know it originated in Germany. In the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries, people in Europe performed miracle or mystery plays
in front of cathedrals during the advent season. This was a means to teach
the Bible since few people could read the scriptures. The evergreen tree was
often used as a prop. Its image lasted in the minds of those attending and
influenced the German people to bring trees into their homes at Christmas.
The fir tree in the plays represented the tree of life as well as sin, so
people first decorated trees with little religious figures on the branches.
The Christmas tree spread to America when Hessian soldiers
practiced the custom while fighting in the Revolutionary War. Later,
the German born Prince Albert and Queen Victoria popularized the custom when
they erected the first Christmas tree in Windsor Castle. By the
early 20th century, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree was adopted by
most Americans of European descent. The tradition of a Christmas tree
in
the White House started in
1856 with President Franklin Pierce. This cherished tradition of
celebrating Christ's birth around a decorated tree is one of the most
popular and beloved parts of our Christmas season.
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Christmas Cards
No one is sure where
the tradition of sending Christmas cards first started. Some say it began in
England, where schoolchildren away from home would write to their parents
 reminding
them that the gift-giving time would soon be near. The first known artist to
create a Christmas card was John Calcott Horsley, who designed a card for
Sir Henry Cole, a London museum director. Sir Henry Cole decided that
it would be easier to send pre-made cards than to labor over individual
greetings, as he had done as a child. Sir Henry had 1000 cards printed and
sold them for one shilling each. At first, only the wealthy could
afford them, then later less-expensive printing soon became available.
Queen Victoria loved the idea and soon it became quite fashionable. By the
1850s, Christmas cards were a well established tradition.
Christmas cards did not become popular in America until the
1870s when Louis Prang, a German immigrant who owned a small Massachusetts
print shop, designed and printed such beautiful cards that he became known
as, "father of American Christmas cards." The cards were favorable, but
impractical to produce. By the end of the nineteenth century, less expensive
cards were taking over and Prang was forced out of business. Before
WWI, many of the cards sold in America came from Germany. After the
war, the Christmas card business flourished. Today, over two-and-a-half
billion Christmas cards are exchanged every year!
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Christmas Cookies
Cookies have been part of
celebrations long before the first Christmas. After Pope Julius declared
December 25 as Christmas in 350 A.D., Christians adopted cookie baking as
part of the Christmas celebration.
 There
are many traditions inherited and adopted by Americans and the Christmas
cookie is another one. The Christmas cookie actually came from the
Dutch word koekje, which means "small cake." It was the Pennsylvania Dutch
who first introduced holiday cookies to America. The rest of the
Europeans continued to bake when they came to the United States introducing
many treats that we enjoy today. We can thank Sweden for the spritz
cookies topped with sugar crystals, Scotland for their shortbread, Greece
for their Baklava and the Russian for their powdered sugar tea cakes.
The German cookies, lebkuchen and springerle are favorites. Many of
the Christmas cookie recipes we enjoy today came from European countries;
each carrying generations of folklore and legend. Traditional
cookie recipes
can be
found by clicking here!
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