Pagan Christmas (11 page)

The custom of letting the last apple hang on the tree comes from the old practice of making an offering for the apple tree goblin or the tree nymphs of the ancient world. The Meliads were the nymphs of the apple trees. They were naturally associated with Aphrodite, the Cypriot love goddess, whose temple was in the Tasmanian field in the region now known as Cyprus. There, “in the middle of the plains, a tree is shimmering, red, and full of leaves—red-gold is rustling in its leaves” (Ovid, Metamorphoses X, 647f). And there, Aphrodite picked her famous golden apples.

Pomegranate

Punica granatum L., Punicaceae

OTHER NAMES

Love apple

So the pomegranate is the symbol of the secret in the body of the woman, and also of the entry to it. It belonged to Aphrodite and to any other goddess of fertility and sexuality. The pomegranate, Hera’s symbol of marriage, was also a fruit of Demeter.

GRIGSON 1978, 190

The dried pomegranate makes a beautiful Christmas decoration. It dries hard as stone and almost resembles a Christmas ball. The pomegranate is also one of the golden apples of Aphrodite. After the Cypriot legend, Aphrodite—who came from the eastern world herself—planted the first pomegranate tree in Cyprus. Why is this fruit so dear to the love goddess? If you inspect the bud just before it opens, you might see an almost lifelike, dark-red model of a well-formed penis.

Often the love goddess is pictured with a pomegranate in one hand and a pomegranate blossom in the other. Fruit and blossom embody both poles of sexuality, male and female, which are unified by the goddess. The pomegranate has also been regarded as a “tree of life” or “tree of knowledge” (Muthmann 1982). According to some interpretations, the famous apple from the tree of knowledge, the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, is not the apple but the pomegranate.

Pomegranates are among the most important wedding gifts in the wedding rituals of the Newari, a Nepali people who make a living trading arts and crafts. (Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2003)

Pomegranates play an important role in the feast honoring Aphrodite as well as weddings. Even today, pomegranates are thrown in front of houses of newly wed couples in Cyprus so that the house will be blessed with fertility. The more seeds that fall out of the bursting fruit, the greater the blessing of children will be. Aphrodite is still worshipped under the Catholic cloak as “holy virgin of the mountain of the golden pomegranate,” in the Convent of Chrysorogiatissa near Pano Panayia.

MIRACLE BLOSSOMS FOR THE WINTER SOLSTICE

I want to show you how a flower can shine in the middle of darkness. The blossoms will open before your eyes even though it is fall, even though it will be winter soon.

SCHENK 1943A, 218

As important as evergreens in the ethnobotany of Christmas are flowers that “miraculously” bloom in the dead of winter, when all is cold and dreary. We are accustomed to seeing plants turn green and flower in the spring and fade in autumn. This is why we value evergreen bushes and trees during the winter. But we are especially awed by plants that put forth flowers during the time of ice and snow. In truth, every single flower on Earth is a miracle—a miracle that few modern human beings perceive, acknowledge, or even admire. Whether we realize it or not, Christmas flowers that bloom in wintertime—indoors or out—remind us of this ongoing miracle.

Why do certain bushes and trees remain green in winter, and why do the tender flowers of some plants defy the snow and ice? These “unnatural” phenomena have always commanded interest among the peoples of Europe, and even today, such botanical miracles hold a special fascination, particularly at Christmastime. Year after year, even those who have never considered the origins of ethnobotanical customs want blossoming potted plants in midwinter and fir greens for their Advent wreaths.

The artists of former epochs arranged the sequence of human life stages figuratively, in terms of vegetation life cycles. Many sayings relate the miracle of flowering in nature to the nature of the human being. We talk about the budding of childhood and youth, of the bloom on a child’s cheeks, of the flower-like beauty of a young girl. As young adults, we are in the flowering stage of life; in old age, we consider what we have harvested during our lives. Our fantasy flowers; the heart flowers with love; our consciousness gives us flowers of knowledge. As human beings, we consider ourselves the flower and crown of all creation.

During all time periods, human beings have explained the wonders of nature in ways that fit with their own cultural, mythical, religious, and scientific beliefs. The ancients attributed the growth of plants, the variety of colors and blossom forms, and the effects of plants on human beings to gods and goddesses and handed down these ideas as their myths. Christian authors consider creation a book written by the hand of God, and have made allegories of the many legends surrounding the life and deeds of Jesus Christ and the saints—many of which draw analogies with the nature and appearance of plants. To the present day, pagan peoples and shamanic tribal cultures believe that the actions of plant souls play a role in human life, and this is expressed in their own mythical explanations of the nature of reality.

The sight of evergreen and flowering plants in winter gave people of the pagan world hope for a return of the light and the renewing power of goddess nature. Christians interpreted these astonishing phenomena as a sign of the almighty power of the Creator and his son, whose birth redeemed them from the powers of darkness. Plants that opened their buds at Christmastime were therefore baptized with Christ’s name in honor of his birth, and believers explained the winter flower blossom miracles with Christian legends.

To the ancients, the fir tree that became the Christmas tree represented the male element, the spear, and the phallus—the life-sustaining world tree or world axis. The flower-blossom wonder is the female element of the universe: the well of wisdom, the blossoming, the birthing, the unfolding, the grail, the vulva.

Carnations, hog’s fennel, pennyroyal, saffron, hellebore, mandrake and the cherry tree: all flower on Christmas Eve. Also, the so-called rose of Jericho (Anastatica heirochuntica), which seems dead and dry throughout the whole year, unfolds and has a most delicious scent. This is why it is also called the “resurrection flower,” and is dedicated to the Savior (von Perger 1864, 56f).

St. Barbara’s Boughs

St. Barbara’s Bough is a harbinger of spring, in its freshness even winter cannot harm it; it embodies the constantly reawakening life. Its power of life is transferred to human beings. They bear good luck and blessings into the following year. But if the branch is dying—then the owner is facing bad luck.

MARZELL 1935, 147

The custom of creating Barbara’s boughs—putting bare winter branches in a vase so that they are green and flowering for Christmas—has roots in old Roman practices. On the winter solstice and at the beginning of the new year, the Romans gave each other evergreen branches from needle-bearing trees, boxwoods, rosemary, and mistletoe. In the old Roman calendar, the year began on March 1, only later on January 1. Etrennes, the gifts traditionally exchanged by the French for New Year’s, also hark back to these Roman customs.

Barbara’s boughs are traditionally cut on December 4, the day of St. Barbara. The decision as to which trees are the best for this Christmastime greening and blossoming miracle differs from region to region. The Munich Food Market does not consider fruit tree branches suitable. However, in some rural regions, branches from the sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L., Rosaceae) are very popular for this purpose.

If branches kept in a warm place bloomed on time, it indicated a good fruit harvest for the coming year. If blooming did not start on time, a bad harvest was foretold. It is interesting to note that this custom was based not on magic and superstition, but on observation of nature. In 1864, K. Ritter von Perger already recognized the natural facts behind the belief. According to von Perger, “because the [leaf and blossom] buds for the next year are already formed in autumn, one can make a judgment about the future from the appearance of a higher or lower number of those with more or less fruit” (von Perger 1864, 53).

In lower Austria and the Swabian region around Ellwangen, it was customary to put up a branch for each member of the family. Whoever was associated with the branch that developed best was to have the best luck in the following year. For family members with branches whose buds did not open, bad luck or even death was predicted. In Silesia (now part of Poland), girls of marriageable age set aside a branch for each of their suitors. The adorer whose branch bloomed first was said to have the best chance. Martin Greif wrote a poem about this:

On St. Barbara’s Day I took

Three branches from the cherry tree

I put them in a vase

I said three wishes in my dream

The first that one would court me

The second that he is still young

The third that he had money enough.

Christmas Eve before church

I saw that two branches were in bloom

I know a poor boy

I take him the way he is.

Christ Rose or Hellebore

The black hellebore is warm and dry and a little humid, but it has a special greening power that is useful.

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, PHYSICA, 152

Helleborus spp. L., Ranunculaceae

Helleborus niger L. (black hellebore)

Helleborus viridis L. (green hellebore)

OTHER NAMES

The Christ rose or black hellebore is popular under many names in many different languages: alröschen, brandwurz, Christbaumwurzel, Christblume, Christiana, Christmas flower, Christmas herb, Christmas rose, Christ rose, Christrosenwurzel, Christröslein, Christwurtz,1 eisbluem, ellébore noir (French), feurwurz, frangekraut, gillwurz, hainwurz, helleborische nieswurtz, helleboros (Greek), herbe de feu (French), herrgottsrose, himmelswurz, isaia (Arabic), leüsskraut, niesswurzel, nyesewurtz, rose d’hiver (French), rose de Noel (French), schneeberger, schneeblumen, schneekaderl, schneekalt, schneekatzen, schneekönigin, schneerose, schneerosenwurz, schwarze nieswurz, weinachtsblume, weihnachtsrose, weinblume, winterblume, winterkind, and winter rose.

The plant soul of the hellebore (Helleborus niger) is cold in the snow: “The winter’s dress is its cradle blanket” (Söhns 1920, 35). (Book cover: Bohatta, Ida, Little Flower in the Winter [Munich: Ars Edition 2000] )

There are around fifteen species in the genus Helleborus in Europe and western Asia. The plants are frost-resistant and the blossoms long-lasting. In the wild, hellebores grow in the Alps of Berchtesgarden and in Tirol, where their white petals start to appear shortly after the snow melts. In mild winters they are punctual, arriving right in time for Christmas. Cultivated varieties are very popular in the city, as are Christmas cards depicting their white blossoms. Hellebores are considered the “Christmas rose,” especially in England, where they are taken in pots into the house and used everywhere as decorations.

The poet Agnes Franz praised the beauty of the hellebore’s white petals (Söhns 1920, 35f):

Like a starry sky it is glimmering

Deep in its emerald wreath of leaves

And whoever sees it and whoever takes it

Congratulates himself and says:

Praise the Lord! The time has come

When earth and heaven are at peace!

The sun is shining peacefully

The day grows longer, the night shorter

Christ rose blossom, you star light!

Praised be the feast of the Lord!

The botanist Otto Brunfels (1489–1543) offers the first interpretation of the name Christ’s root in the sixteenth century:

It is called Christ’s root because it blossoms on Christmas Eve, and its flower is all green. That is where this name comes from. I have seen it myself—you may jest about it all you want. It is called “sneezing root” because, in the form of a powder, it makes one sneeze (Brunfels 1532, 62).2

The Christ rose or black hellebore (Helleborus niger) contain the digitalis-like cardiac glycosides helleborin and helleborein.

MAGICAL AND FOLK USE

Because the white flowers and green leaves of the Christmas rose are resistant to the cold, they were thought to have magic powers. Numerous protection and divination enchantments sprang from this idea. For example, country people believed that planting hellebore near a stall or putting a bouquet on a tall door would protect animals from epidemics. Others saw it as an oracle for the coming harvest year, because its flowering represented the beginning of a new growing cycle.

The Gauls put hellebore juice on spears and arrows, believing that this would make the meat of the dead animal much more tender. But they cut out the flesh around the wound. While digging out the hellebore, one had to draw a circle around the plant, then get up before morning to pray. If an eagle showed itself, the one who dug the root would die in the following year. Digging out hellebore causes a heaviness in the head; because of that, in former times one was required to eat garlic and drink a glass of unwatered wine for protection. Hellebore was dedicated to the planet Saturn. It protected against many illnesses, and whoever carried it along with them could become very old (von Perger 1864, 184).

The human longing for flowering messengers of spring in the dark, cold Christmas season explains the continued popularity of the Christ rose in December. Its reputation as a magical and health-promoting plant persisted until the recent past:

The Christ Rose as Oracular Flower

In the Zurich Oberland, twelve Christmas rose buds were dropped in water on Christmas. Then the people noted which one opened. The one that opened first indicated good weather in the month corresponding to its number; the ones that remained closed meant bad weather in those months. (For example: If the sixth bud opened, it meant good weather in the haying month, and so on.)

In the canton of Zurich, it is considered a good sign for the coming wine year if the Christ rose turns reddish (instead of brownish) while fading. In Rhineland Palatinate, hellebore was called the wineflower because the wine-growers say that it is going to be a good harvest when they bloom a lot (Marzell 1935, 167).