Until the Puritans successfully banned the festivities in the 17th century, the Lord of Misrule was a central historic figure in British Christmas celebrations. He was an elected official who coordinated the season’s revels for the Tudor court as well as in noble homes throughout the kingdom. The concept of misrule honored an annual reversal of traditional social groups. The poor and servants were given boxes of food.

When the Victorians rediscovered Christmas they created Christmas cards and the belief that Christmas was a time for family. In 1843 John Calcott Horsley sent the first printed Christmas card to his friend, Sir Henry Cole. Though Horsley’s card stirred some controversy with the image of a small child drinking wine, still the sending of cards became popular.

The Christmas tree was first introduced in the UK in 1800 by Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III. She carried the tradition from her native Germany, where having a Christmas tree in your home was a common custom. When the yew tree she requested was brought to the Queen’s Lodge in Windsor, she did the decorating.

Believed to be the figure on which the modern day Santa Claus is based, Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century archbishop and patron saint of girls and boys in what is now Turkey. Father Christmas first appeared during the 1650s, when the Puritans banned the festive season. The wise old man appeared on pamphlets praising the revels of the past above the gloom of that present day. During the Victorian period he began being identified as a gift-giver.

St Nicholas was added back into the mix in 1822 when Clement C Moore, a Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, Divinity and Biblical Learning, at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church where I attended in New York City, wrote his poem “T’was The Night Before Christmas”, which led to the creation of the modern Santa Claus.

Today Christmas is often denoted as Xmas, which many interpret as leaving Christ out of the season. Looking at history we find the abbreviation Xmas was first used in 15th century ecclesiastical writings. The X originally represented the first letter of the Greek word Xριστóς, meaning Christ, and so the birth of Jesus is still the centerpiece of the Christian Christmas.

Grateful for the all traditions we celebrate, artCentral joins Tiny Tim as together we say, “God bless us, every one.”

In Norse mythology mistletoe symbolized love. This is perhaps the origin for the custom of kissing under hanging mistletoe. 

Mistletoe was among the plants adopted by Christians in celebration of Christmas. They considered the evergreen leaves to symbolize “life that does not die”, longevity, fertility,  good luck, health and an abundant harvest in the months to come. The Victorians, taken with mistletoe as a symbol of fertility, life and romance, carried on the tradition of kissing beneath mistletoe.
 
Mistletoe grows parasitically on twigs; hence the origin of the name. The English word “mistletoe” derived from a defunct Anglo-Saxon dialect with “mistel” the word for the dung of bird droppings on tree branches and “tan” meaning twig. These two words cojoined as “mistletan” and evolved over time into “mistletoe”.
 
Most mistletoe seeds are spread by birds, which eat the berries and leave their droppings on tree limbs. If attached to a new host tree, the parasitic seeds release a compound called “viscin” which dries to form a stiff biological cement. While poisonous to pets, mistletoe is a good food source for birds eating the berries and butterflies, bees and a variety of insects dining on the nectar.
 
Globally more than 900 species of mistletoe can be found. Most familiar is the European (Viscum album) which we use for decorating. Mistletoe is found across North America. Native to Australia is a variety bearing elongated red berries.
 
Not all tree species are friendly hosts for mistletoe. Those most suitable include hawthorn, blackthorn, rowan, most apple varieties, willows, plum, lime and poplar. Mistletoe self-produces food through photosynthesis, while taking minerals and water from the host tree.
 
Male plants produce the pollen. Females produce the berries. To propagate mistletoe, fresh berries harvested from a mistletoe sow, are pushed underneath loosened bark in nooks or crannies of thicker, sunny tree branches where mistletoe is wished to grow. If the seeds successfully germinate green leaves will appear, and in three or four years small clumps will form.
 
Now that the time for mistletoe has come, remember…to refuse a kiss under the mistletoe is considered bad luck. After a kiss a couple is to pluck one berry to be fed to the birds. When all the berries are gone the bough is thought to lose the power to command kisses, so when you hang your mistletoe be sure to choose a very large spray!