Question for wiccans and pagans - christmas tree and holly wreaths?

Question

Are these symbols part of any pagan or wiccan celebrations? If so, how are they related?

Thank you so much for sharing this information with me!

Answer 1

Yule Trees were used for centuries before Christianity, as a fertility symbol, they are still used by Pagans, pretty much the same way Christian use them. We tend to decorate with fruit and natural decorations, rather than plastic shiny things. Holly is a tree sacred especially to Winter Solstice.

The real reason for the season
Many mainstream Christmas traditions stem from original Pagan practices. Though Christian origins and associations have been attributed to many of these traditions, they do in fact pre-date Christianity.

Tree Decorating - There is some debate on the origin of this tradition. Druids (and some other ancient cultures) saw evergreen trees as symbols of everlasting life, because they seemed to live through the winter undaunted by the cold. So using evergreen branches as decorations symbolized the undying strength of the Sun. Decorating the trees may have come from the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia (see below for more on Saturnlia).

Yule Log - A special log was chosen on the eve of Yule, for the holiday fire. A small piece from last year's log is used to light the fire. The lighting of the fire was a festive family event, to hurry the return of the sun. Charred pieces from the fire would be kept to protect the house through the coming year. The woods most often sought for the Yule log were birch, oak willow or holly. Today, the Yule log is sometimes represented as a log cake instead. Or a small log is decorated with candles. The burning of the Yule log is a well-known tradition, but it's not often done outside of the Pagan community anymore.

Kissing Under Mistletoe - The roots of this habit are unknown, but is likely tied with the fertility aspects of mistletoe and that it was viewed as a bringer of peace by the Druids.
Mistletoe was also a powerful healing herb. Mistletoe and kissing are also seen in one of the Norse myths: Frigga is the Norse Goddess of love, marriage and fertility. Her son, Balder was slain by Loki with an arrrow made from mistletoe. When Balder was restored to life, Frigga blessed the mistletoe and gave a kiss to anyone who passed under it. Some later versions of this tradition say to remove one berry with each kiss. When there are no more berries on the sprig of mistletoe, no more kisses.

Gift Giving - The Christians attribute the giving of gifts at Christmas to the wise men who brough gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Jesus. But this tradition was common well before the time of Jesus, during Saturnalia.

The Ancient Roman Festival of Saturnalia
Saturnalia is one of the best known ancient celebrations of the Winter Solstice. The name comes from the Roman God Saturn, who ruled over agriculture. He was the main God honoured at this time, after the fall crops had been sown. Saturnalia lasted for several days (typically 7, but various officials changed the length of the festival on a few occassions). Saturnlia was the greatest festival of the Roman year, and was marked with great feasting, gift-giving, dancing, playing, and relaxing. Homes were decorated, work was suspended, and there was general merry-making done by all.

Holly is associated with the death and rebirth symbolism in both Pagan & Christian lore.The Oak rules the light part of the year while the Holly rules the dark part. For instance:

Both the Oak and Holly are symbolized with the Summer Solstice and the White Horse of the Oak becomes the The Unicorn of the Holly in transformation. The Fire Festivals that took place during this time were usually in honor of the Earth. Therefore, the Holly also represents those eternal, ever-green aspects of mother earth.

In Arthurian legend, Gawain, representing the Oak King of summer, fought the Green Knight, who was armed with a Holly club to represent winter. In Arthurian legend, Gawain (representing the Oak King of summer) fought the Green Knight, who was armed with a holly club to represent winter.Trees were pollard and used for winter deed especially in the North and West of England.

The holly is associated with Christ in Christian mythology. The Celtic symbol of the Flaming Spear is associated with the Celtic month of Tanist because the Celtic T is shaped like a barbed spear.

Holly means "holy". Holly symbolizes holiness, consecration, material gain, physical revenge, beauty, and immortality. Holly is said to help with someone's ability to cope with a death, and help him or her to sleep or rest.

Some stories tell that when winter came druids advised the people to take holly into their homes for it would shelter elves and fairies. There was a warning however to remove the holly entirely from the house before Imbolc eve because just one leaf in house would spell misfortune. The Holly always has been associated with mid winter festivals. Holly was given as gifts during the Roman Saturnila and later mixed with the Celtic traditions celebrating the sun gods birth a winter solstice.

It is felt to be unlucky to fell a holly tree or burn the green skinned holly. Yet luck was increased if a small branch kept from a Yule decoration was hung on the outside of the house where it would protect against lightening.

Scottish Traditions says that no branch should be cut from a holly tree, but rather pulled free in a method considered fit from sacred tree. Holly does not grow in Western Scotland.

Answer 2

A better question would be, "Christians, can you explain why an evergreen tree and holy became part of your Christmas celebration?" The answer is...

When the early Christians were trying to convert pagan Europe, they had great difficulty getting the people to give up their earth based celebrations. In order to ease the transition from paganism to Christianity, early Christians incorporated pagan festivals into Christian celebrations. As a result,

"Yule" which celebrates the longest night of the year, the winter solstice, became the birthday of Jesus.

In days of old, the pagan communities would decorate evergreen trees with candles, dried fruits, bird ornaments, etc., in order to remind the trees of life returning in spring and the days getting longer.

The pagans also believed the year was divided into two parts. As the light grew stronger, (from Yule onwards) they believed this part of the year was ruled by the Oak King. When the days began to grow shorter, this was the time of the Holly King. At Yule, it was believed that a battle ensued between the Holly King and the Oak King with the Oak King becoming victor; the days then becoming longer.

The same thing happened with other Christian celebrations. Can you tell me what rabbits and eggs have to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter? Nothing of course. This too was incorporated from the pagan celebration of the spring equinox. It was a fertility festival thus the bunny rabbits and eggs.

The fact is, a great deal was Incorporated into Christianity so the pagan people would feel more comfortable with it.

Answer 3

They are used during the sabbat called Yule which is celebrated on the winter equinox usually December 21-23. Yule celebrates not only the longest night of the year but it celebrates the Holly King. From Yule to Midsummer (June 21-23) the Holly King rules as its called the dark half of the year. This is the time of year when nature of sleeping when the days are shorter and the nights are longer.

From Midsummer to Yule the Oak King rules the other half of the year called the light half. Then is when nature is awake and active and growing. Then is also a time when the days become longer and the night shorter.

As you may have guessed decorated evergreens (trees that stay green even in winter) and holly plants are symbols of the Holly King.

Answer 4

Yes. Sort of. Evergreen trees are symbols of rebirth and the everlasting soul. They are also important shelter for wild creatures and nature spirits in the winter. By bringing them into our home (though most of us use artificial trees these days out of respect for the trees) we are inviting the nature spirits to partake of our hospitality in the warm shelter of our homes. We decorate them too for this same reason, to make them feel welcome and cheerful. We don't want them to stay forever though, and remove them and burn them at Imbolc. This encourages them to leave the shelter and set to work bringing about springtime.

Holly is also a symbol of rebirth and the everlasting soul. It provides valuable shelter and sustanence to the wild creatures during the cold winter months. It is also a sacred tree, like the Oak and the plant representation of a God figure. The Holly King (he looks a bit like Santa Clause) rules over the winter months, and the Oak King rules over the summer months. The wreath is a symbol of the cyclic nature of life (and in essence rebirth and the everlasting soul, seeing a pattern?) and is used in many celebrations. In the winter it'll be a Holly wreath, but in the spring it's flowers, in the summer leaves, flowers and/or fruit and the autumn colored leaves and/or fruit, especially grapevines. Laurel wreaths are also often used for extra-special occasions in some tradition.

Answer 5

The Christmas tree is actually from the Norse. For their sacred fire festival of Yule they would chop down evergreens, symbolic of the Earth's fertility and everlasting life, and bring them into their homes to decorate. Holly is also regarded as a sacred plant to the Norse, the red berries being symbolic of the lifeblood.

Answer 6

Definitly. However, traditionally, instead of cutting down a tree, pagans would decorate trees outside with pretty decorations and offerings to the gods.That's how I like to do it.

I know holly is a commonly used component in many wiccan/pagan rituals.

Answer 7

actually, they are pagan symbols taken by the Christians to signify something completely different. I believe they were from the ancient celts and stood for eternal life since they don't lose their leaves or go brown and appear to die in winter. And I'm not a pagan, by the way, just an agnostic christian.

Answer 8

They can be, though of course we don't call it a "Christmas" tree. They were adapted from European Pagan practices. Neo-Pagans have re-adapted them now.

Remember that Bethelhem, where it is said that Jesus was born, did not have evergreens or holly...

Answer 9

A wreath for me represents a never ending cycle of life.
I decorate a tree each year with white lights, stags, stars, suns and red balls. For me this represents the birth of the Sun/Son.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice.htm
http://www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/yule.htm

Blessings )O(

Answer 10

xmas tree came from the holiday of YULE. we'd decorate trees / with shiny things / momentos and then burn a special log to welcome the death of winter.

Holly wreaths have a great deal of lore about them ... to much to type in fact.

run a google search.