#Nostalgia #Advent Not So Random Thoughts about Christmas Traditions

This is the banner from the November 9, 1979 Royal Page.
I found this in some of my memorabilia. Thanks to Gina Pasto for her choice of topic for that edition of The Royal Page.

By: Gina Pasto, Staff Writer
Monte Vista High School newspaper “The Royal Page”  
Dateline: probably the early 1990s

Season's Customs Rooted in Tradition
  
Have you ever wondered about the origins of Christmas traditions? Most of the decorations and symbols of the season come from religious beliefs and holiday legends. 

Some very popular American Christmas customs are the use of holly and ivy, mistletoe, and tinsel.
  1. Holly has been used as a decoration for centuries, and because it bore fruit in the winter, it became a symbol of immortality. Its thorns are said to represent those worn by Christ, and the red of the berries symbolize blood. One story says that, on his way to the manger, a lamb was caught in the holly thorns and the red berries are the blood drops that froze on the branches. 
  2. In Yuletide songs, holly is spoken of as the male, and ivy, the female. It is said that the one which is first brought into the house indicates which sex will rule that house for that year. 
  3. Mistletoe is another holiday tradition, and in modern language it means to "give me a kiss." While it is hung, a male can claim a kiss from the· female standing under it. Then he removes a berry from the plant and gives it to the girl. When all of the berries are gone, no more kisses can be claimed. 
  4. The story of tinsel has it that a good woman with a large family decorated her tree, and during the night spiders crawled from branch to branch leaving a beautiful series of webs. To reward the woman for her kind heart, the Christ Child blessed the tree and the webs transformed into glittering silver. 


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