Denny's Soapbox

Christmas Legends Origins

Christmas is just two days away. In honor of this special occasion, the soapbox will have zero gardening information and advice. Today I thought it would be fun to discuss the origin or legend of some very popular ingredients of the Christmas season celebration.

The origin of Santa Claus begins in the 4th century with Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, an area in present day Turkey. By all accounts St. Nicholas was a generous man, particularly to children. Thousands of churches across Europe were dedicated to him and some time around the 12th century an official church holiday was created in his honor. The Feast of St. Nicholas was celebrated December 6 and the day was marked by gift-giving and charity. In Holland the Dutch spelling of his name Sint Nikolaas was eventually transformed to Sinterklaas. Dutch colonist brought this tradition with them to America in the 17th century and here the Anglican name of Santa Claus emerged. In 1822 Clement C. Moore composed the poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas published as The Night Before Christmas as a gift for his children. In it, he describes the look of Santa Claus that we all know and love today.

In early 16th century Northern Europe Christmas occurred during the middle of winter.

Boughs of holly, believed to have magical powers since they remained green through the harsh winter, were often placed over the doors of homes to drive evil away. Greenery was also brought indoors to freshen the air and brighten the mood during the long, dreary winter.

Poinsettias are a native Mexican plant. Poinsettias were named after Joel R. Poinsett, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico who brought the plant to America in 1828. Poinsettias were likely used by Mexican Franciscans in their 17th century Christmas celebrations. One legend has it that a young Mexican boy, on his way to visit the village Nativity scene, realized he had no gift for the Christ child. He gathered pretty green branches from along the road and brought them to the church. Though the other children mocked him, when the leaves were laid at the manger, a beautiful star-shaped flower appeared on each branch. The bright red petals, often mistaken for flowers are actually the upper leaves of the plant.

It was not long after Europeans began using Christmas trees that special decorations were used to adorn them. Food items, such as candies and cookies, were used predominantly and straight white candy sticks were one of the confections used as ornamentation. Legend has it that during the 17th century, craftsmen created the white sticks of candy in the shape of shepherds’ crooks at the suggestion of the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.

The candy treats were given to children to keep them quiet during ceremonies at the living crèche, or Nativity scene, and ceremonies soon spread throughout Europe. Today, candy canes of all sizes remain a very popular Christmas tree ornament.

What is the origin of the word “Xmas”?

Unbeknownst to many, the word “xmas” was not invented by carnal merchants trying to commercialize Christmas. The word is actually an old English one. The “x” in Christmas is the Greek letter chi, which is the first letter in the Greek word for “Christ”. Thus xmas is simply a shortened version of “Christmas.”

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays