Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Yule! Warm Solstice, Cool Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year!
And have a Rockin' Saturnalia!

The word Christmas comes from the Old English term Cristes maesse, meaning "Christ's mass." This was the name for the festival service of worship held on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus the Christ. The abbreviation of Xmas for Christmas was originally an ecclesiastical shorthand that was used in tables and charts. The first letter of the word Christ in Greek is chi, which is identical to our X.

While it is generally accepted that the man Jesus was born in the small town of Bethlehem, there is no certain information about either the date or year of his birth. The Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite churches chose January 6. The day was named Epiphany for the day of Christ's manifestation. The Western church, based at Rome, chose December 25. It is known from a notice in an ancient Roman almanac that Christmas was celebrated on December 25 in Rome as early as AD 336. However, there is no evidence dating earlier than this that Christmas was even celebrated, let alone on December 25. The season of Jesus' birth is thought by many to be in the spring.

The dating was timed (at least in part) to coincide and compete with ancient "pagan" festivals that occurred about the same time, such as the Natalis Solis Invicti, the festival of the birth of the invincible sun, held in honor of the winter solstice. Over time, the Christian narratives transformed and assimilated the older festivals.

Christmas failed to gain universal recognition among Christians until quite recently. In some protestant-dominated areas the celebration of Christmas was even legally banned as part of their rejection of those parts of the traditional liturgical calendar that have no biblical foundation. This is particularly interesting in light of the new resurgence of the Protestant Christian Right Wing, which has used the idea of Christmas as one of their "wedge" issues. They used to be against it. As late as the nineteenth century, Christmas had gained no great importance. It was not even a legal holiday - the U.S. Congress met on Christmas Day. Today's more devout Christians say that this is a time to honor the Christ as the Prince of Peace and the Spirit of Love and Joy.

Mistletoe

Mistletoe ("turd on a twig") is the common name for a group of parasitic plants (Eremolepidaceae, Loranthaceae, Misodendraceae, and Viscaceae) that live by attaching to trees or shrubs and drawing nutrients from the sap. Sometimes called a "vampire plant," the mistletoe sucks water, minerals and sugars from its host. Plants often develop a roundish form up to 2 feet or more in diameter, with green stems and thick leaves. The small, sticky, whitish berries are produced from October to December. Evergreen clumps of mistletoe are easily observed on deciduous trees in winter.

The European Mistletoe has smooth-edged oval leaves in pairs along the woody stem, and waxy white berries in dense clusters of 2-6 together. American Mistletoe is similar, but with shorter, broader leaves and longer clusters of ten or more berries together. Mistletoe biodiversity is markedly higher in subtropical and tropical climates.

Mistletoe plants are either female (produce berries) or male (produce only pollen). The berries are very attractive to birds, which feed on and digest the pulp of the berries, excreting the living seeds that stick tightly to any branch on which they land. The seeds are coated with a sticky gum (viscin), that hardens and cements the seed to a branch, complete with a fertilizer patch. Birds have also been observed cementing the seeds onto branches by gripping the berry in its bill, squeezing the sticky coated seed out to the side, and wiping it off. The dwarf mistletoe, a member of the same Viscaceae family as the better-known holiday varieties, has the world's only water-pump seed ejection system - it can fire its seeds up to 65 feet. The growing fruit stores water in a gelatinous substance secreted by helical (spring-shaped) cells. The water pressure builds until the fruit explodes. You go, girl.
The European mistletoe parasitizes apple and oak trees, and so its evergreen leaves stand out against a leafless wood. Mistletoe symbolized the perserverance of early American settlers, and was used to decorate their graves in winter.

Ancient peoples regarded mistletoe as a symbol of fertility, peace, endurance and strength.

In ancient Rome, mistletoe was a symbol of hope and peace, so much so that when enemies met under a mistletoe, they would kiss and declare a truce until the following day. In the presence of mistletoe, it was forbidden to fight or even quarrel.

Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Druids decorated their homes with mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter. Scandinavians also thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony and associated it with their goddess of love, Frigga. The god Baldur was killed with a weapon made of mistletoe.

For the holiday custom that still dictates a kiss between two people who meet under the mistletoe, Viscum album is used in Europe and Phoradendron leucarpum in North America It is my favorite such custom and, as a former JW, the first I ever celebrated (and wholeheartedly!).

The early church banned the use of mistletoe in its celebrations because of its pagan origins (and I'm guessing the kissing thing didn't help either). Instead, church fathers suggested the use of holly as an appropriate substitute for holiday greenery. With its prickly leaves and red berries, it reminded people of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus, the berries symbolizing droplets of blood.

Contact with the berries of the mistletoe produces a rash similar to the poison ivy rash in people who are sensitive to it. Mistletoe can be a toxic plant if ingested in quantity, causing gastrointestinal distress, hallucinations, epileptic spasms, and even death. However, mistletoe is also considered a medicinal plant. In Celtic mythology and in Druid rituals, mistletoe was considered an antidote to poison. It can lower blood pressure, slow heart rate, and stimulate the immune system. Studies have shown that mistletoe lectin (ML) can increase the activity of cells of the immune system (particularly lymphocytes, monocytes and granulocytes), enhance the release of cytokines (chemicals that control the immune response) and also decrease the ability of cancer cells to proliferate in mice. Regular injections of an optimal dose of mistletoe extract have been shown to compensate for the immuno-suppressive effects of therapy, leading to an improved quality of life for cancer patients. Mistletoe also has anti-diabetic properties. As with any drug (natural or artificial) made, quality and quantity are very important. The cure can be the poison; the poison can be the cure.

Please do not eat mistletoe berries or leaves! Keep it away from children and pets (and other inquisitive creatures, including wild Aunties, Cousins, and Grandmas).

These are for you!





See presents to me, too!


Happy Christmas (War is Over)

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

   War is over
   If you want it
   War is over
   Now...

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

   War is over
   If you want it
   War is over
   Now...

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

--John Lennon