Pagan Christmas (6 page)

FINK 1983, 50

Because of its shrublike growth habit, the pine was less suitable for use as a Christmas tree than the fir or spruce. Nevertheless, because of its ritual significance, it was considered a sacred tree, which can be seen easily in the name heiligföhre (sacred pine wood).

Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) on the Gulf of Corinth.

MAGICAL AND FOLK USE

Pines are a symbol of immortality and resurrection. The idea that lucky children could find treasure hidden under Föhren (pine wood) may come from the tree’s long history as an object of pagan worship (Fink 1983, 50). Like fir and spruce, the perfume of pine needles and pine resin was considered “forest incense.”

Larch

Larix spp., Pinaceae

Larix decidua P. Mill (European larch)

Larix occidentalis Nutt. (western larch, hackmatack, western tamarack)

Larix sibirica Ledeb. (Siberian larch)

Larch fungi (Fomitopsis officinalis, syn. Laricifomes officinalis) on the tree’s trunk suggest a shamanic ladder to heaven. There is evidence that the larch fungi was used as medicine in the time of Ötzi—the 5,300-year-old “iceman” mummy found in an Alpine glacier. (Woodcut: Tabernaemontanus, 1731)

OTHER NAMES

Hackmatack, lärche; lärchenbaum, tamarack

Unlike other evergreen, needle-bearing trees, the larch turns gold in autumn and loses its needles in winter. Even though the larch is different in this respect from classic evergreen needle trees, one can find larches in the Alps (for example, in Tirol or Switzerland) that are worshipped as “holy larch” or “Mother of God tree.” People put offerings or votive gifts in the hollow wood of their stems, including items such as teeth, coins, and small, hollowed-out balls of turf.

In Kaserackern, near Wolfsgruben (south Tirolia) there was a “holy” larch. In some nights it was on fire, burning to the skies; yet it was never consumed, and in its branches a human voice was sighing. The tree was considered enchanted and was worshipped. The folk belief had it that the tree was from an age, long ago, when the pagan world still reigned (Fink 1983, 48f).

Folk legends hold that angels and devils fought in the branches of larch trees. Larches were also considered dancing and resting places for forest and mountain fairies. This is why they are dedicated to the säligen, the forest women, and the horned animals of the forest.

When the yew (Taxus baccata) bears its red berries, it looks like a decorated Christmas tree.

Yew branch with red berries. Contrary to popular belief, the fruit is not poisonous; the red flesh (seed coat) has a sweet, slimy, fruity flavor. The seeds, leaves, and bark contain the strong poison taxin. The fear of yew fruit seems to have the same background as the fear of bird berries. The edible red berries were demonized because they were among the holy fruits of the druids.

Yew

Taxus spp., Taxaceae

Taxus baccata L. (English yew)

Taxus brevifolia Nutt. (Pacific yew)

OTHER NAMES

Aiw yew, common yew, yew tree, tasso

Yews grow in temperate forests in Europe, North and Central America, and parts of Asia and the South Pacific. This dark tree, with its slimy, bright red berries, can grow as tall as 18 meters (about 60 feet) and may live as long as 750 years. With a trunk diameter of 1 meter (about 3 feet), the oldest yew in Germany—the so-called Hintersteiner yew in the Allgäu, near Bärgündele—is estimated to be around two thousand years old (Hecker 1995, 168). If we could only decipher the rustle of the wind in the soft needles of its tangled branches, this veteran yew might be able to tell us much about the great changes of history.

The yew gets its name from the Gothic aiw, meaning “always, eternal, evergreen” (Prahn 1922, 142). This etymological root reveals several layers of meaning: knowledge of the great old age yews can reach; the Germanic interpretation of the tree as a symbol of eternity; and the use of the yew as a cemetery planting, meant to give eternal life to the dead and instill memory of the dead in the minds of the living.

MAGICAL AND FOLK USE

Its evergreen needles secure the yew a place in the ethnobotany of Christmas. It is a symbol of immortality—a plant of death and resurrection and a world tree. Carrying a piece of yew wood is supposed to ward off evil spells and fear of darkness. Its needles impart a cleansing scent.

Mountain Ash

Sorbus spp., Rosaceae

Sorbus americana Marsh. (American mountain ash)

Sorbus aucuparia L. (European mountain ash)

Red and white bird berries (fruit of the mountain ash, Sorbus aucuparia) in the snow. It was a holy fruit to the pagan Germans, associated with the love goddess, Freia (=Freya), and the boar-riding fertility god, Fro (=Freyr). To the early Christians, it was a “devil berry.” (Illustration by Erns Kreidolf, 1863–1956, for A Winter Tale)

OTHER NAMES

Ash tree, bird berry, dogberry, dragon tree, eberesche, moosbeerbaum, rowan, Thorsbjög, Thors schutz, witchwood

If there are a lot of berries in the branches, it is considered the sign of a very hard winter… . If you take into consideration what good observers of nature our farmers are, you cannot believe that this is just hearsay.

MARZELL 1935, 104

The mountain ash is a shrub that can grow to a height of 15 meters (about 50 feet). It has red berries in autumn and a meaning in Christmas ethnobotany as a sacred tree. Thus country people once practiced the following custom on Christmas Eve: “All the bird berry bushes are supposed to have burning candles for the midnight hour that do not go out, even in the icy wind and in harsh snowing” (Riemerschmidt 1962, 14).

The origin of the German name eberesche is not clear. It may derive from aber in the sense that this word expresses objection. Thus, the name may indicate that this is a false ash—in other words, not a member of the genus Fraxinus (true ash trees). The botanist Heinrich Marzell calls it “a lively, living tree” because it is often the only deciduous tree living in the rocky desolation of the Alpine region. This observation of its nature—along with the typical color combination of white and red shown by the berries of some species—may explain its symbolic meaning in the winter Advent time.

In old Germanic times the bird berry was holy to the God Thor (=Donar) and was associated with the holy ash tree or world tree, Yggdrasil. “Our ancestors took the red berries as a sign of thunder (Donar was the god of thunder and lightning. The feathered leaves symbolized for them the clouds)” (Abraham and Thinnes 1995, 68). This explains why mountain ash branches were woven into wreaths and hung as a protection against thunder and lightning. The branches also served as divining rods. To keep animals healthy, it was customary to cut a branch from the mountain ash tree on St. Martin’s Day (November 11)—this is the so-called “Martin’s rod.” The strength and endurance of the mountain ash tree was also a symbol for being able to find one’s way in the dark, not only in the darkness of wintertime, but also at night. This is the origin of a specific folk belief: “Whoever was traveling at night and had a piece of bird berry wood in their mouth could never get lost” (Abraham and Thinnes 1995, 69).

According to a legend from Brandenburg, Germany, the mountain ash tree grew from the bones of Judas (Abraham and Thinnes 1995, 69). This Christian interpretation is based on the plant’s role in pagan mythology. The bitterness of its fruit, which becomes edible only after the influence of frost, made the mountain ash a symbol of evil later on:

Rooted in folk custom and folk healing art is the belief that the mountain ash is the tree of the druids, the Celts, the heathens, the witches. There is no question about it: Eating the fruits must lead to evil. And this is why the bird berry—unlike its close relatives, the rose hip and the sloe—plays only a minor part in diet and recipes… . The name of the bird berry is contaminated by the stain of a plant associated with witches and heathens (Pfyl and Knieriemen 1986, 6, 7).

St. Nicholas and His Little Helper, Ruprecht

Out from the forest I am coming

I have to tell you: it’s Christmas everywhere!

Everywhere on the fir tops

I saw golden lights glimmer …

Do you have your little sack with you?

I said: The little sack is here:

Apples, nuts, and almonds

Little children like to eat

THEODOR STORM, 1852, “KNECHT RUPRECHT”

Before we look at the myriad Christmas plants with which these mythical characters are connected, let us think for a minute about the appearance and origin of Santa Claus and his shadowy helper, Ruprecht.

“Tomorrow comes Santa Claus, comes with all his gifts.” This, from a popular song by Hoffmann von Fallersleben, expresses the joyous anticipation of European children on the eve of December 6, St. Nicholas Day. The gifts Santa Claus generously distributed to our grandparents and great-grandparents in their tender childhoods were “apples, nuts and almonds.” In Catholic regions, St. Nicholas was shown in full array with a crosier and bishop’s cap (miter), striding along, full of dignity—gaining the respect of the children because of his long white beard—accompanied by his helper, Ruprecht, who carried a sack and a rod. This rod appears to be the original “rod of punishment” with which bad children might be punished during the Christmas season.

Numerous postcards handed down a picture of the Christmas man who comes from the fir forest and brings presents for the children. (©Postcard Edition Andrea Gebauer, Wolfsburg)

In some legends, Ruprecht is part of Wotan’s wild army. The name “helper Ruprecht” comes from hruodperaht (meaning “shining with glory”) and identifies him with Wotan (=Odin) (Riemerschmidt 1962, 27). In Alpine regions, Ruprecht is known by the name Krampus. He is associated with the hazel wood rod, which relates to Thor (=Donar):

The hazelnut was holy to Donar, the God of marital and animal fertility. The hazel wood rod was considered a great rod of life. With this symbol of the penis, women and animals were beaten “with gusto” in order for them to become fertile… . Sources can be found for this erotic pagan custom in the eighth century. Cut on St. John’s Day (Berchtentag), a wishing rod (penis) is a hazel wood rod with a year-old shoot. This rod of life became a wishing rod as well in order to find hidden treasure. It was given a human face when cutting its lower part, and then given two legs (Aigremont 1987 I, 38).

Both the healing and harming uses of hazel wood are derived from the observation that in nature, hazel wood bushes remain untouched by lightning. On one hand, hazel wood rods were believed to ward off evil spirits, such as the “angry army,” the “devil’s pursuit,” and the “fiery men” (Abraham and Thinnes 1995, 82). On the other, there are accounts of witches “beating on the water of a lake with a hazel wood rod, until a thundercloud appeared in the sky” (Schöpf 2001, 175). “In the Christian legend its power against thunder was shown by the fact that Mary and the baby Jesus found protection under a hazel wood bush during a violent thunderstorm” (Abraham and Thinnes 1995, 84). Like the hazel wood rod he carries, Ruprecht unites both a beneficial and a frightening side.

The Various Guises of Santa Claus

The painter Moritz von Schwind (1804–1871) passed down an image of Santa Claus in 1847 (in the Munich Picture Book) as a muffler-wrapped “Mr. Winter” carrying a Christmas tree into a town lit up with candles. However, he was portrayed as Sünnerklaas in a drawing from the lower Rhine; grim-faced, he rode a white horse, wore a black hood and a high-collared coat, and carried a rod and basket. He requested entry into southern German farmhouses as bishop St. Nicholas (accompanied by his horned helper, Ruprecht), rod in hand and basket on his shoulder. He is known as Samichlaus in Switzerland. In much of North America and in Scandinavia, he drives a sleigh pulled by reindeer through the sky, and drops presents down chimneys into warm living rooms. In the Netherlands, he comes as Sinterklaas to the land via ship, accompanied by his servants, the zwarte pieten. Today, we see countless Santas sporting glued-on white beards and red-hooded, white-trimmed suits in advertisements and malls.

Mr. Winter, the first Christmas man. (Etching by Moritz von Schwind for the Munich Picture Book, 1847)

Who is this fairy-tale creature who has had different names and looks in various countries, regions, and time periods? Who or what is Nicholas, the Christmas man? Hamburg anthropologist Rüdiger Vossen believes he holds a deep and multilayered meaning: “In the end he is a compromise figure between Catholic, Protestant and pre-Christian beliefs; a mixture of childlike godfather imaginations and a child-friendly St. Nicholas, and a demonized, punishing helper, Ruprecht, with his rod and his sack” (Vossen 1985, 56). In Catholic regions, St. Nicholas worship dates back to the fourth century, to the time of the Bishop of Myra in Lycia, who was also named Nicholas.

This explains why St. Nicholas of Christmas mythology is often pictured with a bishop’s crosier and a miter. St. Nicholas of Myra is believed to have been born in the harbor town of Parara, in the region formerly known as Lycia (now part of Turkey). He was ordained bishop in Myra (the present day Demre, Turkey) and died there around 342 CE. Some sources cite the day of his death as December 6, the actual date of today’s St. Nicholas Day. According to legend, he performed miracles, gave away his inheritance with open hands to the poor, and helped in a time of famine with a shipload of corn. In 980 CE, his bones were taken to the Italian harbor town of Bari. From there, his cult spread to central and northern Europe, and, beginning in the sixth century, became associated with the cult surrounding a bishop of the same name: Nicholas of Sion, Bishop of Pinora. This Nicolas founded a monastery in Myra and was said to perform miracles as well. In the Eastern Church, worship of St. Nicholas dates back to the sixth century CE.

In Catholic iconography, St. Nicholas was the patron saint of children and was once considered one of the fourteen auxiliary saints, depicted with three gold bars or three golden apples. He is associated with the holiday of the innocent children and the custom of electing a child bishop in convent schools each year. Despite the fact that it was forbidden by the Church, this popular custom has persisted, but between the thirteenth century and today the date shifted from December 28 to December 6.