CHAPTER IX

CHRISTMAS OBSERVANCES

Distinctly pagan in their origin, and adapted to Christian use under the influence of the Church—The Roman Saturnalia—The use of mistletoe a direct legacy from the Druids—The decoration of the house with evergreens also a Druidic custom.

The Christmas-tree; its introduction into England extremely recent; not universally established in Germany, the land of its origin, until the present century—References to it by Goethe and Schiller—Earliest record from Strasburg about 1600 A.D.—Theological disapproval—Theories as to its origin—Probably connected with the legend of Christmas flowering trees—Examples—The Glastonbury thorn—Mannhardt’s view; a decorated tree the recognised scenic symbol of Christmas in the paradise play of the Middle Ages, wherein the story of the Fall was dramatically associated with that of the Nativity—An ancient German custom to force into flower boughs cut on a sacred night during the great autumn festival—The date of severance delayed under priestly influence so that the boughs might flower at Christmas—Instances of the survival of this custom—The lights on the Christmas-tree a comparatively recent innovation—Legends of light-bearing trees—The lights possibly derived from ancient solstitial observances—The Christmas-tree an illustration of the blending of pagan and mediaeval ideas—A point in which the many phases of tree-worship converge 162

INDEX 175

ILLUSTRATIONS

CHAPTER PAGE

Sacred tree with its supporters, from St. Mark’s, Venice _Frontispiece_

1, Rudimentary and conventionalised forms of the sacred tree 5

2, 5

3. 5

4. Sacred tree with its supporters, surmounted by the winged disc, from an Assyrian cylinder 6

5. Sacred tree, from the Temple of Athena at Pryene 6

6. The same, from a sculptured slab in the Treasury of St. Mark’s, Venice 7

7. A _Ba_ or soul receiving the lustral water from a tree-goddess 10

8. Sacred tree with worshippers, from eastern gateway at Sânchi 15

9. Sacred tree, from a Mexican manuscript 17

10. The goddess Nu̔ît in her sacred sycamore bestowing the bread and water of the next world 26

11. Sacred tree of Dionysus, with a statue of the god and offerings 27

12. Sacred pine of Silvanus, with a bust of the god, and votive gifts 28

13. Fruit-tree dressed as Dionysus 31

14, Forms of the Tât or Didû, the emblem of Osiris 34

15. 34

16. Apollo on his sacred tripod, a laurel branch in his hand 36

17. Coin of Athens, of the age of Pericles or earlier, showing olive spray 38

18. Coin of Athens, third century B.C. 38

19. The Bodhi-tree of Kanaka Muni 41

20. Wild elephants paying their devotions to the sacred banian of Kâsyapa Buddha 42

21. Sacred sycamore, with offerings 44

22. Sacred tree of Artemis, hung with weapons of the chase 45

23. Sacred laurel of Apollo at Delphi, adorned with fillets and votive tablets; beneath it the god appearing to protect Orestes 50

24. Imperial coin of Myra in Lycia, showing tree-goddess 87

25. Sacred tree and worshipper, from a Chaldaean cylinder 88

26. Sacred tree as symbol of fertility, from an Assyrian bas-relief 89

27. Yggdrasil, the Scandinavian world-tree 115

28. From a Babylonian seal 130

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