Advent Calendar Day 15: Holly

December 15, 2011

Symbol of Christmas:

Holly

As far as holiday plants go, holly is probably one of the top three we think of, next to the evergreen and poinsettia.  Holly actually has a very old history and I was surprised to find that the use of holly in winter celebrations goes way back before Christianity.  I found a really good site here that gives the details.  These few paragraphs sum it up in a nutshell:

Originally, the holly was a type of offering that was given to the God Saturn by the Romans during the festival of Saturnalia. It was said that the holly was the sacred plant of Saturn and was thus even more valued by the Romans. All images of Saturn are depicted with him with the holly. It is also considered a special gift that was interchanged with a high regard for its symbolism.

At some point the holly became significant to Christians.  [Side note:  Early Christians were persecuted for their beliefs and winter celebrations at that time were not about Christ.  In order to avoid persecution but still be able to celebrate in their own way, they incorporated holly into their decorations to make it seem like they were celebrating the traditional winter festival.]

At first it was placed within decorations that adorned doors as a method of preventing persecution.  The power of the holly as a method of preventing unforeseeable trouble was not limited to the problems that earthly creatures could inflict but also demonic forces. It was believed that hanging the holly on the door of any home would prevent the entry of terrifying specters who were more likely to attack during the holy days. Soon it began getting more mainstream acceptance as an essential symbol of Christmas festivals, as expected the initial purpose of the holly became less recognized by the Christians who used it in yearly celebrations.

Another part of its symbolic significance is related to the crucifixion of Christ who wore a crown of thorns that caused him to bleed from his head. Thus the look of the hollies is similar to the look of Christ's make-shift crown, and the berries symbolize the blood that oozed forth from Christ during his darkest hours....It is not truly known if the Holly was actually used to create the crown that Christ wore, some schools of thought believed this is so, while others believe as suggested before that the holly is merely symbolic of Christ's trials through crucifixion. There are some theories that go further stating that Christ was crucified on a holly tree. Regardless of the view taken the Holly has since been a very important symbol in Christianity...[and] subsequently more of a religious symbol for those who subscribe to this metaphorical depiction of the widely-popular plant.

 I think I'll stick to the traditional Christian metaphor of holly representing the pain that Christ went through during his crucifixion.  Not that I want to remember such a horrible thing, (it really is hard for me to think about) but it is a reminder of why He went through all that.  Actually, I want to insert a scripture here, John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  And that is why He did it.  He loved us so much that He was willing to go through all that pain and suffering.  Even if it was only for one person, he still would have done it.  This is why He came into this world.  He himself said, "...To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world..." John 18:37.  I truly am grateful for all He did and I am grateful for this Christmas season that we have to honor Him.