Holly Wreath

Christmas wreaths have a seasonal connection with pagan celebrations of winter solstice. Winter solstice happens on the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, the earth is tilted farthest from the sun. The sun has its lowest arc in the sky of the year at the winter solstice.

ceremonies of the Winter Solstice have been made by many cultures over time. The fear that the sun would never been the motivation for these ceremonies. The ceremonies and celebrations gave hope. Many of these cultures were pagan sun worshipers. Some of the greatest architecture of ancient cultures have been built to align with the solstices and equinoxes - temples, tombs, cairns and sacred observatories.

The first Christmas wreaths were made from holly to Roman times. Holly has been regarded as having magical powers to the ancient Celts as it was one of the few plants to survive and look good in winter. The Celts took Holly branches and put them in their homes to ward off the evils which they believed was hiding on the dark months. Roman soldiers are believed to have introduced the idea of decorating with holly back from Great Britain.

Holly was used by the Romans during their winter solstice celebrations and has become sacred to Saturn, the god of the Romans worshiped the sun. The week long celebrations of the winter solstice the Romans honored Saturn. holly wreaths with their red berries were given as gifts. Holly was everywhere during these celebrations - on public buildings, streets and stores, inside and outside houses. The tradition of giving gifts as crowns began here. Holly was thought to be lucky so the more you had better than you.

The early Christians in Rome would decorate their homes with Holly to avoid persecution during the winter solstice celebrations, even if they do not worship Saturn. Over time the meaning of the tradition of Christmas wreaths and holly blurred it became a symbol of the Christian faith. It has been used to explain life and death of Christ. The leaves represent the crown of thorns and red berries represent the blood of Jesus.

The Roman Emperor Constantine gave official status to Christianity and forced all the pagans to be baptized in the Roman church. He needed to reach Christians and pagans and pagan rituals and idols so became known as Christian and pagan holidays of the winter solstice festival became Christian holidays. December 25 was the anniversary of the gods among the Gentiles. Finally, many pagan symbols and traditions have been merged into Christian symbols and traditions.

Today, wreaths are a tradition of season that most people in the United States follow. You do not go by many houses without a wreath on the door during the holidays. The meaning of the crown is not so much religion as it is expensive to show seasonal and goodwill of all.