Red and Green for Christmas

Christmas, during the last 100 years, has become a national holiday -- our greatest festival -- with symbols, customs and ceremonies introduced by people from many foreign countries. Some of those stem from ancient pagan festivals celebrating the winter solstice and the new \"birth of the sun\of family gatherings with traditions of their own and, above all, the day of days for their children.

Holly 冬青树

Like other evergreens, it is commonly used to decorate homes and churches in winter in ancient times. It is believed that in winter evil spirits killed the plants and trees, and the holly’s remarkable ability to survive throughout the death of winter would lend a similar strength to people’s homes and protection from the spirit of deaths.

Stars on top of the Christmas tree

The star on top represents the star in the East which guided the three wise men to Bethlehem(伯利恒, 耶路撒泠南方六英里一市镇,耶稣诞生地).We all sing about the 12 days of Christmas, but how many of us know what the 12 days of Christmas really are? The 12 days of Christmas is the period of time from the day after Christmas to Epiphany（耶稣显灵的）显现节，主显节 （1月6日）, or January 6. Epiphany is, traditionally, the date that the wise men arrived to give their gifts to the baby Jesus. Many countries, especially in Europe and South America, do not give gifts on December 25th; they wait until twelfth night, January 6, the 12th day of Christmas.

Christmas stockings

The customs is believed to have started as homage to St. Nicholas, the progenitor of Santa Claus. Nicholas, a four-century bishop who lived in what is now Turkey was universally loved for his kindness and generosity to children and the poor and was made a saint after his death. It was his custom to go out at night and bring gifts to good children. Dutch immigrants brought the concept of St. Nicholas to America, where the name was mispronounced and finally changed to Santa Claus. Of the many stories told about the kindness of St. Nicholas, the most popular one says that

he provided dowries for the three daughters of an impoverished noble man by throwing bags of money through their window, or in some versions of the tale, dropping them down the chimney. One of the down-the-chimney gifts happen to fall into a stocking that was hung to dry by the fire. Hence the custom of hanging stocks in the same place.

The legend of St. Nicholas came to America with the Dutch settlers in New York. As America grew, so did the gift-giver's traits with each ethnic group adding more details. St. Nicholas's northern residence, fur-lined suit, and reindeer-pulled sleigh probably came from the Slavic regions; while his red suit, his secret arrival, and his giving to good boys and girls came from Europe. He was given physical attributes first by Clement C. Moore in his poem \"The Night Before Christmas.\" Later, engravings by Thomas Nast in the late 1800's and paintings by Haddon Sundbloom, as advertisements for Coca-cola in the mid-1900's, allowed the world to see Santa as we know him today. Thus grew the modern day Santa Claus.

Yule log 圣诞材

The old Christmas customs also include the burning of a massive yule log that have been ceremoniously dragged in by many hands and placed on the hearth on Christmas Eve. The burning of a huge log at this time was part of the ceremonies that honored the return of the sun. It was also believed that each year’s yule log should be lighted from the remnant of last year. lights

The tradition of placing lights in and around windows and houses began in the Middle Ages. These lights, which began as candles, became a symbol of Christ, the Light of the world. These lights held a two-fold purpose, to guide the Christ Child to Christian homes so that He would leave His blessing on the house, and to be a sign to weary travelers that they would find a welcome in that house.

The Poinsettia

According to legend, a group of worshipers gathered on Christmas Eve to leave gifts for Jesus on the altar of their church. In the crowd was a poor boy who had no present to give the baby Jesus. Upset by his inability to give a gift, the boy knelt outside the church window and prayed. In the spot where he knelt there grew a beautiful plant with vibrant red leave. He then had a gift for the baby Jesus.

Mistletoe

Ancient Celtic people believed that mistletoe possessed power to heal diseases, make poisons harmless, protect from witches and evil spirits, make people and animals fertile, and bring good luck and blessings. Legend also says that if enemies met underneath mistletoe they would lay down their arms, exchange friendly greetings, and keep a truce until the next day. From this came the custom of hanging mistletoe over doorways or in a room as a token of goodwill and peace to all who enter. myths are associated with mistletoe in the following ways. In England, farmers would give the Christmas bunch of mistletoe to the first cow that calved to bring good luck to the entire herd. In some parts of England, if the Christmas mistletoe is not burned on Twelfth Night then none of the boys and girls who had kissed under it would ever marry. At Christmas time young ladies who are standing under mistletoe cannot refuse to be kissed. Such kissing could bring lasting friendship and goodwill, or a deep romance. Also whenever a man kissed a woman under the mistletoe he should remove a berry. When all the berries are removed the kissing should stop

The Christmas tree is thought to have developed from the \"Paradise Tree,\" an evergreen tree decorated with apples and used in a popular play about Adam and Eve held on December 24th in medieval Germany. Martin Luther is credited with being the first to decorate a tree with lights. As he walked through the woods near his home, he looked up into the night sky and thought about the star that led the wise men to the Holy Child. He then took home a small tree and decorated it with candles to represent the stars he saw that night and told hes family about his walk through the woods and recounted to them the story of the Christ Child.

Decorating the Christmas tree was very popular in Germany. In fact many of the first ornaments were made in Germany. No tree could match the splendor of the German Christmas trees. German emigrants, who settled in Pennsylvania, brought the first Christmas trees to America as early as 1747.