Symbols of Christmas
Origins of Christmas symbols and traditions

We take for granted that many "things" are part of the Christmas season.  But have you ever stopped to wonder why?  Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?  Why do we hang up stockings?  Read on to find out where many of these traditions came from.

Candles - Before there was Christmas, there was a celebration for a sun god called Balder.  Fires were built to give the sun god strength to come back to life.  Later, in Victorian times, candles were placed in windows of homes to let the poor know there was shelter available for them there.

Candy Canes - The shape of the candy cane is that of the shepherd's staffs.  An upside-down candy cane is in the shape of the letter "J" for Jesus.  The traditional colours of the candy cane are white and red.  The white signifies purity and the red signifies the blood Jesus shed for mankind.

Christmas Carols - People used to dance to celebrate the shortest day of the year.  Once the hymns they danced to were translated from their original Latin, they sang as well.  These songs evolved into the singing of Christmas carols. The most famous carol is Silent night.

Christmas Tree - Trees were first decorated in Germany.  They used candies, fruit, and paper roses.  The star we put at the top of the tree signifies the star the three wise men followed to Bethlehem.

Mistletoe - Legend has it that all the ancient gods promised to take care of the sun god and placed spells on everything to keep him well.  However, they forgot to place a spell on mistletoe.  The god of evil made an arrow out of mistletoe and killed the sun god.  The other gods brought the sun god back to life.  The mistletoe promised not to hurt anyone again and became the emblem of love, which is why we kiss under it.  Another belief is that we kiss under it because of the Scandinavians who associated mistletoe with their goddess of love, Frigga.

Santa Claus - Originally a Christian born in Turkey in the 4th. century, St. Nicholas was generous to the poor and loved children.  The modern day image of Santa Claus being a chubby man in a red suit came from the story The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore.

Stockings - There is a story that St. Nicholas dropped gold coins down a chimney of a house where three poor girls lived who had no money for their weddings.  The coins landed in their stockings which they had set out by the fire to dry.

Wreaths - Wreaths are circular to represent the love of God which has no beginning and no end.