Show OLDEST CHRISTMAS CUSTOM decorating houses churches and streets with evergreen popular since dawn of history the very oldest of al all PERHAPS christmas customs Is that of lec decorating orating our houses churches and streets w th evergreens at the ery very dawn of histo history rj began the worship of the trees or forest worship and the groves were mans man s first temple all our instincts our passion about nature are forest memories for forest worship was universal in later times to each god some tree was dedicated apollo had the laurel jupiter the oak and greece for ages had its sacred groves gro grov ves es the forest worshipers could not worship without giving because to worship is to give and these boughs and garlands were the oldest gifts of man before he had learned to shape offerings of his own rude skill he could bring to the sacred trees and hang up on them the first flowers and greenery gle gie enery of spring and the perfect fruits of au dumn these gifts remember were never never as with us decorations they were sacrifices the romans with a fine eye for beauty used to garland their temples and homes and gathering places and een enen the big coliseum with boughs of green and ropes of flowers this par nicular custom was received by the christians with a special sort of ap recalling as it did the fact that our lord entered jerusalem amid the strewn branches of the multitude we must not forget the welcome and lovely mistletoe and holly indeed christmas without them would not with rith us seem quite complete mistletoe was for ages regarded as sacred by the old british pagans the druids and was surrounded with great mystery and sentiment little un der stood by us it was supposed to possess healing powers and that it could ward off evil spirits the reverence paid to this little parasite seems to have been restricted stricter ed to it oaly only when it was foun found d growing on the sacred oak trees in the druids groves once every year the druid high priest cut it with a golden sickle blessed it and distributed the sprays among the people praying aloud that each one who received it might receive divine blessings of which it was the symbol having received the sprays the people hung them above the doors to propitiate the gods during the year the only remaining significance at cached today to the mistletoe Is the idea that it if a maiden Is not kissed under it on christmas day she will go unwed throughout the year this idea goes so far back into the past that one cannot trace it it Is because the mistletoe Is rare and not easy to get that we found and brought forward the holly which though lovely Is used only as a sub statute tor for the mistletoe new york world |