Christmas Folklore

Holly and Ivy

When the house is decorated with holly and ivy on Christmas Eve, good luck will bless the family in the New Year.

Mince Pies

Also called “wayfarers’ pies,” these tasty treats were passed out to visitors during the Christmas season. To earn good luck in the twelve months of the upcoming year, visitors tried to eat twelve pies at twelve different houses during the twelve days of Christmas.

Mistletoe

In ancient times, mistletoe represented peace and friendship. When friends stood beneath a tree adorned with mistletoe, their friendship would be blessed with good luck. Enemies who did likewise would call a truce for the day. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe grew from these older legends.

Candy Canes

These sugary treats represent the shepherd’s crook at the nativity. Some legends say they are shaped in a “J” to represent “Jesus.”

Wassailing

Since the 13th century, it has been the custom to offer a toast to each other for good health and cheer during the Christmas season. The original wassail bowl contained roasted apples, ale, sugar, spices, and cream or eggs. Eventually, egg nog developed as the traditional Christmas drink.

Yule Log

Yule logs were lit during the winter solstice to ward off demons and light up the darkest day of the year.

Christmas Trees

Fir trees traditionally represent life’s victory over death, or eternal life. It was common during Saturnalia for Romans to decorate their homes with evergreen boughs.

Christmas Full Moon

Christmas 2015 was graced with the first full moon since 1977. Another one will not appear until 2034. The full moon in December is often called the Full Cold Moon, Full Long Nights Moon, or the Moon before Yule. An old tradition relates that when a full moon rises on Christmas Eve, the animals will be blessed with the gift of speech.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ONE AND ALL, AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!

Dawn Pisturino, RN

Copyright 2015-2021 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

The Gingerbread Boy

Gingerbread is such an integral part of Christmas that it may surprise some people to learn that the first gingerbread recipe came from the Greeks in 2400 B.C. The Chinese followed next in the 10th century. But it was the Europeans — particularly, the Germans — who turned gingerbread into a high form of art. Cookies decorated with gold leaf were a symbol of English nobility and royalty under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Gingerbread cookies were so popular by the late Middle Ages that Gingerbread Fairs became a popular form of entertainment. Germans began creating gingerbread houses in the 16th century. The story of Hansel and Gretel may have been inspired by gingerbread or gingerbread may have been inspired by Hansel and Gretel! Nobody knows for sure.

A well-known children’s folk tale is The Gingerbread Man or Gingerbread Boy, depending on the teller.

THE GINGERBREAD BOY

Now, you shall hear a story that somebody’s great-great-grandmother told a little girl ever so many years ago:

There was once a little old man and a little old woman who lived in a little old house on the edge of a wood. They would have been a very happy old couple but for one thing — they had no little child, and they wished for one very much. One day, when the little old woman was baking bread, she cut a cake in the shape of a little boy, and put it in the oven.

Presently, she went to the oven to see if it was baked. As soon as the oven door was opened, the little gingerbread boy jumped out and began to run away as fast as he could go.

The little old woman called her husband, and they both ran after him. But they could not catch him. And soon the gingerbread boy came to a barn full of threshers. He called out to them as he went by, saying:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman,

A little old man,

And I can run away from you, I can!”

Then the mowers began to run after him, but they couldn’t catch him. And he ran on ’til he came to a cow. He called out to her:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman,

A little old man,

A barn full of threshers,

A field full of mowers,

And I can run away from you, I can!”

But, though the cow started at once, she couldn’t catch him. Soon he came to a pig. He called out to the pig:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman,

A little old man,

A barn full of threshers,

A field full of mowers,

A cow,

— And I can run away from you, I can!”

But the pig ran and couldn’t catch him. And he ran ’til he came across a fox, and to him he called out:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman,

A little old man,

A barn full of threshers,

A field full of mowers,

A cow and a pig,

And I can run away from you, I can!”

Then the fox set out to run. Now foxes can run very fast, and so the fox soon caught the gingerbread boy and began to eat him up.

Presently, the gingerbread boy said: “O dear! I’m a quarter gone!” And then: “Oh, I’m half gone!”

And soon: “I’m three-quarters gone!” And, at last: “I’m all gone!” and never spoke again.

Traditional Folk Tale

Story from St. Nicholas Magazine, 1875

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dawn Pisturino, RN

Copyright 2020-2021 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.