by
Marlene Houghton, CH Ed Dip NuTh, SNHS [Herb.]
There is no time of the year at which we honour more old customs than during the month of December, the month of the Winter solstice. The whole season is full of these old traditions and their origins are rooted in antiquity. It is during this time of the year that the coming of the Yule festival puts a sparkle into the dark, chill days of December.
One old custom that we still honour is the hanging up of sprigs of Holly and Ivy, English evergreens that form some of the most striking plants in the wintry woodland landscape, with their glossy evergreen leaves. During this period of the year clusters of shiny scarlet Holly berries are plentiful, as Nature provides wildlife with food during the long hard frosts, and on a country walk, we can see plenty of Ivy twining itself around the trees and stone walls of houses and old churches. We can pick a few sprays of Holly and Ivy to create a Yuletide wreath, ready for the forthcoming festivities. Hanging a wreath of holly and Ivy outside your doorway at Yuletide is said to bring good fortune to your household in the year to come.
Both the Holly and the Ivy come under the auspices of Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, co-ruler of Aquarius. When we see these lovely plants, the Holly with its lovely red, shiny berries and the Ivy clinging to old walls, they immediately bring to mind the merry feasting that we will all soon be enjoying.
Capricorn natives born under Saturn’s influence are usually serious, self-disciplined souls and not ones to let their hair down in a hurry! At this time of the year, however, they may just leave their work and duties aside and loosen up with the help of a little glass of spicy mulled wine. Aquarians, on the other hand, do not really need much encouragement to celebrate with a glass of something! Their taste veers towards the unusual, or even a bottle or two of something home-made.
Holly was known to the Celts who gathered it in great quantities and used it to decorate their homes. They believed that this encouraged the presence of sylvan spirits. Ivy, whose history is steeped in folklore, was also highly esteemed among the Saxons who used it to make crowns for poets. Bacchus, to whom the plant is dedicated, is said to wear a wreath of Ivy on his brow. The Ancients also used it medicinally to remove the effects of too much wine, and if a traveller saw a garland of ivy outside a tavern he would know that ale was sold there.
It is during this time of the year that the Romans celebrated the festival of Saturnalia a feast dedicated to the Roman God Saturn. They would deck their temples with many evergreens plants and send boughs and other gifts to their friends. It is from this old pagan custom that we have the tradition of Christmas decorations and gifts today.
The Druids made Holly, Ivy, other plants, fruit, grain, flowers and leaves into festoons and today, when we hang up paper-chains, we are probably not aware that this originates in this ancient pagan custom.
Medicinally, both Holly and Ivy are mentioned in Culpeper’s Herbal. Holly is a bitter herb, and the leaves were formerly used as an infusion for catarrh, pleurisy and smallpox. The berries possess totally different qualities to the leaves and are toxic, causing violent vomiting. Culpeper said ‘the bark and leaves are good as fomentations for broken bones or members as are out of joint’.
Common Ivy was used by mediaeval herbalists to treat the bloody flux. Today, its modern use is not recommended internally as it can cause the destruction of red blood cells. The leaves however, are used by master herbalists as poultices for boils and abscesses.
So, as the old year draws to a close and we stand poised with anticipation on the threshold of a New Year, savouring the fading memories of the past, whilst contemplating the future to come, we should pause a moment in reflection, offering a silent prayer to the Gods and Goddesses of old so that we may all live in peace and harmony.
Winter 2004