Pagan past put to rites

the shady past of the tree, the yule log and the holly and the ivy as he

dips into the customs of the ancient pagans' festive feast

THE lighted tree, that universal symbol of Christmas, was a

pre-Christian custom known to ancient Romans and Greeks and Persians.

Druids and Neolithic man, also celebrated with evergreens. Many other

Christmas customs, although appropriated by the Christian church, are

pagan in origin.

The Bible says nothing about the actual date of Christ's birth.

According to one scholar: ''It is perhaps a tacit recognition that, when

the Christian church eventually decided to celebrate the birth of Christ

it should have chosen December 25.'' The church was happy to superimpose

a Christian festival on a pagan midwinter holiday: the Winter Solstice

according to the Julian calendar.

''The use of evergreen boughs to decorate houses around the midwinter

solstice is of very ancient origin,'' says J. Edward Milner, author of

The Tree Book. ''The Romans used laurel and bay. The early [Christian]

Church forbade the custom.'' The use of evergreens was too deeply rooted

for such prohibitions to have much effect.

Superstition still surrounds many Christmas rituals. In parts of

Europe when the Christmas tree and wreath come down on Twelfth Night

they are immediately burned. In Britain, tradition says that Christmas

decorations should be down on Epiphany, January 6. This date also marked

the end of the Roman Saturnalia -- the solstice festival.

The Saturnalia was the original no-holds barred office party. An

orgiastic celebration, it marked the days when Saturn (the god of the

harvest) ruled the earth. Buildings were decorated and brightly lit and

there was an exchange of presents. The normal order was turned upside

down with masters waiting on their servants and the coronation of a mock

king. This role reversal still finds a place in the armed forces when

officers wait upon the men at the Christmas party. Another feature of

Saturnalia involved men dressing as women and in animal skins, something

you can still see at every Christmas panto.

Saturnalia is also the reason why a silver coin (sometimes a bean) is

hidden in the plum pudding. The child who finds the coin can make a wish

or became King or Queen of the Bean. On the Twelfth night of Saturnalia

Roman children drew lots with beans to find out who would reign for the

night.

Many Christmas customs cross the boundaries of culture and country.

Take a look in that box of Christmas baubles. The silver star at the top

of the tree symbolises the star that the Three Wise Men followed to

Bethlehem. In the Near East divine births are accompanied by a new star.

The angel at the top of the tree can be traced back to the ''corn

dollies'' of country folk which, in turn, have their roots in the Greek

daughter of the harvest who was made into an effigy. The Egpytians'

mother goddess, Isis, worship in ancient Rome until the rise of

Christianity, appeared out of the branches of the Tree of Life.

The fairy lights on the tree come from the ancient belief that

everyone becomes a divine light or star when they die, creating a

celestial tree of souls in the night sky. The Tree of Life was often

depicted bearing twinkling lights each one representing the victory of

light over the forces of dark. Buddhists believe in a seven branched

tree topped with a lotus flower bearing candles.

As we deck the halls with boughs of holly it should be remembered that

an ass wreathed with holly (Saturn's plant) was sacrificed at the

Saturnalia. Ivy, by contrast, was the symbol of the Greek god Dionysus,

whose followers celebrated his birthday at the Winter Solstice. Holly

and ivy, like mistletoe, are all magical plants which bear fruit in a

dead season.

There can hardly be a single Christmas ritual that does not owe a debt

to ancient myths. Mistletoe was used in Celtic fire festivals as a

fertility symbol and to honour the reborn sun. In European folklore,

mistletoe's yellow berries were believed to hold the seeds of the sun's

fire. Mistletoe was burned and gathered at the summer and winter

solstices when the sun began to wax or wane.

Scandinavian mythology said that kissing beneath mistletoe invokes its

healing powers.

According to Charles Knightly, author of The Customs and Ceremonies of

Britain: ''The mistletoe's pagan associations are so strong that no

church decorator will tolerate it except at York Minster, which, by

reasons of obscure origin, places a piece on its High Altar.''

The Yule log, today usually made in the form of a cake, is another

surviving remnant of midwinter fire festivals (particularly those of

Germany). Once a large piece of oak was burned during the twelve days of

Christmas and every morning the ashes were scattered over the fields as

a fertility rite.

Turkey on the Christmas table is relatively new having come from

America (or more accurately Mexico and thence to Spain). Turkey and

cranberry sauce are traditional at November's Thanksgiving. Since

Elizabethan times, however, a large bird was served on feast days. In

Scandinavian legend a wild boar was sacrificed to the goddess Freya and

centuries later a hog's head was often the centrepiece of the Christmas

meal of the nobility. In northern Europe before the 12th century it was

customary to slaughter a wild pig who had obligingly fattened itself up

on acorns in the forest.

Mince pies were originally an hors d'oeuvre made up with mutton, fruit

and spices. They were baked in pastry cases representing the manger.

Puritans regarded them as ''especially idolatrous'' and frowned upon the

oranges, figs, and dates they contained because of their Catholic

countries of origin.

The cult of Mithras was a great rival to Christianity in the late

Roman Empire. Had it not been for the potency of Christian teaching,

today we might well be wishing each other ''Happy Mithras''.