Make the season bright with Reindeer Knoll - a joyful guide to Christmas traditions, history, activities, and songs. Discover the origins of beloved Christmas customs like decorating trees, Santa Claus, and gift-giving. Learn fun holiday activities like baking cookies, building snowmen, and Christmas crafts. Sing along to classic Christmas carols and songs the whole family will love.
Ancient Druids, an ancient civilization of people lived on the British Isles in what is now Ireland and Scotland may have used mistletoe in a ceremony that involved the sacrifice of two white bulls. In a Norse legend, the beloved god Baldur was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe in a sinister trick by the god Loki. In the Roman epic The Aeneid, the hero Aeneas uses a golden bough of mistletoe to enter the realm of the dead and speak to his father’s ghost.
The association of mistletoe with love and kisses dates back to Greek and Roman marriage ceremonies, and the tradition of decorating with hanging clumps of mistletoe began during the Roman winter holiday Saturnalia. It’s not clear exactly when mistletoe became associated with Christmas, but by the 18th century it was a well-established part of winter holiday celebrations. According to one tradition, women caught under mistletoe had to return any kiss or not receive any marriage proposals for a year.