holly holiday bokeh

Canon EOS 6D - f/4 - 0.8sec - 100mm - ISO 200

 

- for challenge Flickr group: Macro Mondays,

theme: Holiday Bokeh

- piece of twig: nearly 7cm

 

- Holly and Christmas

Before holly was hung in houses to accompany Christmas trees, it was considered to be a sacred plant by the Druids. While other plants wilted in winter weather, holly remained green and strong, its berries a brightly colored red in the harshest of conditions.

 

The Druids regarded holly as a symbol of fertility and eternal life, thought to have magical powers. In Druid lore, cutting down a holly tree would bring bad luck. In contrast, hanging the plant in homes was believed to bring good luck and protection.

 

When Christianity came into Western Europe, some people wanted to keep the greenery, to give it Christian meanings but also to ban the use of it to decorate homes. The UK and Germany were the main countries to keep the use of the greenery as decorations.

 

- Here is the Christian meaning:

The prickly leaves represent the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when he was crucified. The berries are the drops of blood that were shed by Jesus because of the thorns.

In Scandinavia it is known as the Christ Thorn.

 

- In pagan times, Holly was thought to be a male plant and Ivy a female plant. An old tradition from the Midlands of England says that whatever one was brought into the house first over winter, tells you whether the man or woman of the house would rule that year! But it was unlucky to bring either into a house before Christmas Eve.

 

- "Season's Greetings"

- "merry Christmas"

- "feliz Navidad"

- "joyeux Noël"

- "frohe Weihnachten"

- "vrolijk Kerstfeest"

- "buon Natale"

- "feliz Natal"

- "Srozhdestvom Khristovym"

- "God Jul"

- "glædelig jul"

- "καλά Χριστούγεννα"

- "wesołych świąt bożego Narodzenia"

- "un Crăciun fericit"

- "boldog karácsonyt"

- "veselé Vánoce"

- "geseënde Kersfees"

Done