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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

holly

Ancient Christmas customs still held today. A door decorated with a Christmas wreath. (CC0) Snowy holly. (liz west/CC BY 2.0) Mistletoe. (CC0) A Yuletide fireplace. (Randy Robertson/CC BY 2.0)

Mistletoe, Holly, and Yuletide Cheer: Weaving Nature into Ancient Christmas Customs

It is estimated 2 billion people celebrate Christmas each year. Although the popular holiday is linked to Christianity and the birth of Jesus Christ, people all over the world, Christians or not,...
Origins of Popular Christmas symbols

The Holly and the Mistletoe: Ancient Roots of Christmas Symbols

Christmas is a very popular holiday tradition that is celebrated by some 2 billion people worldwide. This popular celebration is of course linked closely to Christianity and is intended to honor the...
A woman in a forest holding holly. Credit: LoloStock / Adobe Stock

Decking the Halls of History: The Pagan Origins of Christmas Decorations

The idea of hanging up decorations in the middle of winter is older than Christmas itself. Decorations are mentioned in ancient descriptions of the Roman feast of Saturnalia , which is thought to...
The Holly and the Ivy: How Pagan Practices Found Their Way into Christmas

The Holly and the Ivy: How Pagan Practices Found Their Way into Christmas

Every year, almost without thinking about it, we incorporate certain plant species into out Christmas celebrations. The most obvious is the Christmas tree, linked historically in England to Prince...
Chief Saturiwa prepares his men for battle during a ceremony involving the black drink.

People in the Southwestern United States drank caffeinated drinks in 750 AD

The sparse population inhabiting the area that is now the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico during the eighth century AD regularly consumed drinks made from cacao—the plant that is...