currently enjoying Friendship With Benefits atm, so seeing twisted's stuff make my heart feel good

So if Mistletoe is for kissing, what's Holly for? Just in case I go to any parties this year, I need to know before I do something... awkward

laarye said:
So if Mistletoe is for kissing, what's Holly for? Just in case I go to any parties this year, I need to know before I do something... awkward

Holly is a weird plant in culture, most people assume it's a mistletoe (which isn't actually a real plant, rather it's just a group of parasitic plants of 3 separate but similar plant families they are pests of many ornamental, timber, and crop trees, most notably evergreens), when it isn't, but most folklore attribute it to some form of luck, a symbol of fertility and eternal life, thought to have magical powers, with Christians having adopted the holly tree as a symbol for Christmas. The sharp leaves are said to symbolize the crown of thorns worn by Christ, while the berries represent his blood, but at the same time, it is considered unlucky to bring holly into the house before Christmas Eve, so one shouldn't decorate their trees or homes with it before the eve of Christ's birth. As well as in Druid lore, cutting down a holly tree would bring bad luck, but hanging the plant in homes was believed to bring good luck and protection. Holly was also thought to protect homes against lightning strikes.

That and it's the original Christmas Tree, as before the Victorian era the term Christmas tree was actually referring to the holly itself and not a tree of Christmas celebration, it then got changed to a fir tree, and then to pine trees. but again it's bad luck to chop the whole tree down.

there's a ton of other symbolisms' for the plant too, but if your going green with festivities, just stick to the tried and true misletoe.