Home-spun

I tried looking up the symbolism and origins of Xmas wreaths. Long story short: it's complicated. Most sources refer back to the Greeks and Romans, who used wreaths, especially laurel, as symbols of success and power. But other cultures use evergreen foliage as symbols of life continuing through winter darkness. Pagans in Germany told folk tales of evergreen wreaths, the circularity perhaps emphasising the cyclical nature of life - also emphasised by the inclusion of seeds and berries. The Christian Church, as it usually did, incorporated these traditions and overlaid them with interpretations and symbolism to support their own doctrines. Christian wreaths in many traditions were most often associated with advent, rather than Xmas itself, and placed horizontally, with attached candles representing the weeks or days of the run up. Door wreaths are less explicitly Christian, and may date back to earlier traditions of hanging the family's produce on the door as a representation of their achievements and identity. I'm also reminded of the circular charms that some cultures hang in doorways to ward off "the evil eye"

In the end, I've decided to invent my own symbolism. All of this foliage was given us by a fellow beekeeper, so there is friendship and community. The making was Mrs M and our daughter, so there is the comfort of family and life passing through the generations. If laurel is a symbol of success, then our family can lay claim to enough of that this year to earn a few leaves. Ivy is the plant of Dionysus - bring it on! (but actually he's god of orchards as well as all that other stuff; I hope to drink to his honour with home-made cider on Xmas night); it's also an invaluable late flower for our bees, and deserves its place for that alone. Bees also relish hazel catkins, so they can symbolise hopes and expectations for the year to come. I think the lighter coloured berries are hawthorn, the plant whose blossom will eventually announce the end of winter (at which point clouts may finally be cast). The deep red berries are the Guelder Rose - apparently a national symbol of Ukraine, for whose relief Mrs M has been working this year, so that is for our hopes for peace and goodwill.

I have left out the much-maligned leylandii, but it is not its fault that it is so often badly located and mis-managed. It brings to my mind my farming grandfather's adage that "good fences make for good neighbours", so it can stand for the wisdom of the ancestors

Yuletide good cheer!