Holly

Holly is a staple foliage at Christmas - instantly recognisable and colourful, it has been used to brighten up interiors and churches for centuries - the holly leaf motif is seen on everything from wrapping paper, to baubles, socks and ghastly festive jumpers - and of course adorning many doors, incorporated into Christmas wreaths. Yet Holly has more complex and traditional associations. Here I have attempted to collate information and trivia regarding this most festive and striking tree.

Cicely Mary Barker's interpretation of a Holly flower fairy, 1930's

The Holly was believed to have protected the inhabitants of a house from faeries with malicious or malevolent intentions - Holly brought into the house by the owners was to prevent discord between the human inhabitants and any potential faerie visitors. Preventing them from causing chaos on the domestic front by spoiling milk, putting out the fire, and getting up to other such mischief. Any Holly brought into the home must be burnt on Imbolc (Holly burns at a high temperature)  to ensure that faerie visitors don't stick around all year. A small branch can be hung outside the front door to protect from lightning. Holly will also ward off witchcraft if planted near a house.

"of all the trees that are in the wood
the Holly bears the crown..."

From the tail end of Summer until the time of the Winter Solstice in Celtic Mythology, the Holly king ruled, before being defeated by the Oak King who reined over the period of Spring until Summer. These figures were incorporated into mummers' plays which were acted out during the Christmas festivities - and similarities between the two kings and the figure of the Green Man are obvious.

Robert Graves included the Holly King in his seminal work 'The White Goddess' which has been adopted by many neopagans as a source of contemporary belief and practise.

Hollies which grew amongst hedgerows and bushes were left alone and not cut along with the rest of the foliage - this was believed to prevent the nocturnal path of witches who were believed to travel along the top of hedgerows and field boundaries, and Holly was used generally to ward off witches and malevolent otherworldly powers. It was seen as very bad luck to cut down a Holly, though it was used alongside Ivy to create costumes for a boy (who wore Holly) and a girl (wearing Ivy) in pre-Christian folkloric customs. Traditionally Holly with prickles was descrived as 'he-holly' and seen as representative of masculinity, whearas the non-prickly holly, being femininity - was referred to as 'she-holly'.

Ever since encountering Deptford Jack welcoming in the summer in London, photographer Sara Hannant has gone on a journey around England to capture rituals which mark the changing seasons. The Hollyman in this photo wassails (toasts) the people of London and River Thames on Twelfth Night - the end of Christmas festivities - to encourage a fertile year ahead.

.:.

Despite looking incredibly unpalatable, the leaf of the Holly tree was in fact frequently used as food for farm animals - ground up it became edible and certainly must have been more pleasant to digest! Holly wood was frequently utilised in the construction and fashioning of farm implements as it was believed to have possess the property of control - hence it was used to make whips and other items related to horse riding.

The Holly was also seen as an indication of the coming seasons - if it flowered abundantly during the Spring months and yielded a copious amount of berries during the Autumnal months - a hard Winter was believed to follow. The logic behind this was that nature was providing a bumper crop of berries for the birds to consume.

Of course Holly also had Christian connotations - the evergreen nature of the tree was adopted to symbolise eternal life -the prickly green leaves suggestive of the crown of thorns, whereas the intense and eye catching red of the berries reflected the lifeblood of Christ - the white flowers reflecting the purity of the Virgin Mary.

"No spear to thrust, no shield against the shock of battle,
But in one hand a solitary branch of holly
That shows greenest when all the groves are leafless;"

from 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' ca 1370 - 1390, author unknown