Did you know that holly is one herb that Celts felt too sacred to have a Celtic name? In ancient Celtic tradition, the Holly King fought, and won, a battle with the Oak King for supremacy over half the year from the summer to the winter solstice. Holly and mistletoe are traditional to the season through commemoration of the battle. The holly was hung in honor of the Holly King; the mistletoe (which grows high in the branches of oak trees) in honor of the Oak King. Dressed in red and adorned with holly sprigs, the Holly King is considered by many to be the forerunner of our present day Santa Claus.
Holly was brought into Celtic homes to protect the occupants from ill-meaning faeries or to shelter spirits that the druids believed inhabited the tree’s sacred branches. Whether the prickly-leaved or smoothed leaved variety was brought in determined whether the husband or the wife would rule the house through the coming year.
There are special spirits that dwell within Holly trees: the Holly Man lives in the tree that bears prickly Holly, and the Holly Woman dwells within that which give forth smooth and variegated leaves.
Do not burn Holly branches unless they are well and truly dead, for this is unlucky. It is said that if you gather nine Holly leaves in complete silence on a Friday after midnight, wrap them up in a white cloth, use nine knots to bind the cloth, and then place them under your pillow, your dreams will come true.
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