The Holly King and Oak King

The Oak King, Holly King, Winter Solstice and a History of Christmas Holly Trees :
Ancient peoples, who spent more time outdoors than we do, were acutely aware of this annual ebb and flow of daylight, the two poles of which are the winter solstice and its summer counterpart.

For the Celts, what we know as Christmas holly trees had a place in their rituals marking these two poles, each of which indicate when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator. Here are the essential facts about the summer and winter solstice:

•    In the Northern Hemisphere the summer version occurs approximately on June 21, when the sun is in the zenith at the tropic of Cancer.

•    The North’s winter solstice occurs around December 21, when the sun is over the tropic of Capricorn.

•    The summer event is the longest day of the year (most daylight hours).

•    The winter solstice is the shortest (fewest daylight hours).

These two critical junctures of the year’s progress figure prominently in the magic and mythologies of many ancient peoples throughout history. Again, in Celtic mythology the two are strongly linked to holly trees. Sprigs from Christmas holly trees were worn in the hair during the mistletoe rituals performed by the priests of the Celts, the Druids, at the summer and winter solstice observances. The pointy leaves of holly trees were thought to afford magical protection against evil spirits. Holly tree sprigs were also brought into their dwellings during the cold-weather months in the belief that they afforded shelter to the fairies, those tiny spirits of the forest.

In Celtic mythology the “Oak King” and the “Holly King” were twins, pitted against each other in a never-ending fight for supremacy. Oak Tress, sacred to the Celts, lose their leaves, while the English Christmas holly trees are evergreen. As cold weather approached, the Celts marveled at how the evergreen Christmas holly trees, hidden amongst the leafy oaks the rest of the year, now stood out prominently on an otherwise barren landscape. The Holly King had won out, as it were, as the incarnations of his twin brother had shed all their leaves and stood naked in defeat.


But by the time the winter solstice arrives, the tide has turned: the Oak King’s flow in power is the Holly King’s ebb. The deciduous twin takes his first baby steps towards re-establishing his supremacy. The Oak King’s supremacy won’t reach its zenith until midsummer, when the oaks will be in full leaf again. At which point, it is now the Holly King who will be riding the new wave. The evergreen twin lies the foundation in the summer heat for a reign that will culminate in the winter solstice. Thus ironically, whenever either king reaches the height of his dominance, at that very time he is doomed to be supplanted. Which is why we daylight-cravers have reason to be of good cheer as the winter solstice approaches: at our darkest hour, time will soon again be on our side….

For the Romans, “Holly was used to honor Saturn, god of agriculture, during their Saturnalia festival held near the time of the winter solstice. The Romans gave one another holly wreaths, carried it in processions, and decked images of Saturn with it,” according to the Kentucky Cooperative Extension (the Saturnalia was the festival upon which the Christmas holiday was directly modeled). Evergreens such as Christmas holly were adopted by common Christians as a Christmas decoration, in spite of protests from Church Fathers such as Tertullian. A tiny flicker of this age-old controversy still burns today.

In Christian folklore the prickly leaves of Christmas holly trees came to be associated with Jesus’ crown of thorns, while their berries represented the drops of blood shed for humanity’s salvation. This symbolism can be found, for example, in the Christmas carol, “The Holly and the Ivy.” Christian folklore also identified Christmas holly wood as the wood used to build Jesus’ holy cross. In fact, some scholars think that the word, “holly” is simply a corruption of “holy,” although there is no general consensus on this point.

But what there is a general consensus on is the diversity and versatility of holly trees. Holly is prized in Christmas decorations, and adds visual interest to a color-starved northern landscape. But A Modern Herbal also reports the medicinal uses for holly. Herbalists traditionally used holly leaves to treat fever and other ailments. “The berries possess totally different qualities to [sic] the leaves, being violently emetic and purgative, a very few occasioning excessive vomiting soon after they are swallowed.”