filled with such wonderful scents of

the holiday season.From the kitchen

floats the scents of pumpkin and

apple pies.The turkey is roasting

to a golden brown,and smell

the aroma of the cinnamon in

the candied yams.Mixed with the scents

is the smell of the cedar tree.

Which is such a delightful fresh smell

and pull up a chair.The fire

in the fireplace is crackling and snapping.

Ahhh smell the wood as it burns.

That is a wonderful scent.It

The flower of Christmas Eve

A poor Mexican child on her

way to church on Christmas Eve

wept because she had no gift

to place before the altar of

the Virgin and Child.Through her tears

an angel suddenly appeared and told

her to gather weeds from the

roadside.When the child arrived at

the altar with her wilted offering

starry crimson"blossoms" burst forth from

Christianity, the early Christians adopted the

tradition of decorating their home with holly.

At first they displayed it to avoid

persecution, but as Christianity began

to gain dominance they started to

incorporate it into their own religion.

The significance of the berries changed

so that they now symbolized the

blood of Christ and holly gradually

solidified its position as a Christmas

tradition.So as you're hanging that wreath

(with a sprig of holly on it, of course)

on your door, or placing it around

the house this Christmas, think a little

about the roots of this tradition.

In addition to honouring your Celtic

heritage and making your home look nice,

you may also be performing the

invaluable service of providing shelter to

tree fairies and protecting your home

from malevolent spirits.