Each year, people around the globe celebrate the holiday of Christmas. The purpose of the holiday is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. However, with a quick amount of research, one can quickly find that Christmas actually originated from a festival to the Winter Solstice. However, not every part of Christmas originated from the Winter Solstice festival or Christianity.
In fact, there are many historians who believe that mushrooms account for the origins of some of our most beloved traditions. But to be more precise, the amanita muscaria mushroom, with its red and white colors, is believed to have had a major impact in the shaping of our Christmas holiday.
While the winter solstice was a tradition from the Romans, the people of Northern Europe, including the Lapps of modern-day Finland and the Koyak tribes of central Russian, were the ones behind the Christmas Tree tradition. These people had a belief in what they called the “World Tree”. This tree was said to be the axis of all existance, with the roots stretching down into the Underworld, its branches reaching to the heavens, and the trunk firmly planted in the world.
The North Star was also celebrated in this culture. In fact, most believed that the very tip of the World Tree touched the North Star. Shamans believed that their spirit would travel up the World Tree towards the North Star and there they would reside in the heavens. This is an obvious origin to both the star on top of the Christmas tree and why Santa (the super shaman) lives in the North Pole.
But what does all this have to do with mushrooms? Or more specifically, the amanita muscaria?
Well, the amanita muscaria traditionally only grows under two types of trees, firs and evergreens. To the ancient people of northern europe, with no knowledge of agricultural science, they viewed the amanita muscaria as a ‘virgin birth’ since under these trees grew what they thought was a plant without any seeds. Also, one can’t help but notice the similarities between the amanita muscaria growing under firs and evergreens, and red and white presents under a Christmas Tree.
Now obviously the amanita muscaria mushroom is known to have hallucinogenic properties to it. While these properties have played a vital role to the development of humans, especially when it comes to religion, humans were not the only animal to partake in the experiences of mushrooms. Possibly one of the most prominent animals in north Europe to eat the mushrooms was none other than the reindeer. Reindeer were very revered by the shamanistic people of this area. These reindeer often ate the amanita muscaria mushroom and would then ‘prance’ around while under the influence of the mushroom.
One of the unique properties of the amanita muscaria mushroom is that the body does not fully metabolize the active ingredients that cause the hallucinations. Because of this it was common practice to drink the urine of someone under the influence of mushrooms. This would cause the drinking to experience the effect of the mushroom as well. In fact, it was a much safer way to experience the effects of the mushroom due to the body of the first to filter out all toxins. Many of the shamanistic people would seek out these reindeer with the sole purpose of drinking their urine for the effects of the amanita muscaria mushroom.
Another connection between the amanita muscaria mushroom and Christmas is how the early northern European people harvested these mushrooms for consumption. During the winter, the ground was very wet. Since the amanita muscaria mushroom grows under trees, the snow and the dew would cause these mushrooms to be very moist. Many early harvesters would take these mushrooms from under the tree and hang them on the tree to dry out. Sounds a lot like ornaments if you ask me.
Lets recap…
Christmas Tree – Fir or Evergreen
Star on top of the Tree – North Star
Amanita Muscaria growing under the tree – Presents
Amanita Muscaria hung on tree to dry – Ornaments
Reindeer eats mushroom and hallucinates – Prancing/Flying reindeer
In the next article I will cover the origins of Santa Claus and how it relates to mushrooms. (Its not all about Coca Cola!)
Further reading on this subject:
Mushrooms and Mankind: The Impact of Mushrooms on Human Consciousness and Religion
Mushrooms Poisons and Panaceas: A Handbook for Naturalists, Mycologists, and Physicians
Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras: The Drug Cult that Civilized Europe
