Help with quiz

[Sprobin]

Hi guys,

Can anyone help with this?

The question is

What significance is holly in celebrating Christmas?

The answers I have to choose from are

a; The pointed leaves represent the star of Bethlehem

b; It was mistaken for mistletoe

c; The red berries are a Christmas colour

d; The early church banned mistletoe so holly was substituted

I have an idea for 'd' but can't find anything to confirm this 100%

Thanks

[Jules001]

try here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A665949

[logman]

The berries symbolise the blood of Christe and the prickly leaves the crown of thorns. In prechristian times evergreens symbolised imortality,fertility and rebirth.

[brionon]

Usual story, they nicked it from the Old religion.

[Octavius]

Witches and other pagans regarded the red holly as a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, also known as Diana. The holly wood was used by witches to make wands.

The white berries of mistletoe were believed by pagans to represent droplets of the semen of the sun god.

Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them.

This same plant was also sacred to the Romans during their Saturnalia festival. The Romans exchanged holly wreaths as gifts, with the entailing symbolism of the circle of the wreath implying eternal life. Christians who wished to remain undetected during the time of the Saturnalia celebrations decked their domiciles with holly to avoid persecution. Once Christianity took hold in Rome, however, holly wreaths became integrated with the Christmas holiday, yet mistletoe still remained "pagan" due to its association with fertility and "non-virginity". So, in 575 A.D., Bishop Martin of Bracae in Germany forbade all Christmas greens by condemning them as "dangerous and heathen". Churches were not to see their likeness again until many centuries later. It wasn't until William Shakespeare wrote, in the 16th Century:
Then , heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

that the word holly appeared in writing for the very first time.

[dcannon]

This is weird coz I'm on a quiz and I have exactly the same question with the same 4 answers. They have either copied same quiz or we work at same place. Well I always thought Holly represented Jesus crown of thorns, so I'm stuffed :-) Am also trying to find out what a button means if you find it in your xmas pudding

[Jules001]

dcannon the question about the button has already been answered on this site somewhere, if it's not in this category try quizzes etc. I know I read the answer but it failed to sink in