Gift Giving
Children were escorted from house to house with gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges which were laid in baskets of evergreen boughs and wheat stalks dusted with flour. The apples and oranges represented the sun, the boughs were symbolic of immortality, the wheat stalks portrayed the harvest, and the flour was the accomplishment of triumph, light, and life. Holly, mistletoe, and ivy not only decorated the outside but also the inside of homes. It was to extend an invitation to Nature Sprites to come and join the celebration. A sprig of Holly was kept near the door all year long as a constant invitation for good fortune to pay a visit to the residents.