Christmas flowers Christmas flowers Christmas flowers are the popular flowers used during the festive season of Christmas. In many nations, seasonal flowers and plants such as Poinsettia, Christmas cactus, holly, Christmas rose, ivy and mistletoe form a major part of traditional Christmas decoration. The ancient Aztecs (ruling tribe in central Mexico at the time of contact with Europe) prized the poinsettia as a symbol of purity. Centuries later, Mexico's early Christians adopted the poinsettia as their prized Christmas Eve flower. The Mexican poinsettia, known as the Christmas Flower in North America, is used in most Christmas decorations, owing to its bright red
Christmas in Mexico They were originally developed as a didactic tool to teach the Christmas story. Flores, Richard R. Los Pastores: History and Performance in the Mexican Shepherds' Play of South Texas. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995. The Story Los Pastores is considered to be a nativity play that has been performed on Christmas Eve since the first recorded performance in 1721. In the play, the shepherds meet Michael the Archangel for the first time and begin their journey to meet Jesus. Along the way they encounter a hermit which is the comedic character in this play. He often carried around crosses made of