"I'm sorry, but it's true, Booth." Brennan reached up to adjust an ornament on the Christmas tree.
"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean I actually have to believe it, and it sure as Hell doesn't mean I have to like it." Booth looked like a naughty child as he pouted on the sofa with his arms crossed over his chest. He watched the lights blinking on the large Christmas tree in their family room for a few seconds before he spoke again. "I think you're just trying to annoy me with all that sciencey mumbo-jumbo about weird Christmas plants."
Brennan rolled her eyes as she sat down next to her husband on the sofa. "I'm not trying to annoy you. However, after reading through the Gospels in the Christian Bible, I can tell you with certainty that there is no mention of Christmas trees, holly, or mistletoe. A lot of the floral decorations that are used by people at Christmas have their roots in pagan superstition."
Booth looked at his wife with surprise. "Since when did you ever read the Gospels? I thought you didn't believe what's written in the Bible."
"I took a class in comparative religions when I was an undergraduate." Brennan shrugged. "I've read parts of many religious texts….The New Testament, the Talmud, The Koran, the writings of St. Augustine, the Buddha and Confucius. That doesn't necessarily mean I believe it, but I understand what I've read."
"Well, I like having a Christmas tree….the bigger, the better, and I don't care if it isn't mentioned in the Bible stories about Christmas." Booth stuck his chin out and glared at her as if he was daring Brennan to argue with him.
"I like Christmas trees, too, Booth, even though the roots of the custom go back to the ancient Nordic peoples and the Druids. Supposedly Martin Luther decided he wanted to bring some of the outdoors inside to brighten his home at Christmas, so he changed the legend surrounding the trees so that the continuous green of the the conifer needles became the symbol of everlasting life." She smiled as she sipped her wine. "Anthropologically speaking, it's quite common for different religious groups to adopt customs from the society they are a part of, and change the meaning of the symbolism to fit their beliefs and tenets. That adaptability is what keeps a religion vibrant." She patted her husband's knee. "Mistletoe was originally revered by the Vikings because in their mythology Baldur was brought back to life by a sprig of mistletoe, and Friga rewarded the man who brought it to her with a kiss. Now Christians and some other groups use it as a symbol of everlasting life also, which is rather ironic since it's a parasitic plant…."
Booth interrupted, "Well, mistletoe may be a symbol of everlasting life, but I kinda like the kissing under the mistletoe tradition, and if I remember correctly, you enjoyed it, too, when you kissed me under the mistletoe in your office a few years ago, right?" He grinned slyly. "I think mistletoe is one of my favorite symbols…." He leaned over and gave his wife a hug. "Too bad I don't have any with me right now...maybe I could get more than just a few kisses." He twitched his eyebrows at her.
"Mistletoe is also used as a symbol of fertility…..hmmph." Brennan's lesson on the various herbs and their usage as Christmas symbols was interrupted by her husband as he kissed her.
"Enough botany for tonight, Bones", he said, kissing her again. "Time for some biology, I think...with or without mistletoe."
Brennan laughed as she snuggled next to Booth. "Some people think mistletoe is an aphrodisiac," she said, kissing him on the cheek, "but I don't think we need it for that, do you?"
Booth enveloped her in his arms. "Definitely not, Bones…..definitely not."