It’s hard to imagine that decorating your artificial Christmas tree or sending out Far Side Christmas cards to friends somehow connects you with age-old traditions, but it does.

According to “The Christmas Book” by Francis X. Weiser, many modern Christmas traditions, including trimming the Christmas tree, smooching under the mistletoe, exchanging gifts and licking yourself into dehydration by sending out Christmas cards, all have roots in customs before our time.

The origin of the Christmas tree goes back to the medieval German mystery plays. One of the most popular of the plays was the Paradise play, representing the creation and fall of man.

During the play, the garden of Eden was indicated by a fir tree hung with apples; it represented the “Tree of discernment of good and evil” which stood in the center of Paradise. When the play was performed in church, the tree was surrounded by lit candles.

After the suppression of the plays in churches, people started to bring the fir trees into their homes and added small white wafers as decorations. The wafers represented the Holy Eucharist and later were replaced by little pieces of pastry cut in the shape of stars, angels, hearts, flowers and bells.

By the middle of the 17th century, candles were placed on the tree along with candy canes and glass balls. In Europe, cookies, sweets and oranges still are used as decoration.

The mistletoe was a vital plant to the pagan religion of the Druids of Britain. It was thought to have the power of healing, able to make infertile animals and humans fertile, provide protection from witchcraft and serve as a good luck charm.

It was considered so sacred that enemies who happened to meet beneath mistletoe in the forest would lay down their weapons, exchange a friendly greeting and keep a truce until the next day.

After Britain was converted from paganism to Christianity, bishops did not allow mistletoe to be used in churches because it had been such a central symbol of the pagan religion.

But then, before the Reformation, a large bundle of mistletoe was brought into the sanctuary of the Cathedral of York each Christmas and placed on the alter by a priest. The plant then became a symbol of Christ, the Divine Healer of nations.

The people of England then adopted the mistletoe as a decoration for their homes at Christmas. Its old, pagan meaning soon was forgotten but the traditions of kissing under mistletoe and it being a symbol of good luck, still survive.

The practice of exchanging presents goes back to ancient Roman times. On New Year’s day, Romans exchanged gifts of sweet pastry, lamps, precious stones and money as tokens of good wishes for a happy year.

The custom evolved and in more modern times in Germany, the packages of Christmas gifts for children were called “Christ-bundles.” They often contained candy, sugar plums, cakes, apples, nuts and toys. Less-exciting, but useful gifts included items like articles of clothing and school supplies.

Exchanging Christmas presents in America is a combination of two old European customs. The first was the myth of the present-giving of Saint Nicholas, who deposited his gifts in stockings on the eve of his feast day on Dec. 6.

The second custom was the myth that Christmas presents were brought by the Christ child on Dec. 24, or Christmas Eve, and were arranged beneath the Christmas tree.

In the middle of the 19th century, when postal rates became cheaper, people began to send greetings and good wishes to their relatives and friends before the feast of Christmas.

The first Christmas card supposedly was engraved in 1842 by a 16-year-old London artist, William Maw Elegy, but it failed to arouse any interest. A few years later, special cards were printed in Britain by a few people who had them designed for their personal use.

In 1846, Sir Henry Cole commissioned J.C. Horsely to make a card for him, “the usual size of a lady’s visiting card.” By 1860, Christmas cards were on the market and became a common part of the holiday season by about 1868.