Christmas Trees!

The history of the Christmas Tree

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Long ago people hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows, in many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness since they clearly possessed the power to survive over the cold, dark winter.

Photo by @jit kumar on Unsplash

Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a feast called Saturnalia in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon, farms and orchards would be green and fruitful and to mark the occasion they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. 

By the early Middle Ages, the legend had grown that when Christ was born in the dead of winter, every tree throughout the world miraculously shook off its ice and snow and produced new shoots of green. It is known that in Germany in the 16th century devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes and many believe that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree to recapture the brilliance of the stars he observed one evening. 

The most likely theory is that Christmas trees started with medieval plays. Dramas depicting biblical themes began as part of the church's worship, but by the late Middle Ages, they had become rowdy and unimaginative. The plays celebrating the Nativity were linked to the story of creation, partly because Christmas Eve was also considered the feast day of Adam and Eve. The Garden of Eden was usually symbolised by a "paradise tree" hung with fruit. These plays were banned in many places in the 16th century, and people perhaps began to set up "paradise trees" in their homes to compensate.  

In Britain the German royal family fostered the tradition, with Queen Victoria's husband (Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) increasing its popularity. Trees were traditionally decorated with coloured paper flowers, apples, wafers, tinsel and sweetmeats; and remained a custom adopted only by the wealthy for some decades.

Christmas Tree at Windsor, 1848

The Norway spruce is the traditional species used to decorate homes in Britain. A native species in the British Isles since before the last Ice Age, it was reintroduced here before the 1500s.

Amazing Christmas Trees

It's still October as I write this, yet Christmas 2020 is already planned across the world, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. If you want a sneak preview, I highly recommend visiting "Ten Amazing Christmas Trees" to see photos of the most amazing Christmas trees from around the world.

The most beautiful Christmas Trees in Europe 2020 are pictured here ; or alternatively this site has the "eighteen most beautiful trees" - both sites well worth viewing!

Did you know? 

• A "Chrismon tree" is a Christmas tree decorated with explicitly Christian symbols in white and gold, first introduced by North American Lutherans in 1957.
• 100,000 people are employed in the Christmas tree industry. 
• 98 percent of all Christmas trees are grown on farms. 
• More than 1,000,000 acres of land have been planted with Christmas trees. 
• 77 million Christmas trees are planted each year. 
• The world’s oldest fake tree is owned by a family in Wiltshire. It was bought in 1886, and is still put up every year.
• On average, over 2,000 Christmas trees are planted per acre.
• 34 to 36 million Christmas trees are produced each year and 95 percent are shipped or sold directly from Christmas tree farms.

Whatever your decorating preference, the Christmas tree is an icon of the season. Despite concerns from early theologians they have become an accepted part of religious, as well as secular celebrations. Their evergreen origin however is at least in part recognition of Jesus Christ as the evergreen tree, unchanging and everlasting. The wide base of the tree angles upward to a pointed top, which directs attention to heaven. The evergreen branches represent eternity. The lights represent the image of Jesus as the light of the world.