by Kit Fisher
Everyone knows the Christmas tree. A mighty, verdant fir decked in tinsel, baubles, and twinkling lights where gifts gather in anticipation of Santa's arrival. It's a beautiful, nostalgic image that evokes many, many memories. There's nothing more iconic in modern Western holidays. Yet, it hasn't always been so. There was a time when trees weren't the quintessential winter decoration they are today. The first Christmas Tree Lighting at the White House was only in 1923. And yet some traditions that I thought were as new as the 1980s like popcorn garlands might have had roots more than a thousand years ago. So how did we get to this point? Let's take a trip back in time and examine that.
Popularized in British culture in the mid-1800s through Queen Victoria's efforts to celebrate her German husband's heritage, the Victorian Christmas tree was a place to hang children's gifts. Albert's Germanic traditions stretched back for centuries, over the tumultuous process of the Christian conversion of the land. Before the Roman Empire tacked Christ's Mass onto the end of the festival of Saturnalia (a day-long celebration where slaves and masters traded places, and offerings were made to Saturn, God of the Harvest), there were older customs across Europe. Druids observed the death of the Holly King, Nordic farmers held agricultural sacrifices, Anglo-Saxons had Mōdraniht. Even in Egypt, greenery was associated with the Gods, and the strengthening of the Sun God Ra. The holiday of Yule, in one form or another, has been around since at least the 4th century.
During these centuries, traditions were adopted between peoples. Evergreens and other plants tied to the Gods (mistletoe, yew, oak) were decorated to ward off night-faring spirits. Trees were decorated with gifts people wanted to petition the Gods for, and with ornaments representing the Deities. Strings of berries were left on trees so that birds could nibble on them. Bushels of evergreen were hung outside over doorways and windows to ward off spirits, or inside to fill the home with their earthy scent.
Bit by bit, these traditions began to coalesce. Decorations that were Pagan in origin took on Christian flavourings. While this helped ease some into Catholicism, many Christians protested the use of Pagan symbols such as mistletoe and holly at all. But, the blended traditions were here to stay, and by 1605, there are records of trees dressed in gold foil and apples and wafers popping up in Strasburg. They spread slowly from there, until Victoria's famous family portrait around Albert's tree. Within two years, nearly every home had a tree. Also in the 1800s, the winter solstice began to take on a focus on goodwill and generosity that is recognized today as the meaning of secular Christmas. Throw in globalization, a dash of capitalism, some excellent marketing, and tales such as Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and pop culture cemented the idea of a tree decorated in glowing lights and glass bulbs, surrounded by presents. It's been a long journey, and a complex one that touches on the sharing of cultures and the clashing of religions, but the result is a warm, merry focal point to the holidays.
So decorate your trees, with friends and with family! Venerate your ancestors, leave offerings in the woods, burn Yule logs! Tis the season~
Joyous Yule,
Kit
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