The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the
special plant of the sun god, Balder.
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.
More History
The evergreen fir tree has traditionally been used to celebrate winter
festivals (pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pagans used
branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as
it made them think of the spring to come.
The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival
of Saturnalia. Christians use it as a sign of everlasting life with God.
Nobody is really sure when Fir trees were first used as Christmas trees.
It probably began about 1000 years ago in Northern Europe.
Many early Christmas Trees seem to have been hung upside down
from the ceiling using chains (hung from chandeliers/lighting hooks).
Christmas or Xmas?
Christmas is also sometimes known as Xmas. Some people don’t
think it’s correct to call Christmas ‘Xmas‘ as that takes the ‘Christ’
(Jesus) out of Christmas. (As Christmas comes from Christ-Mass,
the Church service that celebrated the birth of Jesus.)
But that is not quite right! In the Greek language and alphabet,
the letter that looks like an X is the Greek letter chi / ? (pronounced
‘kye’ – it rhymes with ‘eye’) which is the first letter of the Greek
word for Christ, Christos.
Forwards or ’embarrassing’ Israeli Rabbis deny the Christmas Tree
Rabbi Dukov called the presence of the tree “anti-Jewish” and
said that it was worse than Christian symbols such as crosses.
“It is not a Christian religious symbol but, even worse, a pagan one.”
Many students from the Technion criticized the rabbi’s remarks.
“As tolerant people, we should respect everyone. Are we really
boycotting a place just because a symbol of another religion was
placed there?” one student asked, according to Channel 2. Other
students called the rabbi’s approach “narrow-minded” and
“embarrassing.”
Did You Know?
Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the
Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright
fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals(parades) with floats,
carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts,
and the church processions can be traced back to the earlyMesopotamians,
Europeans and Romans.
For all the hue and cry of Christmas gifts and celebrations being pagan, did
you know the Dutch Sinterklaas was a bishop who gave out gifts to his list
of ‘good’ children?
Or that Saint Nicholas recognized as the patron saint of children, was also
a Bishop who lived in the fourth century in a place called Myra in Asia Minor
(now called Turkey). He was a very rich man because his parents died when
he was young and left him a lot of money. ) He was also known as Father
Chrismas or the Santa Claus.)
Your Editor
Fran Klasinski –
wishing you the very best of the Christmas season.
© 2016, Fran Klasinski. All rights reserved. on republishing any parts of this post, you must supply a link to the original post
