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Special Feature……
The Christmas Tree:
For families in North America, Germany and other parts of Europe, the Christmas
tree is the symbol of the Christmas season. Other evergreens have been a part of
mid-winter festivals long before Christ. They played a symbolic part because
they stayed green and alive when other plants appeared dead and bare. They
represented everlasting life and hope for the return of spring. Primitive
European tribes hung evergreens above their doors to offer the wandering winter
spirits shelter within their homes in hopes of receiving good fortune and good
health in return. The Romans decorated their homes with the greens at the
Festival of Saturnalia and at the Kalends of January, their New Year. They
exchanged evergreen branches with friends as a sign of good luck. The Druids
viewed evergreens as sacred, a symbol of life itself. When Christmas came about,
we incorporated, rather than dismissed, many of these practices as Christmas
customs. Of course, this was done only if these activities and items were
consider harmless and availed themselves to a Christian interpretation. The use
of evergreens was and is most widespread in England and Germany. We can trace it
back at least 500 years ago when religious meaning began to be associated with
these plants.
Evolution of the Christmas Tree:
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition in the sixteenth
century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some
built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles
if wood was scarce. The Christmas tree custom became popular in other parts of
Europe. In England Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria made Christmas trees
fashionable by decorating the first English Christmas tree at Windsor castle
with candles and a variety of sweets, fruits and gingerbread in 1841. Of course
other wealthy English families followed suit, using all kinds of extravagant
items as decorations. Charles Dickens described such a tree as being covered
with dolls, miniature furniture, tiny musical instruments, costume jewelry, toy
guns and swords, fruit and candy, in the 1850s.
Most nineteenth century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania. They put one on show to raise money for a local church. In 1851 a tree was set up outside of a church. The people of the parish thought it such an outrage and a return to paganism and asked the minister to take it down.
By the 1890s Christmas ornaments were arriving from Germany and Christmas tree popularity was on the rise around the U.S. It was noted that Europeans used small trees about four feet in height, while Americans liked their Christmas to reach from floor to ceiling.
The early twentieth century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German- American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country. All important buildings, private and public, signaled the beginning of the Christmas holiday with the tree ceremony. Early Christmas trees had, in place of angels, figures of fairies - the good spirits, though horns and bells were once used to frighten off evil spirits. In Poland, Christmas trees there were always angels, peacocks and other birds as well as many, many stars. In Sweden, trees are decorated with brightly painted wooden ornaments and straw figures of animals and children. In Denmark, tiny Danish flags along with mobiles of bells stars, snowflakes and hearts are hung on Christmas trees. Japanese Christians prefer tiny fans and paper lanterns. Lithuanians cover their trees with straw bird cages, stars, and geometric shapes.
The
straw sends a wish for good crops in the coming year. Czechoslovakian trees
display ornaments made from painted egg shells. A Ukrainian Christmas tree has a
spider and web for good luck. Legend has it that a poor woman with nothing to
put on her children's tree woke on Christmas morning to find the branches
covered with spider webs turned to silver by the rising sun.
Another story comes from Germany about spiders and Christmas trees. Long ago
families allowed their animals to come inside and view the Christmas trees on
Christmas Eve. Because the Christ Child was born in a stable, they felt that the
animals should take part in the Christmas celebration. But spiders weren't
allowed because housewives didn't want cobwebs all over everything. Of course
the spiders were unhappy about this, so one year they complained to the Christ
Child. He felt sorry for them and decided that late at night He would let them
in to see the trees. The excited spiders loved the Christmas trees and all night
long they crawled about in the branches, leaving them covered with webs. On
Christmas morning the housewives saw what the spiders had done . But instead of
being angry, they were delighted. For in the night the Christ Child had turned
all of the cobwebs into sparkling tinsel. And even today, tinsel is often used
to decorate Christmas trees to add that same sparkle the Christ Child gave the
cobwebs long ago, in Germany.
The Christmas Star:
The
stars that appear in the sky today are the same ones that were there two
thousand years ago. Was there a nova at the time of Jesus' birth? The exact time
of His birth is not known, but astronomers cannot place a new star appearance
anywhere near the possible time. Could it have been a shooting star? Again, the
astronomers say it was not likely. A meteor lasts only a few seconds or mintues
at best. The wise men followed the star for weeks looking for Jesus. We can rule
out comets as well. They can be seen by the naked eye for a week or months. But
modern astronomers know which comets were close enough to earth hundreds and
thousands of years ago and there was no comet visible to humans around the time
of Christ's birth. Some star gazers suggest that if we move the birth of Jesus
to the springtime of 6 B.C., we can attribute the star to the time the planets
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were close together in the heavens. They formed a
triangle in the group of stars known as Pisces. The wise men, themselves, were
astrologers and studied the stars and planets and knew, according to Jewish
rabbis, of the triangle and that it had appeared before the birth of Moses.
Perhaps they interpreted it as a sign of a great event in the land of the Jewish
people. This may have been the star of Bethlehem. Pisces became the special
constellation of the Hebrew people. Still, many people prefer to believe that
the strange star did appear, and that it was simply a miracle and throughout the
world today, the Christian holiday has usually begun with the appearance of the
first star of Christmas Eve. The Festival of the Star is held in Poland. Right
after the Christmas Eve meal, the village priest, acts as the "Star
Man" and tests the children's knowledge of religion. In Alaska, boys and
girls carry a star shaped figure from house to house and sing carols in hopes of
receiving treats. In Hungary a star-shaped pattern is carved in a half of an
apple and is suppose to bring good luck. In general, the Christmas star
symbolizes high hopes and high ideals - hope for good fortune, hope for reaching
above oneself. For all human beings, regardless of religion, stars have special
meaning for all share the heavens, no matter what barriers keep them apart on
earth.
Upcoming Features…Christmas recipes from all round the world. Submit your recipes: mail:witnessnews@hotmail.com
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