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newbie1011
62 / female
The Shore, New Jersey, US
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When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
With the holidays in full swing some of you find this interesting. With education people tend to be more understanding and maybe not as quick to get offended or judge.What ever your religious belief has little or nothing to do with this. This is just one of those things that there is much confusion about. Hopefully people will be more tolerant of each-other after reading this.
I might have to post the story in two parts because of space limits.
How It All Got Started
Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples 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.
In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.
The ancient Egyptians worshiped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.
Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. 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. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.
Most 19th-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, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.
It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrim's second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event." In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy.
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| December 9, 2011, 22:42 |
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newbie1011
62 / female
The Shore, New Jersey, US
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Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
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| December 9, 2011, 22:45 |
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User no longer registered.
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Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
That's a lot of history. You've obviously done your research. I have just one question, because I'm not clear on it. Are you against Christmas trees?
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| December 9, 2011, 22:51 |
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ashkats
65 / couple
crystal falls, Michigan, US
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Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
a waste of money like halloween i got two pumpkins for 5 bucks and threw them away , not so bad when ya grow your own same with trees, its a cash crop up here,we get jobs cutting and shaping tree for peole to buy and again ill spend 5 to 15 bucks on a tree and thow it out with all the gift wrap. we then celabrate our christmas on jan 7 not the 25th so its up for a good month . so i turn into baa humbug on christmass every one of us older folks fell that way , mom dont want nothing or the other inlaws too.
so for us we have a northford island pine and thats our tree and all we need its 3 feet tall and we dress it up, us to do the pencle cactice, but it died off got too big and fell over to many times i guess .... so this is chrismass?
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| December 9, 2011, 23:06 |
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Iwant2kssuallovr
62 / female
Bendover, Florida, US
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Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
You must be careful in Florida as it is so warm, a tree doesn't last as long. I know a few years back I bought my dad a pre-lite 3' fiber optic tree, and he LOVED it!
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| December 9, 2011, 23:23 |
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ashkats
65 / couple
crystal falls, Michigan, US
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Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
yep that's the trouble with live trees , they go up like a match, i like burning the old one out on the sled hill after the holiday we get them all together and up they go.the one they put candles on where the most dangerous. but a tree with candles is sure nice looking
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| December 9, 2011, 23:35 |
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newbie1011
62 / female
The Shore, New Jersey, US
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Re: Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
QUOTE (Boomerman69 @ December 9, 2011, 22:51)That's a lot of history. You've obviously done your research. I have just one question, because I'm not clear on it. Are you against Christmas trees?
I'm not for or against a tree. I just refer to them as holiday trees. I feel it is more accurate as to what it is.It's more about family than religion for us around the holidays.
Ash I have an idea I will steel from Kam's family. His Mom is a wonderful seamstress. She has made bags for each member of the family. Each is unique to them. Their gifts go in that bag and the bag is reused every year.I love the idea. Besides the fact that each bag is personalized the fact that it is earth friendly and pocketbook friendly is so smart.By the way the bags have to be large enough to handle several gifts or a large gift. It's basically a small Santa's sack.I wish I thought of it.The best part is if the person doesn't return the bag to be used for the following year, they won't get gifts that year.This women is a genius!
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| December 9, 2011, 23:52 |
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User no longer registered.
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Re: Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
QUOTE (Iwant2kssuallovr @ December 9, 2011, 23:23)You must be careful in Florida as it is so warm, a tree doesn't last as long. I know a few years back I bought my dad a pre-lite 3' fiber optic tree, and he LOVED it!
I really like those. Be better if they folded llike an umbrella.
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| December 10, 2011, 13:13 |
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wandering5tar
53 / male
London, England, UK
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Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
Another bit of Christmas Tree Trivia for you all then.
Back when Christmas was a religious rather than commercial celebration it wasn't elves that helped Santa but Angels and they used to deliver Christmas Trees to all the houses as well as presents.
One year, a particularly irritating Angel kept disturbing Santa's busy work shouting "Santa, Santa; there's a Christmas Tree left over". Santa tried to shoo her away but she didn't take the hint and kept shouting "Santa, Santa; there's a Christmas Tree left over. What shall I do with it?"
Finally Santa's patience cracked and he yelled "Go shove it up your %$*&".
And that's why there's always an Angel on top of the Christmas Tree...
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| December 10, 2011, 13:28 |
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ashkats
65 / couple
crystal falls, Michigan, US
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Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
looks like it diidnt fit well did it
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| December 10, 2011, 20:34 |
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newbie1011
62 / female
The Shore, New Jersey, US
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Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
Wondering5tar you always make me laugh.I will have to steel that story from you.
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| December 11, 2011, 19:22 |
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perveman
111 / male
Tucson, Arizona, US
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Re: Re: When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree?
QUOTE (wandering5tar @ December 10, 2011, 13:28)Another bit of Christmas Tree Trivia for you all then.
Back when Christmas was a religious rather than commercial celebration it wasn't elves that helped Santa but Angels and they used to deliver Christmas Trees to all the houses as well as presents.
One year, a particularly irritating Angel kept disturbing Santa's busy work shouting "Santa, Santa; there's a Christmas Tree left over". Santa tried to shoo her away but she didn't take the hint and kept shouting "Santa, Santa; there's a Christmas Tree left over. What shall I do with it?"
Finally Santa's patience cracked and he yelled "Go shove it up your %$*&".
And that's why there's always an Angel on top of the Christmas Tree...
Thx 5star. I passed this storey on, with my usual "Lying my ass off, because I get to mess someone, straight face." It was a thing of beauty as usual. Well, I got a grim stare, then I said "WHAT?" At that I was told I get a lump of coal in my stalking. I thought "Good luck finding any of my clothes. lol" (Will re-tell it anyway,). It's just funny!
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| December 11, 2011, 23:12 |
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