8/17/2012

What is the reason for having trees at Christmas time?

By Penny Cooper


Ever thought about as to why you will find real Christmas trees inside of our properties at Christmas? The whole thing started a long time ago just before the coming of Christianity. Evergreen vegetation were a special mark for people in winter time, in numerous countries people thought the trees would fend off bad spirits as well as sickness. For this reason people hung limbs of what everyone knows in modern times as being the real Christmas tree along the entrances and the windows of their houses.

The winter month's solstice was worshipped on the lengthiest night time of the entire year by people in the Upper hemisphere. This is because people worshiped the sun as a god and through the winter they thought he was ill. The greatest night and smallest day time symbolised a changing point from which the sun would start to get better. All of the evergreen branches were a reminder to the people that life would grow yet again after the sun god was healthier.

They are not the only civilizations to have worshipped the sun as a god, numerous previous cultures like Celts, Vikings, Romans and also ancient Egyptians worshiped solstice in a similar fashion. Egyptians hung palms in their home while Romans furnished their houses with evergreen branches. All of them considered evergreen vegetation as a representation of eternal life.

Through the Sixteenth century German Christian believers started to move real decorated Christmas trees in to their homes. This can be considered as the start of the Christmas tradition. A number of people added ignited candles to the tree that is thought to have been started out by Martin Luther a Protestant reformer of the 16th century. All of the wax lights were seen to symbolize the stars of the night time sky.

The tradition of Christmas trees were spread by German settlers around the rest of Europe and even the United States of America. In 1846, Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert ( German) were showcased in the London News huddled around a Christmas tree. The queen was extremely popular and for this reason Christmas trees quickly grew to become fashionable.




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