What is the reason for having trees at Christmas time?

By Penny Cooper


Asked the reason we all have real Christmas trees inside of our houses at Christmas? It started years ago before the coming of Christianity. Evergreen vegetation were a specific image for folks in winter season, in a lot of countries they believed the plants would eradicate wicked spirits and also disease. That's why people suspended branches of what we all know nowadays as being the real Christmas tree along the doors and window frames 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.

From the 16th century German Christians started to bring real decorated Christmas trees in to their buildings. This is certainly considered to be the starting point of the Christmas tree custom. Numerous people added illuminated wax lights to the tree that is thought to have been started off by Martin Luther a Protestant reformer in the 16th century. The wax lights were seen to stand for the stars of the night sky.

Christmas trees were then spread by German settlers into the remainder of Europe and in fact America. In 1846, Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert (German) had been showcased in the London News standing around a Christmas tree. The royals seemed to be popular and therefore Christmas trees quickly grew to become fashionable.




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