Many ancient cultures have used evergreens - the whole tree or as decorative wreaths - as a symbol of eternal life , as these trees do not lose their leaves even in the coldest of winter. The Christmas fir tree has a very long history, and its origins are not Christian. In fact, the peoples of Scandinavia believed that evergreens would scare the Devil away, and it reminded them that spring would eventually come back. Some other possible meanings of the Christmas tree refer to its triangular shape, which can symbolize the Holy Trinity , and the tree of life from the Old Testament , which explains why people hung apples and other round fruits as ornaments.
Are you interested in using Christmas ornaments now that you know what they mean? Then take a look at the following articles:. Share on:. By Max. D Gray. Updated: January 16, You may also be interested in: Unusual Handmade Christmas Ornaments. As Christian Christmas symbols, evergreens symbolize perseverance and resiliency to adversity. They remind us of Jesus' words, "The ones who persevere to the end shall be saved.
From its roots grew a fir tree which Boniface took as a sign of the Christian faith. By the 18 th century, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree was well established in France, Germany, and Austria. Thus, the Christmas tree represents the original Tree of Paradise, the burning bush which spoke to Moses, the branch of Jesse from which Jesus was born, the life-giving tree of the cross of Christ, and the tree which St. John the Apostle saw in the Book of Revelations whose leaves have medicine for the people and which yields fruit each month for the healing of the nations.
Because it is green year-round, the evergreen tree represents hope. Its needles and its narrow crest point upward, turning our thoughts to heaven. A legend tells of a poor, faithful family who wished to decorate a Christmas tree in honor of the Christ Child but who had no money for decorations.
In the night, spiders came and spun webs across the tree. Then the Christ Child, honoring the family's faith, turned the threads into silver. Candles and Christmas lights also remind us that we are to be light to others, to show them the way to Christ.
Christmas bells not only symbolize the joy of Christmas; they also remind us that Christ is the High Priest. The red stripe symbolizes Christ's sacrifice and the white background His purity. Candy canes have a peppermint flavor, reminiscent of hyssop which had medicinal purposes. The peppermint flavor reminds us that our healing came at the price of Christ's life. The candy cane is meant to be broken and shared, just as Jesus' Body is broken and shared at every Eucharist.
Saint Nicholas was known for taking to heart Jesus' words about almsgiving being very generous to the poor, but most often anonymously. Soon other fruits also began to be hung on the trees, along with paper streamers and bits of shiny metal foil.
It was from this time that the idea of reflecting the light of the room on the tree came into being. Christmas is, after all, a season of lights and merriment. The idea, hence, soon became popular. One more concept arose during this period and began to be practiced with much enthusiasm by many German homes.
It was the use of foods like gingerbread or other hard cookies, that began to be baked in varied shapes as fruits, stars, bells, hearts, angels and were used in the decorations.
The idea was a great hit with the German folks. As the tradition of Christmas trees and ornaments became more widespread, each country added its own ingenuity to the decorations. Americans, for example, would string long strands of cranberries or popcorn to encircle their trees.
In the UK, imaginative ornaments of lace, paper or other items showed the ingenuity and skill of their makers. Small newspaper scraps or magazine illustrations also began to be used in the family Christmas tree decorations. Small gifts were other items that began to be hung on the trees, sometimes contained in little handcrafted baskets, nestled in the crook of a branch or just suspended by a small piece of thread.
In fact, so much of decorative items began to be used during this period that with each passing year it became increasingly difficult to actually see the tree beneath the ornaments. It is to be noted that until the s, Christmas tree decorations had mainly been the creative domain of family and friends and the only ornaments available in the market were German hand-cast lead and hand-blown glass decorations.
But the s saw many German entrepreneurs seriously thinking of manufacturing ornaments on a mass scale and selling these strictly as Christmas ornaments.
The idea was soon translated into reality. The glass firms around Lauscha, the hub of the glass ornament trade in Germany, which had until then been engaged in making glass articles such as bottles and marbles soon began to create little glass toys like molds of children, saints, famous people, animals and other forms and released them in the market.
This new type of Christmas ornament was an instant success and was met with a huge demand. Soon, nearly every family in and around Lauscha became involved in some way or other in the creation of Christmas glass ornaments working either in a factory or in a home-based foundry.
Now each ornament had a touch of individual craftsmanship and became highly prized possessions. As a result, Germany went on to capture the world market in Christmas ornaments made from glass molds and for a long time was the major world source for glass ornaments. Most hand-blown glass ornaments used for decorations on Christmas trees came exclusively from Germany.
As the tradition of Christmas tree decorations had, by then, already caught on in the United States, F. Woolworth, one of the foremost American mass merchandisers, began importing German glass ornaments into the country in the s. The history of German Christmas ornaments is incomplete without a mention of the non-glass ornaments that were manufactured in Dresden, a city near to Lauscha. The Evergreen tree is of course a symbol of everlasting life and light; blue and white represent snow and winter and red the blood of Jesus the Saviour.
Most people take their Christmas decorations down — including the decorative Christmas plants — on the 12th day after Christmas or January 5!
A glassblower craftsman from Meisenthal in the Moselle Eastern France , however, had the brilliant idea of inventing colorful glass balls in order to replace them. Germany and Eastern European countries have since traditionally been the specialists of blown, spun and molded glass, metal, wax or wood decorations. Decorations include angels, Baby Jesus, miniature Santa, gifts, bows and wooden objects of all sorts amid garlands and multicoloured balls.
Apples indeed have a deep religious symbolism and in the old calendar of saints, Adam and Eve were celebrated on December That said, the Christmas Tree tradition was not really popular among common folks, and more of a trend for the aristocracy.
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