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Christmas Trees, A History

RELIGION

Christmas trees have become a worldwide symbol for peace and good cheer. They are
at the center of one of the largest family gatherings of the year. And religions of all shapes
and sizes brandish it as something spiritual and meaningful to their beliefs. While random
uncles and cats think of it as a nice bit of shade to have a quick nap. The question is, who
was rst? No, not the cat or the uncle, although that could be quite a tantalizing
investigation. What I mean is, where did this idea of the Christmas tree come from? How
did it begin and who was the rst to place gifts for loved ones beneath or but shiny balls
on its branches? Well, that is what we are here to nd out. Explore and enjoy, dear reader.

In The Beginning
Christmas trees havent always been associatedwith Christianity, in fact, Christianity was
one of the last religions to jump on this green religion bandwagon. Winters were brutal in
ancient times, so much so that ancient Egyptians and Romans believed that their gods
were struggling just as much as they were. See, winter was seen as a time of death and
any plant that remained green during this time, such as rs, evergreens and rushes, were

seen as holy and signs that the gods would triumph over this winter and bring new life
onto the earth.
The Egyptians worshiped the god Ra, the sun god. At winter solstice, the shortest day and
longest night of the year, the people of Egypt believed Ra had fallen into an illness, and
they would decorate their homes with green palm rushes to symbolize his triumph over
death.
The Romans treated the solstice as more of a celebration by holding a feast called the
Saturnalia in honor of the god of agriculture, Saturn. The Romans looked ahead toward
Spring, knowing that soon everything would be green and thriving once more. They would
celebrate the coming of Spring by decorating their homes with evergreen boughs; in
Northern Europe, Druids also decorated their temples for everlasting life; while the vikings
in Scandinavia believed that the evergreen was a special plant given to them by their god,
Balder.
It wasnt until the 16th Century, in Germany, that the Christmas tree began to look as it
does now. Devout Christians would bring the trees into their home, while others would
build wooden Christmas pyramids that were decorated with evergreens and candles.
Martin Luther is credited as being the rst person to adding lights to a Christmas tree. The
story goes, that as he walked through the night preparing a sermon, he was amazed by
the stars twinkling beneath the branches of the evergreens. To truly capture this moment
for his family, he demonstrated it to them by erecting a tree in his home and attaching
candles to it with wiring.
Most Puritan Americans, in the 17th century, saw the Christmas tree as a pagan symbol.
Only German settlers were widely known to decorate their home with them, as Germany
had a long history with community trees already. But interestingly, Christians during this
time were doing their best to stamp out Christmas and Christmas trees all-together. Going
so far as to ning people found recognizing the pagan mockery as a holiday. This is

interesting because it was the Catholic Church that attached themselves to that holiday in
order to convert pagans into their religion. But despite all of the Puritans troubles in
attempting to stamp out the long-lasting tradition, an in ux in German and Irish settlers
overpowered any attempt to keep the tradition from growing.
And grow it did. The Christmas tree truly became popular in 1846, when British Royals,
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were sketched along with their family standing in front of
a Christmas tree. Victoria was extremely popular, which instantly made Christmas trees
the most fashionable thing in town since sliced bread. The 19th century nally saw a rise in
acceptance and popularity in the U.S, and the production of ornament became extremely
popular during this time as well.

As the World Keeps Spinning

Everywhere around the world Christmas is being celebrated and trees are being
decorated, but each country has its own unique and special brand of holiday cheer.
In the U.K, trees stand normally about four feet in height, while people in the U.S. do
everything they can to get their trees to scrape the ceiling.
In Mexico, the nativity scene is the most popular and important facet, and Christmas trees
are a luxury for most families; but if one is used it is worked around the nativity
decorations.
Despite Australias sweltering summer heat in the month of December, christmas trees are
still delivered to all parts of Sydney.Thats right, summer. Since Australia lies on the
southern-hemisphere, families tend to celebrate Christmas outside and at the beach.
Greenland is the complete opposite with temperatures so low that no Christmas trees will
even grow!

Christmas trees have been a huge part of a tradition that seems like it will never die out. It
has truly stood the test of time. In a few thousand years our ancestors will be looking back
on how their metallic, sentient pyramid began as a proud evergreen tree.

71

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 BY HISTORY COOPERATIVE

WRITTEN BY HISTORY COOPERATIVE

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4 COMMENTS
JOSEPH

REPLY

September 19, 2016 at 1:58 am

Awesome. I did not really know the history of Xmas tree before I read this
articles. Thanks for that. Xmas is comming.

MICHAEL

REPLY

October 26, 2016 at 8:54 pm

Interesting, although I think they should be called Wintermas trees, since

thats more in keeping with their pagan-secular origins.

ASH

REPLY

December 18, 2016 at 5:28 pm

Thank you for the well-researched article on the history of Christmas

trees. You might consider changing the word ancestors in the last
paragraph to decedents since you are talking about people who will
live a thousand years from now. Cheers.

ASH

REPLY

December 18, 2016 at 5:30 pm

Oh dear, I meant decendents not decedents. Stupid auto correct.

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