All Hung Up
Come Christmas, there's a tree to be got, one that occupies a special place of honour in the
Christian home.
Ask any Christmas tree for its fondest memory and it'll tell you about the time Santa dropped in
to fill the stockings. It is also sure to harbour memories of a home, a silent witness to a
family's festive secrets, and the only one who knows exactly who kissed who under the mistletoe.
But dig a little deeper and it'll tell you horror stories about its ancestors. There was a time
when the trees were not so honoured. They were instead cursed as being a part of pagan ritual
and thrown out, their branches still holding tightly to tinkling tinsel.
The Christmas tree, something we now take for granted as being a part of Christmas, has a dubious
history. Its beginnings are hard to pinpoint, as trees have had a foothold in almost every
culture, particularly evergreens, because of their seemingly magical ability to stay green
throughout winter.
It is thought that, for the Egyptians, evergreens signified the triumph of life over death.
During their winter solstice, green branches were brought in to homes. The Greeks were said to
have decorated trees during their winter festival in honour of Saturnus, their god of agriculture,
while other cultures hung greenery on windows to keep evil at bay.
The first connection made between the tree and the Church is often attributed to a British monk
who was posted to Germany some time during the 7th century. Whether legend or fact, there are
several stories about St Boniface, with one version saying that the monk used the fir tree's
triangular shape in his sermons to illustrate the holy trinity.
In another story, St Boniface felled an oak tree to dispel the people's worship of it. At that
time, the druids in Northern Europe held the oak tree to be sacred. As the great tree came crashing
down, it crushed everything in its path save for one tiny fir tree. The fir was seen as a miracle,
and the Germans called it Christbaum, Christ's tree.
By the middle of the 16th century, its popularity as a Christmas decoration posed a threat to
forests, and an ordinance had to be enacted, declaring the no one could have for Christmas more
than one bush of mor that eight shoes' length. Because of the impending scarcity of trees, some
families resorted to using triangular wooden blocks instead.
The tradition of lighting the tree is said to have been sparked off by Martin Luther, the
16th-century Protestant reformer. During a walk home, he marvelled at how beautiful the starry
night sky looked through the branches of a tree, so he recreated the scene by filling his own
tree with lighted candles. Needless to say, many fiery accidents followed until the advent of
electricity. Then in the mid-1600s, Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, declared
that all decorations were a desecration of Christ's birthday. Carols and the like were also
condemned as heathen practices, distracting one from the true meaning of the Christmas.
Persecution awaited anyone who celebrated in any way, other than attending church service.
New England (the United States now) followed suit and the puritanical pilgrim leaders managed to
make the event as solemn - and ultimately morose - as possible.
For almost 200 years, the tree was left out in the cold in these countries. Then, as England's
royal family slowly embraced it once again, even appearing in official photos with their tree,
the rest of the country followed suit. This plus an influx of German and Irish immigrants to the
US finally managed to bring merriment back to the country.
Now synonymous with Dec 25, the place the tree holds, not just in homes but any other. The
convenience of artificial trees has made sure that its wide use throughout the world. It is said
that the first of these man-made firs started off with goose feathers and then progressed to
brush trees made by using the same machines that churned out toilet bowl brushes!
The earliest trees were adorned with apples, believed to have been adapted from a previous custom
celebrating Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge.
The fruit was later joined by coloured paper roses, wafers, gilt and sugar. Popcorn on a string
was a cheap alternative to tinsel, which used to be made of real silver.
Tree decorations have since become a huge industry. Dare we guess at the amount of money spent
every year on little baubles and fake flakes? These have replaced the days of ladies poring
over a crocheted star, or toiling over pouches that would hold sweets to be hung on a tree.
Now the grind comes from a bus ride to the nearest shopping mall where glitter and pomps are
aplenty.
It's a historical trend to be judged by your tree. When glass-blown decorations first became
available in the late 1800s, the more you had on your tree, the higher your status.
Yet there aren't really any rules to a tree's decoration. There are those who go by colour and thematic schemes executed with a surgeon's eye for detail. Then there are those who do a higgledy-piggledy job. In any case, we all know where tree ends up when the revelry wraps up.
Ask a Christmas tree and it'll tell you that it's satisfied to have come from real firs to
feathers and toilet brushes. It'll tell you that it's fine that after all the partying, it's
relegated to the back of the dusty storeroom, or even the garbage bin along with last year's
decorations.
By then it would have enjoyed its place of honour in your home, where it presided over and bore
witness to your family's celebrations. And there's always next year...
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