Like many traditions handed down to us, Christmas trees carry a jumble of pagan and Christian connotations. As they retain their leaves through the winter, it's little wonder they have been viewed as symbols of immortality, fertility and resurrection in both the East and West. In Ancient Greece, pine trees were paraded at the festival of Attis, illustrating the cycle of death and resurrection.
The Christmas tree as we know it today began its development in medieval Germany. Saint Boniface, looking for pagans to convert in the 8th century, found a culture with a reverence for trees and sacred groves. He used this devotion and translated the triangular shaped pine into a symbol for the Trinity. Decorations were introduced during the Renaissance when guilds would dress a tree with fruits and nuts for children. It was (of course) Queen Victoria who popularized the tree in both England and America.
What better time than the dark days of midwinter to cheer the home with a tree sparkling with lights, a reminder that spring will come. A friend recently informed me that the Christmas tree tradition could be rooted in the optimal time to harvest lumber. The debate rages on the internet, but it seems that cutting wood in winter and during a waning moon significantly reduces insect infestation, limits cracking and could make a better sounding guitar.
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