December 8, 2013
History of Chrismas Tree
Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that
remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter.
Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with
pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over
their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that
evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.
In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the
year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter
solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that
winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak.
They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god
would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green
plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer
would return.
The
ancient Egyptians
worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun
as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to
recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green
palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.
Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia
in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the
solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful.
To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with
evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests
of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs
as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce
Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.
Germany is credited with starting the
Christmas
tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout
Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built
Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and
candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that
Martin Luther,
the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a
tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he
was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To
recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room
and wired its branches with lighted candles.
Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The
first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German
settlers of
Pennsylvania,
although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier.
The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as
1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan
symbols and not accepted by most Americans.
It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs,
the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans,
Christmas was sacred. The
pilgrims's second governor,
William Bradford,
wrote that he tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the
observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell
preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated
trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event."
In 1659, the General Court of
Massachusetts
enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church
service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations.
That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx
of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy.
In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince,
Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their
children around a Christmas tree. Unlike the previous royal family,
Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court
immediately became fashionable—not only in Britain, but with
fashion-conscious East Coast American Society. The Christmas tree had
arrived.
By the 1890s Christmas ornaments were arriving from Germany and
Christmas tree popularity was on the rise around the U.S. It was noted
that Europeans used small trees about four feet in height, while
Americans liked their Christmas trees to reach from floor to ceiling.
The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly
with homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use
apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed
bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought
about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow
for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town
squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home
became an American tradition.
Christmas Tree Competition in my Church
Christmas tree by Bina Iman Remaja St. Paulus Depok
The third winner...Hurraayyy :)
Me and recycle christmas tree by BIR
(by Veronica Lucy Indah K)