Where Did The Origin Of Decorating Tree's Come From? ( For Christmas That Is)?

Answer 1

I just taught this to my kids in my 2nd grade class! Christmas trees and the idea of it came from the Germans in the 18th century. It was meant to brighten spirits during the cold of winter.

Hope this helps!
Jennifer

Answer 2

round December every year it happens - out come the boxes of tinsel, the tree baubles and the Creche. Off children go with dad, if they are lucky enough to live in the country - to find the best berried holly, and other evergreens to decorate their homes in festive style. But why do we do it? Even the grumpies, who moan and groan about the fuss and the bother will decorate a tree, grumbling all the while.

The reason is that it is inherent in man to do so. Many millennia ago, ancient man believed that by decorating the bushes in the winter time, they could make them attractive for the spirits, which they believed had fled for shelter from the harsh weather.

We do not know of course what they decorated with, maybe bits of coloured cloth, stones etc. The people of old Mesopotamia (Babylonia in the middle East, Modern Irac) put great store on fringes. Fringed garments were a status symbol, and the fringe would be taken off and put onto a new garment when the old one was discarded. Maybe they occasionally used fringes to decorate their bushes.

Later, people began to take branches into their homes to give warmth and shelter to the spirits of nature, releasing them in the early spring when the first buds began to appear on the trees. From this we get two customs.

1. The bringing of evergreens into the home at Christmastime
2. The superstition that all decorations must be taken down by the end of Christmas, or we shall have bad luck.
Originally, people kept up their decorations for much longer than we do now, the Christmas season ending on Candlemas, the 2nd February, which was more in keeping with the earliest signs of Spring. So we can see how the ancient pre-Christian custom of bringing in branches for the spirits and putting them out again in Spring, fits into the later medieval pattern. In the middle ages, people still believed that there were indeed tree spirits which inhabited the evergreens, and that these little spirits would cause havoc in the home if not released!

From this you can see that ancient custom did not die out with the coming of Christianity. Many beliefs continued for hundreds of years, encouraged by a largely illiterate people in a time before books and learning were available to everyone.

So how did it become christianised? In the 6th century, missionaries were sent to Britain from Rome. St Gregory was a wise man with understanding beyond his time. He realised that it was not possible to expect people to convert and change the ways of centuries of tradition overnight. So he told his missionaries to make allowances. 'If the people decorate their temples to Saturn, let them in future still decorate them - but for the festival of Christ's Birth' was the message.

So St Augustine, who founded the first great church in Britain, followed this rule, and gently converted, it is said, some 10,000 people one Christmas, to the new teachings of Christianity.

People did decorate still, but as a celebration to honour the Birthday of the Son of God, and if they retained some superstitions from their earlier beliefs, it did not matter so much as long as they understood about the teachings of Christ.

For many centuries the natural evergreen boughs were the only decorations people had for Christmas. Branches of holly or 'Holm' as it was usually called, were popular because of their red berries. Mistletoe also was used because it too had berries which provided contrast to the greenery.

Answer 3

The ancient Germanic people tied fruit and candles to evergreen tree branches, in honor of Woden. Trees were viewed as symbolizing eternal life through the cold of winter.

Trees were also decorated by the Greeks and Romans.

The Celts tied prayers and strips of cloth to trees as offerings, and they stll do to this day.

Answer 4

Actually, there's evidence in the Old Testament....pre Jesus Bible that this was origionaly a pagan tradition:

Jer 10:3 For the customs of the people [are] vain: for [one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

Jer 10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Answer 5

The pagan Germans worshiped the fir tree as a sign of life in the dead of winter and they decorated it with candles and berries to show their adoration.

Answer 6

The First Christmas Tree Lights

It was a cold winter's afternoon in the dense German forest, Martin Luther did not notice the sun slowly setting and the sky growing dark. His thoughts were on the sermon he was preparing. The forest soon came alive with the night sounds of owls, wolves, and other wild creatures.

Martin Luther shivered. He pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders. Then he quickened hi space. saying a little prayer for comfort as he went.

The forest grew darker. Martin Luther scurried along, continuing to pray that he would not cross paths with a wild animal. He glanced up to see the night sky filled with tiny pricks of light, twinkling blue and silver. What could they be?

"Stars!" Martin Luther said suddenly, as he realized what he was seeing "Lights from Heaven to guide and comfort me, just as a star led the Wise Men to the stable that first Christmas. What a splendid theme for a sermon."

Martin Luther smiled up at the twinkling sky. He was no longer afraid.

Feeling safer, Martin Luther looked around for a small three he could take home for Christmas. He found a young fir tree, pulled up, and dragged it with him through the forest.

At long last Martin Luther was safe at home. He quickly prepared the little fir tree, hoping to surprise his family.

"Hmmm," he said, as he noticed the triangle shaped candle holder on the table by the window.

Soon Martin Luther called his family in, so he could tell them about his long walk through the dark and dangerous forest. Everyone gasped at the sight of the little fir tree, for it was customary to hang Christmas trees upside-down from the ceiling beams and leave them undecorated. Yet, Martin Luther had placed this little tree upright in a pot, high on a table. The candles had been removed from the triangle shaped holder. Now, as the very first Christmas tree lights, they flickered from the tree's delicate branches - just as the stars had flickered through the forest to guide Martin Luther.

The family gathered around as Martin Luther told them what had happened earlier that evening.

"Just as I was getting very frightened, I saw the stars twinkling through the trees as if God was saying, 'Don't be afraid, for I am with you.' And that's when I realized the theme for my sermon, God's light shines through the darkest night for everyone, but sometimes we have to look up to see it."

Answer 7

germanic pagans. it was a symbol of their great god cutting down an enemy or something...