What is Christmas Tree?

Almost everyone in this world celebrate Christmas as it is the birth of our lord Jesus Christ. The lord that died for our sins. In this Christmas what would be your decoration for your Christmas tree? I guess you have such a pretty decoration that will make the Christmas perfect and wonderful. When we say Christmas of course there would be Christmas tree decors in our house. As for me and my family we don't have Christmas tree but we have Christmas lights that makes our home look more beautiful and cheerful. As for my kids they have a good Christmas and my kids that married. They all celebrate the Christmas, I am so happy to see them all happy and well. I hope God will bless them more. As for my research the Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas or the original name Yule. The Christmas tree is often brought into a home, but can also be used in the open, and can be decorated with Christmas lights (originally candles), ornaments, garlands and tinsel during the days around Christmas. An angel or star is often placed at the top of the tree, representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity.

History of Christmas Tree

The ancient pagans, Druids, Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews celebrated the Winter Solstice, (Dec. 21st), the day of the year that the Sun begins its ascent in the sky, thereby ushering a fertile time of planting and bountiful harvests. Hence, the evergreen tree represented eternal life and the promise of replenishment during the cold winter months[citation needed. Apples and other fruit were hung upon the tree to represent the plentiful food to come. Candles were lighted to symbolize the warmth and brightness of the sun. While the Christmas tree is generally associated with Christ, it predates this religious figure by many centuries.

Later in history Germans hung wafers on the tree along with the apples to represent the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In the Victorian era, the apples were replaced by red glass balls and candles and the representation signified both Adam and Eve along with the fire of life. Moreover, the Christmas tree was also used to scare away evil forces for the new year. (Christmas tree. (2009).

After the beginning of the New Year, January 1, the Pagans would take the chopped decorated Christmas tree down and burn the "Yule" log in remembrance of the past year. They would rejoice in song and dance for the goals that have been completed and in jubilation for the coming of the Spring and life. Furthermore, New Year's resolutions were constructed at a later date from the Pagans setting of the goals.

Origin

According to Christian lore, the Christmas tree is associated with St Boniface and the German town of Geismar. Sometime in St Boniface's lifetime (c. 672-754) he cut down the tree of Thor in order to disprove the legitimacy of the Norse gods to the local German tribe. St. Boniface saw a fir tree growing in the roots of the old oak. Taking this as a sign of the Christian faith, he said "...let Christ be at the center of your households..." using the fir tree as a symbol of Christianity.

The custom of erecting a Christmas Tree can be historically traced to 16th century Northern Germany and the Baltic region,[citation needed] though neither an inventor nor a single town can be identified as the sole origin for the tradition. According to the first documented uses of a Christmas tree in Estonia, in 1441, 1442, and 1514 the Blackheads erected a tree for the holidays in their brotherhood house in Tallinn. At the last night of the celebrations leading up to the holidays, the tree was taken to the Town Hall Square where the members of the brotherhood danced around it. It remains unclear, however, whether an evergreen tree was used. In 1584, the Estonian chronicler Balthasar Russow wrote of an established tradition of setting up a decorated spruce at the market square where the young men “went with a flock of maidens and women, first sang and danced there and then set the tree aflame”.

The first documented use of an evergreen tree in a Christmas celebration was in Riga, Latvia, in the year 1510. The legend says that the first Riga tree was decorated with paper flowers and burnt on the bonfire after the ceremony. In that period, the guilds started erecting Christmas trees in front of their guildhalls: Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann (Marburg professor of European ethnology) found a Bremen guild chronicle of 1570 which reports how a small tree was decorated with "apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers" and erected in the guild-house, for the benefit of the guild members' children, who collected the dainties on Christmas Day. Another early reference is from Basel, where the tailor apprentices carried around town a tree decorated with apples and cheese in 1597. For more information check out Wikepedia.