I have always been fond of those traditions we came up with to make it through the longest nights of the year. Even as teenager scaring everyone with my rebellious gothic looks, I loved the scent of cinnamon, baking cookies, putting up Christmas lights, as well as decorating a Christmas tree. I still remember my grandmother’s Christmas trees, especially since she would decorate them with little chocolate rings for visitors to pick up and eat. I am reminded of days when I could ignore the adults and just enjoy a little magic.
“Did you have a Christmas tree?”, I ask my witch, as she giggles between the golden stars and spheres I have ready for my tree nowadays.
Let’s see: Where does the tradition of Christmas trees come from?
For a tradition that spread so successfully through the centuries, there always are a lot of traces to follow.
A first one points out the meaning of holy trees in the ancient, pagan Europe, and how the different kinds of fir trees were popular in winter for their never fading green. In the longest nights, the only trees not losing their colours might have been seen as a symbol of resilience.
There also is a tale including a fir dating back to the early medieval ages in Germany, when the English missionary St. Boniface spotted pagans while preparing a sacrifice for their god Thor. St. Boniface is said to have chopped of the holy tree under preparation with an ax, without being struck by lightning, leaving room for all kinds of interpretations in the religious tumultuous of the beginning medieval days.
Although it’s though to reconstruct how exactly the idea of evergreen resilience was preserved (or if it simply was newly discovered), the idea to decorate fir trees in winter remained present through medieval days, although without a connection to the Christmas celebration. Those undying trees were decorated with apples, given the name “paradise trees”, and were a symbol for resilience as well as a reminder of the Garden of Eden.
Martin Luther seemed to be the first one (at least in the German speaking areas of Europe) to have put lighted candles on a fir tree for the Christmas celebration. Around this time, the first copper engracing of a fir tree decorated with stars can be found, and the chopping of certain kinds of trees had to be permitted by the city of Freiburg, since the tradition had become too popular.
But … Yes, there is a but, as always in history.
There is another possible home for the tradition of beautifully decorated and sparkling trees in the longest nights. Although I have only ever read about historians preferring the German origin, I don’t want to ignore the other stories, since they were told for a reason as well I believe (even if historical accuracy might be questionable).
The countries Latvia and Estonia claim the birth of the Christmas tree as well. In Riga, Latvia’s capital, there even is a monument reminding of the birth of Christmas trees. I have put that on my list of places to see! Both stories have a striking similarity. Merchants are told to have carried a decorated tree through the capital, to put it up in a public space in those dark and endless nights.
All of these stories have a spark in common. A search for resilience, for surviving, for a trace of colour in the longest night. Some of these stories come from pagan times, some were included in the Christian traditions of medieval Europe, and some are not particularly related to religion at all. Because we all need a little spark, once the sun reaches it’s lowest point.
“Sooooo?”, I ask my witch. “Were you born late enough to have ever had a Christmas tree?”
She giggles. “I was married to rich husband, not of my choosing, who could have obscene ideas.” She pushed me aside to place another golden sphere on a lonely branch. “He would ask to sit next to his paradise tree and be horribly amused, while I fought the urge to punch him.”
We both sigh deep in thoughts.
Family is never easy, and dark and endless nights seem to remind everyone of just that.
I still miss the trees my grandmother used to put up. As little as I was, I always needed her help with the chocolate rings. Every ten minutes, she would free another one for me. I could keep her busy the whole day. I hope her magic never dies.
https://www.britannica.com/story/how-did-the-tradition-of-christmas-trees-start
Fesstage und geheimnisvolle Geschichte, B.P. Kremer 2023, Springer.
Mistress witch writes 