From the desk of Miss Know-All: The significance of the Christmas Tree

(Published on 2 January 2007 in 'Women at Work' - W @ W - a supplement of the Daily Mirror, Colombo, Sri Lanka)

Just attended a lovely Christmas party - an occasion that holds a special place in my heart right from when I was a child. The spirit was one of festive cheer and bonhomie. The MC on the mike asked the children if they knew the significance of the Christmas Tree. Surprisingly none of the kids had any idea. Then the question was put forward to the adults. Everyone shuffled uncomfortably in their chairs. A Christmas Tree is such an integral part of Christmas – but sadly nobody was really sure of its significance. Has it become just a decorative addition to the celebration?

The Master of Ceremony asked everyone to look at the Christmas Tree again with an open heart and listen to what it told us. He said the triangle shape denoted the trinity.
Further the tree pointed upwards towards God. Being an evergreen the tree indicated that life was eternal. The needles grew upwards like hands praising God. The lights on the tree represented heaven and the gifts around it represented charity, love and compassion. This was truly beautiful – and suddenly the Christmas Tree came to life and had a truly different meaning.

A tree is known to represent the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It is believed that the Christmas tree originated in Germany. The earliest record of an evergreen tree being used and decorated for Christmas is 1521 in the German region of Alsace. In the fourteenth century, churches held plays to tell the people in villages and towns stories from the Bible. The play that was held every December 24 was about the Garden of Eden and showed how Eve was tempted by the serpent and how she picked the apple from the forbidden tree. A major problem was to find an apple tree with needles on it in the middle of winter. A solution was found by cutting down an evergreen tree, probably a spruce or pine, and tying apples onto it. The tree was also decorated with round white wafers to remind that even though Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise, the birth of baby Jesus would bring redemption. The idea of a Christmas tree decorated with apples enchanted people so much that before long many families were setting up Paradise trees, in their own homes. The custom persisted long after the plays were no longer performed.

Ever since, red and green, the colours of apples hanging on the tree have been the main colours of the festive season. History records that the first person who decorated an indoor Christmas tree was Martin Luther. The first Christmas tree in Windsor Castle was brought by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, in the year 1834.

As the years passed the trees were decorated by hanging gilded nuts, gingerbread cookies and marzipan candies, shaped like fruits and vegetables from the boughs. Brightly decorated eggshells, cut in half and filled with candies, were set in the tree. The wafers that once hung on the Paradise tree were replaced with cookies in the form of hearts, bells, angels and stars. With time, the cookies were replaced with decorations made out of thin, painted metal. When people combined the decorations with candles, they created the Christmas tree that we know of today.

Decorating the tree is a special task that is shared by everyone in the family and is supposed to bring about a special bonding between family members. These days sparkling ornaments, electric lights, and shining tinsel are used as decorations. Glittering with colour and light and topped with a star or an angel, the green Christmas tree symbolises that life is eternal. The presents below the tree are reminders of the love and close ties that are shared by families and friends.

"O Tannenbaum" – a German folk song says:
Not only in summer's glow,
But 'mid the winters frost and snow
O faithful pine, O faithful pine,
You're true and green forever.

Season’s greetings to all the readers of W@W. May the beauty of this joyous season fill your heart and home with peace and happiness.

Miss Know-All
miss.know.all@gmail.com