I've just realised that I brought a box of Christmas decorations up from the basement and left them sitting behind the piano. Now that is clever, or rather absent minded of me.
I now have the conundrum of whether to unpack them and decorate the tree, which after all will only be decorated for another couple of weeks, or just put them away. I don't even remember what is in that box, other than little glass trinkets. Little glass trinkets that the cat will probably play with. Maybe I'll just put the box away.
Which raises the question of why on earth do we cut down evergreen fir trees, and of a particular type, we tend to get Noble Firs here in Singapore while in the US they like the Scots Pine, which always makes me think of men in kilts moaning that they've been forgotten at Christmas.
I digress.
If you are not in to chopping down forests, even if they are grown for chopping down, then you will have invested in a recyclable Christmas tree - in other words, a fake one. One that you take down each year, tape up with tie-wraps and stick in a cupboard to gather dust for the next 11 months of the year. But it does save money and trees and necessitates a certain amount of exercise and exertion to put it together and stand it up. Mine weighs a ton.
I digressed again from the point, why do we decorate fir/pine trees at Christmas?
Johansen_Viggo_-_Radosne_Boże_Narodzenie.jpg
The ritual, for that is really what it is, of decorating the
Christmas tree, is a family occasion, when everyone helps and gets into the
Christmas spirit. Well that is how it used to be; now it is just me, as my boys
feel too grown up for this.
I decided to look into this, and here is my potted - like the tree - summary of where it all came from. I've included some links at the end for anyone who really is interested ;)
Legend has it that St Boniface travelled from Devon in 7th
Century to the area of what is now Northern Germany to convert the pagan tribes
to Christianity. He is said to have used the triangular shape of the fir tree
to explain the Holy Trinity.
Whether that is true or not, many northern Europeans would
hang pine trees upside down in and around their homes – (they do make things
smell nice when it is stuffy at Christmas). Romans used to decorate their doors
with wreaths and arrangements made from greenery to signify a celebration. It
was also believed that they kept out evil spirits and witches.
Trees began to be decorated at Christmas fairs held in
sixteenth century, to attract people to merchant’s stalls. The merchants hung
gifts and food and all sorts on their trees. Rather like the shop windows of
today and the scenes outside the shopping malls in Singapore, the trees became
more and more elaborate as merchants became more competitive.
It was Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer who first
decorated trees with candles to capture the scene of the stars in the sky at
Christmas.
The Christmas tree eventually became popular in Great
Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria. She used to have one in her room as
a child each Christmas. She decorated her tree with candles and was sketched
along side it with Prince Albert and their children.
The one downside with putting candles on trees is that you
are mixing wood and flames, which equal fire.
Some insurance companies in the
US wanted the government to pass a law banning candles on trees. A prime
example of Bah Humbug! In 1895 and American Ralph Morris invented the electric
Christmas lights. Which sort of put stop to the insurance companies spoiling
Christmas!
That covers the lights, but what about the other decorations
and trinkets we put on the tree?
Many years ago, people believed that when a tree lost its
leaves outside that their spirits would leave them and then the leaves would
never grow again. So, people dressed up the trees in brightly coloured strips
of cloth to make sure that the spirits stayed with the trees.
When people began to bring trees inside at Christmas, they
started decorating them with sweets and fruit and toys and beads and even
tinsel. And the rest is history.
Which shows that traditions come from somewhere, often
intriguing and varied and that we should always try to capture the original
essence of why we celebrate certain festivals.
That reminds me, I still never got down to the bottom of
why we give gifts at Christmas.
That will have to be for another day.
BAH HUMBUG.
