Christmas Tree Ideas

The Christmas Tree is probably one of my favorite aspects of the secular part of the Christmas season. The tree itself is majestic - with all of its lights and ornaments brightening up the living room. For my own part, I can stare at the tree for hours, as it serves as a sort of looking glass - bringing back a lot of cheerful childhood memories about Christmases past.

christmas tree

A lot of the ornaments on our tree have been in the family for a long time - some likely belonged to my Grandmother, while others are under 50 years old. Our Angel is incredibly old and I can remember her flying atop of so many of our family Christmas Trees. There are other tributes on the tree which make acknowledgement to relatives no longer with us, and even to pets that have passed away.

christmas tree

So amongst the glass bulbs, handmade ornaments, snowman, stars, and images of Christmas, are the memories that go along with them. And there is always

christmas tree

In a lot of these essays, I've gone into quite a bit of detail about the history of traditions and elements of Christmas. When it comes to the Christmas Tree, one could write hundreds of pages about its origin. I'm going to attempt to bring the history down to a few paragraphs instead of drumming on for pages with facts and dates and assumptions about historical firsts.

christmas tree

Like many elements of the Christmas Holiday, the Christmas Tree has a slight connection to early Pagan celebrations. It's well known that Pagan celebrations included paying patronage to the natural beauty around them - plants, animals, and the forces of nature including the basic elements of fire, water, wind and Earth. Therefore, the incorporation of trees into their celebrations is not unexpected. As for whether or not you legitimately draw a connection between Pagan practices and the Christmas Tree - well, that's a different story. Much of what I've read on this topic is purely anecdotal.