It’s nearly Christmas – the time of the year when Christians the world over celebrate the birthday of baby Jesus. It is also a time when families get to spend time together and appreciate each other and everyone hopes for peace and goodwill for all. It is a magical time, with decorations, fairy lights, music, gifts and wonderful food.
One lovely tradition that has become popular all over the world is that of the decorated Christmas tree. The Christmas tree originated in Germany hundreds of years ago. Christmas takes place just after the winter solstice on the December 21, the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. During this time, in the dead of winter, people would bring in evergreen branches to decorate and brighten their homes. As time went on, they started to bring in trees and decorate them with edible treats such as apples, dates and nuts. Eventually trees were illuminated with candles to resemble starlight. Today trees are decorated with fairy lights, baubles, tinsel and candy canes. They are often topped with a star to represent the Star of Bethlehem that led the Wise Men to the stable; or an angel to represent the archangel Gabrielle. Christmas trees are grown on special Christmas tree farms. Artificial trees are also available and can be saved and reused each year.
One of the decorations often used on a Christmas tree is the candy cane. This sweet treat also originated in Germany. At Cologne cathedral back in 1670, the choirmaster was putting on a Christmas spectacular with singing and a nativity play and lots of children were taking part. It was a long show and he was worried about how to keep the children quiet during it. He knew the children loved hard sugar sticks and hit upon the idea of asking a sweet maker to create them in the shape of a shepherd’s crook. The children could enjoy the treat and at the same time be reminded of the shepherds who visited the newborn baby Jesus. The first candy canes were plain white to represent the purity of Jesus. Nowadays stripped candy canes are much more common, coming in white with green or red stripes.
Another lovely colourful decoration common at Christmas is the bright red poinsettia flower. The plant originates in Mexico and it flowers in December. According to legend, there was a poor little orphan girl called Pepita. She felt very sad because she didn’t have a gift to offer the baby Jesus at the church on Christmas Eve. Her cousin assured her that the baby Jesus would appreciate anything she could give, no matter how small. She gathered a bouquet of weeds by the roadside, tied it with the ribbon from her hair and presented it at the crib. To her surprise and delight the bouquet burst into a beautiful scarlet red flower, a truly worthy gift. The poinsettia flower ever after became known as the “Flower of the Holy Night”.
