De verhalenheks

@deverhalenheks1108 · 12 Dec 2021

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About Christmas trees and baubles.

Many of our current Christmas traditions often have their origins in a much further pagan custom. so too these 2 traditions.
In almost all cultures you can find the tree as a symbolism of worship, so it is not just a Christian custom at all.
In the Assyrian Empire, pines already played an important role in the worship of Goddess Astarte. In ancient Egypt, palm trees were used for the worship of tree god Osiris, while in ancient Babylon people already decorated trees with things that the sun, moon and stars represented. In Indian culture, around December 25, the birth of the god of light was celebrated.

During the Saturnalia party in ancient Rome, they already gave each other small gifts and the slaves were temporarily released. Later on December 26, Natalis Solis Invicti, the birth of the sun god Apollo was celebrated. When Roman Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity in 312 after a mystical experience on the battlefield, he determined that Christmas should be celebrated in the Roman Empire on December 25, the feast of Apollo. For example, in 354, the Christmas feast was first celebrated in the Roman Empire with the already known pagan customs. Historically, that was not the date of birth of Jesus, but it did fit within the pre-existing customs.

On December 21, the Joel Fest was celebrated north of the Alps. The evil spirits were chased out with fire and a lot of noise, and the houses were decorated with evergreen branches that symbolized fertility.
Candles served to help the deceased in midwinter nights find their way back home. Big fires were also lit to celebrate the victory of the darkest period and thus invite the sun back.

Since the Middle Ages, midwinter has been celebrated by bringing in branches that were brought to flower there (Barbara branches). They provided protection against evil and stimulated fertility. Later, the houses were decorated with green
perennial branches of holly, pine, fir, yew, boxwood and laurel. In Silesia and Alsace, cookies and fruit were hung in the trees or decorated them with candles in the form of walnut caps filled with oil.
The Dutch skippers used to hang spruce trees high in their masts in the hope of returning home safely for Christmas.
In 1605, it was reported from Strasbourg that a pine tree was placed in a living room and papered with colored paper, apples and golden stars. Holly and yew branches and boxwood wreaths were sold on the market.
The winter branch was in fact the precursor to our Christmas tree.

In 1841, the English Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, had a large spruce tree set up according to German example. This was the beginning of a new Christmas ritual, first for the nobility, later also for ordinary citizens. In the Netherlands, the decorated Christmas tree first appeared around 1850 in Sunday schools and liberal Protestant families, while being rejected as pagan by Catholic circles until the Second World War.
In the 19th century, the Vatican protested against the introduction of this “pagan” use.
In 1891, the first Christmas tree was set up for the White House.
From 1900 onwards, we find decorated and lit Christmas trees all over the Christian world, with families and in public buildings. The pagan symbol is now combined with the Christian nativity scene.

The Christmas ball can also be traced back to the time of the midwinter party. It was then thought that you could eliminate misfortune by hanging shiny objects. Evil spirits and witches would be afraid of mirrors and so the hung objects offered protection against this evil.
This belief persisted for a long time and witch balls were used in the eighteenth century. Witch balls are very similar to our modern baubles. They were created in eighteenth-century England to ward off evil spirits. Because witches would not have a mirror image, it was thought to be able to recognize witches in the reflection of the balls. Some also thought that because of the mysterious inflection of the light, evil forces were put off. As soon as a witch or evil spirit touched the ball, he or she was caught in the witch ball. They were hung in front of the window so that evil would stay out of the door. With the gradual decline in superstitions in the nineteenth century, these witch balls were increasingly used as decoration. So it is very plausible that the Eastern European glass blowers were based on these ornaments from the eighteenth century.

Before the Christmas bauble was introduced, paper garlands, apples and figures were hung in the tree. Thanks to the rise of the glassworks in Eastern Europe in the nineteenth century, this changed. In 1831, glassblower Linder from the Vosges blew the first glass Christmas ball. At that time, apples were mainly used as decorations in the Vosges, but due to great drought that winter, apples and nuts were scarcity. The glass blower decided to blow a big bead. The source of inspiration for this was probably the older witch ball. The Christmas bauble was born. His idea then conquered the world.

The spike in the tree is always something very special and is usually put on top of the tree at the end of the Christmas tree decorating. The first peaks were star-shaped and is a Christian element attached to the entire decoration. This star refers to the star of Bethlehem who pointed the direction of the 3 sages. In most Anglo-Saxon countries, the star is still used.

Then why is it that we have such a typical peak here in these parts. Well, some still see a brilliant star in it. Others find it more at 2
appear muscular apples and thus uphold the tradition of the Joel Fest or the Germanic midwinter night.
The fact is that our peak only appeared in the 19th century with the rise of glassworks. Before that, they simply didn't have the technique to make this spike.

Photo 1: pinterest
Photo 2: own photo