Do you ever wonder how some of our Christmas decorations came to be such traditions. What on earth possessed someone to say, "Let's bring a tree indoors and drape it with lights and baubles."? While I can appreciate the obvious choice of holly as a winter decoration, I never knew the Druids placed special significance on it during the winter solstice. And what do holly and ivy have to do with one another anyway? Check out some of David Beaulieu's holiday decorating insights and strike up a conversation over your Christmas Eve eggnog.
- The Controversial History of Decorating With Christmas Trees
- Christmas Holly and the Winter Solstice
- "The Holly and the Ivy " - The Meaning Behind a Curious Christmas Carol
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Comments
Love the article! Our Christmas traditions are important to past on to the younger generation, it makes a bridge across the ages that is easy to follow! Ours is making some of Grandma’s special eggnog! recipe available on http://www.eggnog-recipes.com Visit and share.
Lynn, I would never have thought of eggnog as a healthy food choice. First dark chocolate and now eggnog. I’m going to live forever.
of course egg nog is good for you! anyway, i love the idea of using the trunks of used cut christmas trees for trellises or posts, never thought of that! when i would buy a cut tree, i always used it 3 times. once, as the chritmas tree, second as shelter for the birds, and third–kindling for the FIRST weinie fire in the spring! which, btw is only 92 days away, lol! merry christmas to all.
oops—christmas
I love propping up my old tree and using it as a feeder, too. It brings the birds closer to the window and I get to enjoy my tree much longer – without the needles falling all over my floor.
Eggnog for everyone! Cheers!
The tradition of bringing into the house an evergreen tree during Christmas time is traced back to Alsace, a little town of Selestat between Colmar and Strasbourg, in France, in 1521 A.D. During this time Alsace was in German territory. The pryramidal shape of the tree was indicative of the trinity, and the evergreen nature indicative of the everlasting life of God displayed in the dead of winter, and knowing that green life will again come in the spring.
Eloy, I did not know that. Thanks for sharing that info. It’s quite charming, especially in light of the earlier controversies David writes about in his article.