Almost all of us, on New Year's Eve, in anticipation of a miracle, dress up a green fluffy beauty - a Christmas tree. There is a good tradition all over the world, which is shrouded in various legends and without which all New Year's holidays do not exist. An old legend says that the evergreen spruce was chosen as a symbol of Christmas by the highest divine powers. A long time ago, a miracle happened, Jesus Christ was born in one nondescript cave in Bethlehem, and immediately a new star sparkled in the sky. After that, those who wanted to show good wishes to the newborn baby began to come to the cave, these were people, plants and animals. Each of those present expressed joy to the newborn and presented gifts. The trees were not left aside, they gave the baby flowers, fragrances and tenderness of leaves. The Northern Evergreen Spruce was in a hurry to show its respect, but since she came last, she was embarrassed and stood on the sidelines. The northern green guest was asked why she didn’t come in, to which the tree replied that she had no gifts, and the baby could prick her fingers with needles. Other trees took pity on the Spruce and decorated its branches with various fruits and vegetables. After thanking everyone, the Christmas tree approached the baby. Little Jesus, noticing the extraordinary beauty of the tree, smiled and at the same moment on the top of the fir, the star of Bethlehem sparkled.
Another legend tells us about two very proud trees, the Palm and the Olive, who laughed at the Spruce, because of its needles and resin, and refused to let the green Christmas tree come to Jesus. A modest Christmas tree stood nearby and did not dare to enter, until the heavenly angel took pity on her and decorated the Christmas tree with stars from the night sky. The sparkling spruce entered majestically to little Jesus. The baby woke up, smiled happily and reached for a beautiful tree, since then the Green Decorated Christmas Tree has been considered a symbol of the New Year and Christmas.
In ancient times, people were very superstitious and firmly believed that spirits lived on trees and pines. Such terrible things were attributed to the spirits, such as a blizzard, send frosts or confuse hunters in the forest. To protect themselves from the wrath of forest spirits, people prepared gifts, read special conspiracies and performed the necessary rituals. And it is the green Christmas tree that has long been considered a symbol of all living things.
When did you start decorating the tree for the first time?
If we turn to the first official written data, the first decoration of the tree was in one thousand six hundred and five years. In Strasbourg, there was a tradition on Christmas Eve to bring a spruce tree to your home, which was decorated with colorful ribbons, apples and paper origami.
With the onset of the 19th century, a beautiful tradition of decorating an evergreen tree began to spread throughout America, France, Northern Europe and England. The Christmas tree has taken root in Russia as well. In one thousand seven hundred years, by the decree of Peter the Great, the celebration of the New Year was shifted from the autumn season to the winter season, that is, to January 1. Also in the decree it was said about the establishment of real trees on all streets. It is worth noting that at the very beginning, people did not perceive the innovation and only during the reign of Nicholas the First, the exchange of German culture and customs, changed the attitude of the Russian people to the fluffy beauty. The green fluffy Christmas tree was decorated with fruits, paper origami, tinsel and sugar candy.
With the advent of the 20th century, the celebration and decoration of the Christmas tree was banned and only in one thousand nine hundred and thirty-six, the celebration of the winter holidays was restored. Today, the decoration of an evergreen Christmas tree is an obligatory attribute of the annual Christmas holidays.
