Friday, March 29

A Christmas tree was born in the forest…

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The Christmas tree is a mandatory attribute of the New Year. On New Year’s Eve and throughout the festive week, the house smells pleasantly of pine needles, children have fun around the forest beauty and find gifts, and neighbors and friends admire her beauty and variety of toys!

Surprisingly, the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree has its roots very deeply, to the Celts and druids themselves, who worshipped the forces of nature, and considered this tree a symbol of eternal life, and that it was supposed to protect the inhabitants from evil spirits.

The custom of decorating a Christmas tree originates from an ancient German belief about good spirits living in the branches of evergreen trees. To win their favor, you need to bring gifts. So people tried to appease these spirits by hanging treats and gifts on trees.

And already in the medieval In Germany, the Christmas tree has become a Christmas and New Year symbol. The Christmas tree, chosen in the forest, was dressed up with pieces of colored fabrics and candles. Later it was installed in houses. The tree was suspended from the ceiling beam, as was previously done with “pagan” branches, but after a while the spruce was placed in a small tub filled with sand and gravel.

At first, instead of toys, fruits of different trees were hung, for example: apples – a symbol of fertility, nuts – the incomprehensibility of divine providence, eggs – a symbol of developing life, complete well-being and harmony. And to this day in France, in Provence, brightly colored eggshells are traditionally hung on the Christmas tree.

The first written certificate of a decorated Christmas tree, which indicated that paper roses, waffles, apples, gold foil and other things were placed on spruce trees, dates back to 1605. The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree has been preserved even now.

In Germany, Christmas and New Year’s days are considered the main and favorite holidays, and glass Christmas tree toys and artificial Christmas trees came to us from there.

The first Christmas ball appeared in the XVI century in Thuringia. Later, the masters blew out of glass not only balls, but also various figures of animals, nuts, cones, bells. These toys were decorations for Christmas trees installed both in houses and in squares.
In Germany, Christmas toys in the form of nutcrackers are held in special esteem. Germans are not indifferent to gingerbread figures.

The British also believe that a real Christmas tree is a house of good spirits. Decorating it, they ask magical creatures for help in fulfilling their desires. On English Christmas trees, you can often find a variety of figurines in the form of hearts.

In Sweden, it is customary to install a Christmas tree in the yard. In this country, the most common and traditional Christmas tree toys are toys made of straw and wood – snowflakes, stars, the sun, and various animals. These toys are beautiful and safe, which is so important for a family where there is a baby. The straw ball, of course, will not break and will not hurt.

Norwegians prefer to bring a Christmas tree from the forest, dress up and decorate the tree with glowing lights stealthily from children on a dark evening. And in the morning, there is no limit to the joy of children – this is real magic.

Due to the peculiarities of the climate on the island of Greenland, fir trees do not grow, and the New Year’s symbol comes from afar. Such delivery is a profitable business. Islanders decorate “foreigners” with ornaments of colorful ribbons and real candles.

In other countries, there are no less curious traditions of decorating their fir trees. For example, in Bulgaria, in addition to the traditional decoration of the Christmas tree with garlands and balloons, sweets and small, elaborately carved wooden figures are hung on the branches.

And on Christmas trees in Spain, you can always find not only decorations, but also a lot of sweets.

In China, all kinds of paper lanterns, garlands, and flowers are very popular as Christmas decorations. On the festive Christmas tree, among the decorations, you can find traditional balls, oriental dragons, and Christian angels. However, there are also national peculiarities. For example, it is considered mandatory to decorate a Christmas tree with flowers. Peonies symbolize wealth, and daffodils – harmony in the family. The most popular ornaments in China are pendants with wishes of happiness and wealth, all twelve animals are symbols of the year, and most importantly – dragons in all kinds.

Japanese Christmas trees bear the imprint of national culture: in addition to the usual Christmas decorations, paper fans, small dolls, lanterns, bells and, of course, origami are no less popular – cranes made of paper are especially popular. Valuable beautiful ornaments are temari – hand-embroidered balls.

Americans start preparing for the New Year almost a month earlier than we do. It happens that the Christmas tree appears in the house at the end of November. It is customary to put it in the corner of the room, but so that it is visible to all guests and family members. In America, they love traditional Christmas trees, they are decorated with restraint and with great taste. Most often, plain Christmas balls are used in a small amount, and the top of the spruce can most often be seen decorated with a figurine of angels. Sometimes on the American Christmas Tree you can see big red bows made of satin ribbon. It is very fashionable to hang caramel mint candies in the form of a staff on the Christmas tree, most often with red and white stripes, which are usually attached to the spruce in large quantities to attract guests and young children.

These traditions are preserved even in the original Puerto Rico. The Latin American island is a territory dependent on the United States, and the Christmas trees, despite the year-round summer, are dressed up here in the same way as in other states, except that they add more lights, and then they dance incendiary salsa on snow-white beaches under palm trees with pleasure.

Palm, baobab or Mandarin?

An elegant decorated Christmas tree is an invariable attribute of New Year holidays. This symbol of the New Year has become so firmly embedded in our lives that it is even difficult now to imagine how you can do without a fluffy beauty.

In addition to fir trees, houses in Europe are decorated with bouquets of mistletoe and holly – people have believed in the magical power of these plants since ancient times.

It is believed that mistletoe brings good luck in the coming year, and holly scares away witches. The beautiful custom of kissing under a branch of mistletoe originated in England. After each kiss of a young couple under a branch, the young man plucked a berry – when the berries ran out, the kisses ended.

In France, locals usually place a branch of mistletoe over the door, hoping that it should bring good luck in the New Year, and decorate the whole house with flowers, because the French love flowers so much!

In the Scandinavian countries, mistletoe is also the heroine of the New Year’s holiday. The branches of this plant are usually covered with red and silver paint, stylized images of two hearts are hung on them and decorated with ribbons.

Europeans decorate their homes with mistletoe tied with a red ribbon. Such bouquets symbolize health and fertility. Ivy and holly branches are also woven there, as a sign of unfading nature. Now, when decorating rooms, bouquets of mistletoe are also placed on lamps and chandeliers.

In places where Christmas trees do not grow, they are replaced by another evergreen tree or bush. Every country has its own plants that are usually dressed up, sometimes they may seem very unusual to us.

In China, for example, a tangerine tree is considered a New Year tree. In the country it is called the Tree of Light, it is decorated in an oriental way with bright and exquisite lanterns, garlands and flowers. The main color of the Chinese New Year is red – a symbol of life and the beginning of spring, and the New Year itself in China is called the Spring Festival.

In Denmark, larch is traditionally decorated for the New Year. And the Danes’ favorite Christmas decorations are cones, glass figurines, wreaths and stars made of dry vine branches.

The New Year tree in Greece is a pomegranate tree, and the pomegranate fruit is a mandatory attribute in every Greek house.

In Vietnam, opinions differ in the choice of an object for decoration. Some consider bamboo to be a “New Year’s tree”, while others call the blooming peach tree a symbol of the New Year. Therefore, the Vietnamese make compositions of high bamboo, decorate them with clay fish and bells and set them in the center of the room in the apartment, and congratulating each other on the New Year, give blossoming branches of a peach tree.

In Japan, ikebana is very popular, consisting of pine – let all family members live as long as pine; bamboo leaves – let the children grow up as quickly; pink buds of plum flowers and Japanese apricot – let the owners have strong assistants. This composition symbolizes the wishes of eternal youth and longevity.

In India, a mango or banana tree is decorated for Christmas.

In Tunisia, as in many countries, it is customary to dress up a pine tree for the New Year.

New Year for Australians falls at the height of summer, and it’s not easy to find a Christmas tree or a pine tree there – they are imported to Australia from other continents.

But there is always a way out – traditional Christmas balls and garlands are hung on metrosideros – a local New Year’s plant, strewn with scarlet flowers. It is also decorated with figures of koala bears and kangaroos in Santa Claus costumes.

Fantasy in choosing a New Year’s tree is in full swing in Central and South America.

In Nicaragua, the coffee tree is the symbol of the New Year. The branches of the coffee tree, transformed by red berries hanging on them, are a traditional decoration of a dwelling in Nicaragua.

In Cuba, the New Year’s tree is a palm tree, and some also decorate the araucaria, a local coniferous tree growing in pots, also called indoor spruce.

In Brazil, on New Year’s Eve, trees, palm trees and shrubs are decorated with various light bulbs and silver balls. In addition, artificial Christmas trees made of synthetic materials, paper, shavings and scraps of fabric are very popular in the country. The main condition is that it is bright.

The indigenous inhabitants of the African continent can see the spruce only in pictures or by visiting us. However, the New Year is also celebrated here. Baobab has been chosen as a New Year tree in African countries. It is clear that it is not put in the house, but decorated right where it grows. Its decorations are peculiar in remote regions, where the influence of Western civilization has not yet affected so much. Baobab is decorated with all kinds of bright ribbons and scraps of fabrics, but this does not affect the festive mood in any way.

In Mexico, they love the palm tree: for the New Year, Mexicans decorate it and lay out gifts around it.

It doesn’t matter what country people live in, and what and how they decorate for the New Year. The main thing is that this holiday is associated all over the world with the desire for a better and brighter future.

 

Author of the article: Varvara Kartushina

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