The Christmas Tree & Christmas Cone
by Baron Halpenny, LincsMag Editor-in-Chief.
Date: 01 December 2010
The Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree that we put up each year near Christmas, originated in Germany, as did also the Christmas cone.
The Christmas tree was the main figure of a medieval play about Adam and Eve, for in this play hung the fir tree, but with apples hung on it. The tree was then called the Paradise tree, and this represented the great Garden of Eden.
The Paradise Tree was later adapted in the German home, where the tree had hung on it wafers. These wafers symbolised the host and redemption, but later these were changed to cookies of various different shapes.
During the Christmas season, in the same room as the Christmas tree, there was often a Christmas Pyramid; this was a triangular construction of wood with shelves to hold Christmas figures. These decorated with evergreens, candles and a little star, made the Christmas Pyramid look very impressive.
By the 16th century the Christmas Pyramid and the Paradise Tree had fused together (a little bit of Christmas magic), to form the Christmas tree that we all know and love today. However, it was not until the 17th century that the Germans made it a custom. By the early 19th century, 1841 to be exact, Prince Albert set up the first Christmas tree at Windsor and England quickly adopted this German tradition with enthusiasm.
Our American cousins got the Christmas tree tradition from the German settlers and while still in the 19t h century it became the fashion in the good old US of A.
Austria, Switzerland, Poland and Holland also received the Christmas tree with open arms and later even China did, for the US Missionaries took the tree with them to China, and it was the Chinese who put paper on the tree. People to this day are still putting new things on the Christmas tree
Christmas Cone
The Christmas Cone associated with Christmas stemmed from an old German legend. On the night before Christmas a forester and his family sat around their large open fire. It was snowing hard and very cold. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and when the forester opened the door he saw a small child shivering in the doorway.
The forester quickly bade the child enter and the kind family gave him shelter for the night.
The next morning the family awoke to the sound of Christmas singing and when they saw the face of their visitor, it was full of happiness and brightness – and it was the Christmas Child himself.
Luck
As the child departed, he took a cone from his pocket and planted it firmly in the ground, saying to the forester that for his kindness the cone would grow into a big tree which would bring him abundance in the depths of winter to come.
Many Christmas traditions grew up from around the cone. At one time the cone was burnt at wintertime by young girls who were courting. Each girl of the group would choose a cone and tie a piece of ribbon around it.
When the Christmas log was burnt at Christmas, the cones were placed around it, and the first cone to splutter into flame indicated which of the girls would be first to marry.
At one time Conifer cones were collected in large numbers at Christmas by country people and burnt. The longer the fire burnt the greater amount of good luck was to come to the people during the coming year.
So remember the sprit of Christmas and think of the Christmas tree and Christmas cone with their wonderful history.
