Exotic Christmas: One the most expressive yuletide symbols

All over the world there’s a Christmas Tree

Like the Christmas Trees, “The triangle of a tree is a symbol of birth, life and death,” said Edna Metcalfe. “The tree is mankind’s best friend, feeding, clothing and sheltering him. 

In thanks, we bring the tree inside at Christmastime and cover its branches with jewels.

The celebration of the nativity is at the heart of all Christmas festivities and decorations. And the Christmas tree is one of the world’s most expressive Yuletide symbols, says author, Edna Metcalfe, who had observed the celebration of Christmas in many different countries.

Says Metcalfe: “In it is … sacred and secular, the rich varieties of national and regional traditions and festivals, fact and folklore.”

Italian Ceppo Tree. In Italy, Christmas lasts for three weeks, beginning eight days before the birth of the Jesus.
 

As a young girl of thirteen, Queen Victoria was impressed with her first Christmas tree, which was arranged by her German side of the family. The traditional tree became popular in England during her reign 61 years on.

In Holland, every family has a tree. It is often laden with fruits and fragrant herbs, brightened with pinwheels and silver pinecones.

Meanwhile, in France, it is the Paradise tree which is decorated with apples and small white wafers representing the Holy Eucharist.

At 13 years-old, Victoria built a Christmas Tree and she decided to keep it’s going. As Queen Victoria, she and her husband and their children gather to admire the toy-laden tree.
 

In Italy, it is the Ceppo tree; in the Ukraine, the tree is decorated with cotton wool and a gossamer netting of cobwebs, which, based on legend, it is hoped that the first light of the sun will turn them silver.

The Christmas tree came to the US from the Yuletide tradition of German immigrants, as it did in England, with the ornaments adapted from the simple resources of pioneer America – gingerbread men, cornhusk dolls and popcorn string.

In Sweden, as in most northern European countries, the focus is on birds and animals, as these were the creatures who were present at the birth of Christ.

<< Adapted by Frank Morris from the Satevepost, 198-.

MAIN: The ‘mini’ nativity scene statuette that can go on each level of the Ceppo Tree.

The Ceppo tree