The Christmas tree is an ornamental tree, typical of the Christmas party. Is usually an evergreen conifer, although currently very popular is the use of artificial trees (plastic). It is decorated with Christmas items and ornaments, lights, stars and ribbons.
The tree itself reminds the Paradise tree whose fruit Adam and Eve ate, and where did the original sin, and therefore remember that Jesus came to be the Messiah promised reconciliation. The triangular shape of the tree (being usually a conifer), represents the Holy Trinity. The decorations symbolize the gifts of God to men, while the star represents the Bethlehem. Since the tree should be evergreen, represents to eternal life. For men
trees have special significance. In all cultures we find that the tree has some anthropological meaning, mystical and poetic. He has a certain reverence for the benefits to humans. In some cultures the tree has a mystical significance and it represents the union of heaven and earth has its roots in the ground and rises to the sky, which is why in many religions, especially in the eastern, the tree is a sign of encounter with the sacred, of man's encounter with the divine and divinity in man. Common is that trees are related to fertility, growth, wisdom and longevity. In Mesoamerica, the bald cypress is considered sacred. The northern European and American tribes as the Druids had sacred trees around which gathered to ritually enter into communion with God.
God has used the way that men see the trees to make known his plan of salvation, particularly when it comes to the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God to save mankind. First associated with the Christmas tree with the tree of life, who wore in the middle of the Garden of Eden after the fall away, the fruit and decorations remind us of the graces and gifts that the man had when I lived in Paradise in complete friendship God. For the birth of Christ, men are reborn and have access to the fullness of life. The Christmas tree represents the blessings they have recovered thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The tree ornaments and lights that represent the new state heavenly Christ's love prepares us. In the Bible, the tree appears as a symbol of Life, a tree that God placed in the middle of Paradise as a source of immortality (Gen 2, 9,3,22). But the tree can also symbolize the false wisdom, pride and death when the man away from God (Gen 2, 16-ss) seduced by the deceptive appearance of this tree and eating its fruit (Gen 3, 2-6).
When the first Christians came to northern Europe, they discovered that the inhabitants celebrated the birth of Frey, god of the sun and fertility, decorating an evergreen tree, on the date next to the Christian Christmas. This tree symbolizes the tree of the universe, called Divine Yggdrasil, whose cup was the Heaven: Asgard (the dwelling of the gods) and Valhalla (the Hall of Odin), and roots were deeper hell. Later, with the evangelization of these peoples, the Christians took the idea of \u200b\u200bthe tree by changing the meaning entirely.
is said that Saint Boniface, evangelist Germany, took an ax and cut down a tree representing the Yggdrasil (although it could also be a tree dedicated to Thor), and instead planted a pine tree to be perennial, symbolizing the love of God, decorating with apples and candles; apples symbolize the original sin and temptation, while candles represented the light of Jesus Christ as light of the world. As time passed, the apples and the lights, turned into spheres and other decorations.
Another origin of the tree is in the old Germanic belief that a giant tree that held the world and its branches were held at the stars, moon and sun. (Which explains the custom of put the tree lights). It was also a symbol of life, not to lose their green foliage in winter when almost all of nature seems dead. In some houses in the Nordic countries during the winter they cut some branches and was decorated with bread, fruit and sparkling decorations to brighten the lives of the inhabitants of the house as winter progressed.
The first documents that speak of the practice of placing Christmas trees in fir or pine-century houses are XVII and refers to the region of Alsace, a land that is as Germany and France. In the Nordic countries, in the s XVI, families begin to gather around a Christmas tree. The 24 children were taken for a walk or picnic, while adults placed and decorated with candy and toys the tree to return the children were surprised by the tree and so did start the celebration of the Christmas party. This practice is gaining strength and spreading like fashion when Queen Victoria of England to celebrate Christmas by placing a tree in the palace decorated with candles that make light a series of beautiful and fine ornaments.
Over time, they added the tradition of putting gifts under the tree children, sent by the Magi, or Papa Noel Olentzero depending on the country legend be.
Christmas in New York officially begins with the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Tree. The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is a False Spruce (Picea Norwegian) 50 years old with a height of 24 meters and weighing 9 tons, brought from Manchester (Connecticut), and decorated with 30,000 colored lights. This year it seems that the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center will consume much less power this holiday season, an unstoppable trend that does not escape the traffic lights. Thus, the maximum ruler New York Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday that the tree would have known about 30,000 LEDs, thereby reducing the consumption of 3,510 kwh to 1,297 kwh today, so to give us an idea, saving is equivalent to the monthly consumption of a conventional home (U.S.). Arrivals