Denise Cooper, age 8, of Portland, Ore., for her question:
WHERE DID THE CHRISTMAS TREE COME FROM?
The Germans were probably the first people to use Christmas trees as part of their holiday decorations. As early as the 1400s or 1500s, they decorated trees with apples and small white wafers as part of a Christian celebration. A legend arose that Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reform, started the custom.
Several other legends also tell about the first use of a Christmas tree. One legend says the custom started with an English missionary named Winfrid. About 1,200 years ago, Winfrid traveled through northern Germany. One day he met a group of Druids at an oak tree.
The Druids were about to sacrifice young prince Asulf to the god Thor, to whom the oak was sacred. Winfrid stopped the sacrifice and cut down the oak. Immediately, a young fir tree appeared where the oak had stood.
Winfrid told the Druids that the fir was to be their new holy tree. He said that its wood provided homes for them and that it was the tree of peace and the tree of Christ.
The custom of decorating homes and churches with evergreens started in ancient times. The Romans exchanged green tree branches for good luck on the calends, or first day of January. The English took this custom over for Christmas.
An old English rhyme says: "Holly and ivy, box and bay, put in the church on Christmas Day."
Today, the colorful poinsettia plant is often used with evergreens to decorate homes during the Christmas season.
The Scandinavians originally trimmed their Christmas trees with fish nets and little flags. And the people in Poland probably came up with the idea of decorating trees with bright paper ornaments and candles.
In the United States, early decorations included homemade candy canes and strings of cranberries and popcorn. Today many Americans use shiny, colored balls and strings of white or brightly colored lights. Artificial snow is also used as a popular Christmas tree decoration.
The star is often used at the very top of a Christmas tree. The use of the star usually represents the star mentioned in the Bible (Matthew 2:1 2): "Behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and are coming to worship Him."
Lights used on Christmas trees and outside homes represent to many that Christ is the "light of the world." People in Ireland leave a candle burning on the window sill to light the way for the Christ child on Christmas Eve.
In the U.S. and Canada, many churches hold candlelight services on Christmas Eve. in the Netherlands, young men in bright costumes carry stars, or actually lanterns containing many lighted candles, as they stroll through the streets singing Christmas carols.
Mistletoe is often used to decorate homes and Christmas trees in America and Europe. In Scandinavia, mistletoe is considered the plant of peace. Perhaps this is the origin of the present custom of kissing the person who stands under a sprig of mistletoe.