Month: December 2014

It must be true. I read it on the web. It gives meaning to Christmas, ties a common object to Christ.

Sorry folks. Sometimes a good story is a good story — an articulation of what might have been. If you start with a finished product and begin looking for symbols you’ll likely find them.

Take this sweet treat, for example. Peppermint candies have been prized by children and adults for generations. Along the way — from one candymaker to another — in an effort to stand out and increase sales. Candy sticks went from plain to wearing red stripes. Then a clever man curved one end.

Candy Canes!!!

This handy shape, combined with red and white seasonal colors made them easy to use as Christmas ornaments. Can they remind a person of shepherds’ crooks? Certainly. Are the colors consistent with Christmas symbolism? Yes. Did a candymaker a century or two ago set out to create a treat to teach the Christmas story? Nope — I suspect the motive behind each step was profit, the ability to stay in business.

So what to do about the story flying through cyberspace and getting printed on paper in cards and letters? Nothing. It’s your choice to pass along or not. I’d just give a reminder. Sometimes a candy cane is a sweet treat, nothing more — nothing less.

Bring a tree inside the house? Outrageous! Pagan! Messy!

Well, I doubt the head of early Colonial American families pointed out the last of the above trio. But a Christmas tree as decoration in every American and many European home did not arrive with the Christ Child, the Magi, or First-century Christians.

Exact origins are lost in time and blended with pagan customs of special honor to evergreen trees. It may have roots with St. Boniface, a 7th century monk in Thuringia (Germany), using a fir tree as a visual explanation of the Trinity. Or it may have come meaningful later. But when Martin Luther added candles in the 16th century the tree as a Christmas symbol was established.

German immigrants brought the tradition to America. It remained localized in their communities until Queen Victoria allowed sketches of her family around a Christmas tree to be published. Near the end of the 19th century they were popular, large, and highly decorated. Candles were still the only form of lighting and remained so into the 20th century. My mother recalls candles on the tree during her childhood — lit for a short time, adults watching, and a wet sponge within reach.

Will you include a tree in your celebration this year? Artificial or real? Cut or living? Family heirloom decorations? The newest trend? Or a mixture of old and new tradition?

Egypt. Rome. China. Japan. India. Do you see something in common?

Today we’re exploring the thread from these ancient civilizations to one of the most prevalent seasonal decorations — candles.

Egypt and Rome began with tallow (animal fat) and flax, hemp or cotton fiber as a wick. China used wax from a local insect and seeds. Japanese extracted wax from tree nuts. In India they boiled the fruit of the cinnamon tree. These candles were smoky and unpleasantly scented by modern standards but they served a purpose in religious ceremonies and interior lighting.

Improvements have occurred since. In Europe during the Middle Ages the church and the rich began to use beeswax. And the women in Colonial American performed the tedious process of extracting wax from bayberry. The years of whaling introduced a new wax, able to hold shape during hot summers. Then in the 19th century a spurt in inventions made candles affordable to nearly all.

We don’t depend on candles for interior lighting these days. Yet they are often used to set the mood, celebrate birthdays, or mark portions of religious ceremonies. And when the electricity fails, a candle or two can enable evening reading. Modern candles are available in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Scented or unscented. In a jar or a slender taper in a holder.