Christmas Traditions and Symbols

I receive a million catalogues at this time of the year and most of the time I ignore them. One, however, the Bronner’s catalogue, always delights me. It is a business that sells Christmas ornaments – unusual ones you can’t find just anywhere. I have ordered from them and have been very pleased by what I received. Flipping through the catalogue, the thing that caught my attention was the discussions of the different Christmas traditions and symbols. I love minutiae and this intrigued me. So, giving full credit to Bronner’s, I wanted to relate some of them to you.

The Christmas Tree – The tree itself, being an evergreen, represents eternal life offered by faith in Christ. The star on top signifies the star that guided the Wise Men. Lights on the tree represent Christ, “the Light of the World.” The gifts beneath the tree represent God’s gift of His only begotten Son.

How the Robin Got Its Red Breast – A humble brown bird shared the stable with the Holy Family at the birth of Christ. Joseph had built a fire to warm the family but in the middle of the night the fire died down. The little brown bird flew down and fanned the embers with its wings. Being so close to the fire, the bird’s breast turned red from the heat. The breast of the Robin has been red ever since to remind us of its love and compassion for the baby Jesus.

The Christmas Spider – European legend tells of a woman who was too poor to decorate her tree. A spider that lived in her house came down on Christmas Eve and began spinning beautiful webs on the tree. The next morning when the sun’s light hit the tree, the webs turned to silver. The woman awoke to find great wealth and beauty on her tree. The spider had brought her good luck. (As an aside, I think this might be one reason we use tinsel.)

The Rooster – Legend says that the only time the rooster crowed at midnight was when Jesus was born. In Spain and Latin America “Misa del Gallo,” the Mass of the Rooster, is celebrated on Christmas Eve.

The Donkey - The donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday followed Him to Calvary. Unable to watch Christ crucified, the donkey turned away. The shadow of the Cross fell upon the shoulders and back of the donkey. Many donkeys today carry the Cross on their backs. (I have one of these and it is precious! The donkey does have the Cross on its shoulders and back).

The Poinsettia - This is a Mexican legend. A boy with no gift to bring to the church to lay at the Nativity met an angel. The angel told him to pick some dried weeds and take them to the church. As he put the weeds by the manager they turned into beautiful flowers – the Poinsettia. As an aside, the flower got its name from Dr. Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He brought the flower to the United States.

The Candy Cane – The white of the candy symbolizes the purity of Christmas. The red stripes are the blood of Christ. The candy is formed in a “J” for Jesus. The hardness of the candy represents the Solid Rock – the foundation of the Church.

The Pig – In Germany, eating roasted pig on Christmas Eve will prevent evil and promote prosperity. Pigs are considered symbols of good fortune. (I have seen a lot of pig ornaments and have always wondered why you would put a pig on your Christmas Tree. Guess now I know.)

The Pickle – This is also a German tradition. The pickle brings good luck and is the last ornament placed on the tree. On Christmas morning the child who finds the pickle ornament gets an extra gift from St. Nicholas. This tradition was to encourage the children to appreciate the other ornaments before hurrying to see what St. Nicholas had left them.

At our house, we have one special ornament, from our first Christmas, that we put on the tree together. Kind of cements our love for each other and makes the promise of continuing with our love in the next year.

Does your family have a special tradition for Christmas? Do you know of any Christmas Legends or traditions that I haven’t listed?