Saturday, December 29, 2012

Christmas Tree origins research....

So much for research for "Braided Stars: Fragments" , book two in a new scifi series I just started. Book one was "Braided Stars: Journey", and dealt with the journey to adulthood, or something like that. It ended with my main character shunned from her community and dying in the barren lands. Book two (at the moment) opens with her being rescued, and intro's new characters and a new plot (still in development). Kind of anxious about where this one will lead, but it's a good anxious.  

Since I've shared one of the scenes, parts 1-3 of brainstorm this week... I decided to go out and do a little research on the origins of the christmas tree....yeah, kind of silly, I know, but I did it. It killed about a half hour out of my boring day. Soooo, anyway, here's what I learned in a nutshel...


Very briefly... 

The Evergreen Tree (we call Christmas tree) was originally just boughs of evergreen that dates back to the times of the Druids, Romans, and Ancient Egypt. It was used in the pagan celebrations of the Winter Solstice. Ancient Egypt: winter solstice meant that the sun god Rah was weak and evergreen was a symbol that he would gain strength thus representing the victory of life over death. In ancient Rome, winter solstice was seen as a sign that it was almost time to begin the planting season, and evergreens meant prosperity in crop growth. The Druids saw the ever green as a symbol for everlasting life, much as we do today. Christians in Europe (Germany, Scandinavia, UK) began to bring in trees in the 1500's, and decorations around the time of Queen Victoria. The tradition was brought to the USA by Germans around the early 1800's.

No comments:

Post a Comment