The Fairy on Top
The last post talked about some of the differences and similarities between Christmas Tree Lights and what to watch out for when choosing a set for your own tree. In this post, I’m going to take a short look at what goes right on top of the Christmas tree in nearly every home. What is that?
The fairy on top!
Well, every self respecting Christmas tree whether it be real or artificial, should be capped off with something nice. Traditionally, a star is placed on the top of the tree to denote the star of Bethlehem on Christian religions. That is fine when you are depicting a Christian event at this time of year, but the Christmas tree as a symbol of this particular seasonal time of year goes back much farther than most modern religions.
It actually dates back to a time when paganism was the presiding force and Wicca amongst other religions worshiped nature and the seasons. This made a lot of sense as it was the seasons, the rising and setting of the sun and nature in general were all responsible for the welbeing, nourishment and the very life of the people and copmmunities in those days. They didn’t have our technology to dismiss nature as we do today in our blind scramble up the slope to nowhere fast.
Well, back in pagan times, Christmas was actually celebrated long before anyone had heard of Christ, or even God, as the Wiccan Goddess was the one who held sway, and the festival was known as Yule. The tree symbolised the turning point after midwinter when we had the spring to look forward to and the ground would once again bear forth our food. So this wee story can be followed through with the logical step of crowning a Christmas (or Yule) tree with a symbol of the Wiccan goddess. Time distorted the decoration to become a fairy.
So now you know where the fairy on top of the Christmas tree came from and why its even there instead of a star! You live and learn.
