Throughout the course of history, different cultures will acquire icons and symbols that go past time and become symbolic images that become part of the landscape of the culture. One such detail in the western world is the Christmas tree. Although the standard image of the Christmas tree has represented an iconic icon that’s survived as part of the Christmas landscape for centuries, it’s fairly amazing that people are entirely acquainted with the Christmas tree and not actually acquainted with in the least with its beginnings.
Does this imply that people are inherently disinterested in their spiritual and social symbols? Surely not! Instead, it’s merely a case of an iconic symbol becoming so familiar in the public’s eye that it no longer acquires any mythical significance. Put differently, when the Christmas time of year comes around, Christmas trees are on sale virtually all over.
There are natural Christmas trees peddled by sellers at an assortment of outlets. And then, there are fake trees that are sold at yet more locales than the natural Christmas tree. Additionally, the sheer variety of artificial trees is reasonably riveting as well. Because artificial trees are reproductions of the real stuff, they are not restricted to size or range of a real tree. Put differently, if you care to have a 6 inch Christmas tree miniature on your desk, you can!
The effect of all this is the great familiarity of Christmas customs and cheer. Although this is inherently a beneficial thing, a certain mental shift begins to take place. That’s, people don’t see the Christmas tree as a classic symbol, but quite a modern one. By this, an interest in the tree’s beginnings and past get lost.
The origin of the Christmas tree derives from German catholic origin. In the original myth, St. Boniface stumbled upon an curious place in his travellings: he came across a group of heathens idolizing an oak tree. (Heathenism and the worship of the earth have been typically interlinked) St. Boniface chased these heathens away and took an axe and cut down the mighty oak. To St. Boniface’s surprise, from the once resting place of the oak an evergreen grew.
This evergreen became a symbolization of Christianity’s endless goodness and, in time, became symbolic with Christmas despite the evergreen tree not being part of any biblical accounts of Christ’s birth. (Evergreen’s are not indigenous to the Middle East) While not a sound mythic story, the tale of St. Boniface and the tree does allow for the answer to where the origin of the tree originates. Hopefully, it will never be forgotten
