Decorate the Christmas tree with cobwebs and pickles? What does tradition say?

Year after year it stands in our home, and every Christmas we are amazed at the great joy a tree decorated for the winter holidays brings us. But what is its tradition and what does it symbolize?

The spruce, in that it is always green, symbolizes the baby Jesus, forever alive. Many legends have developed around him. They say that the little bird could no longer fly to warm countries because its wing was broken.

Trembling, she tried to hide first in the oak and then in the elms, but both drove her away. In despair, she lay down in the snow. Suddenly she heard the call of the spruce tree, which promised her protection by being the one who saved her. On Christmas Eve, a terrible wind left all the trees without leaves, except for the spruce, which God rewarded for kindness.

Datina has ancient origins.

The tradition was adopted from the ancient Romans, who decorated their houses with fir branches or logs during the holidays. Initially they were decorated with fruits and cookies. It has long been believed that spruces bring good luck, because they retain their appearance even in the cold season. Pagans decorated their houses with fir branches as a sign that spring would come again. The Romans planted spruce trees around temples in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture.

The first Christmas trees decorated in Europe

The modern Christmas tree may be a tradition adopted from German Lutherans in the 17th century. It was first used as a Christmas tree in either Tallinn, Estonia or Riga, Latvia. It is not known for sure, since both cities claim to have created Datin. In the 16th century, German Christians brought trees into their homes as a symbol of eternal life. When word spread that Queen Victoria wanted to have a Christmas tree in her palace, the practice spread to England and America.

Pickled chestnuts on the Christmas tree?

It is said that the custom of placing a cucumber-shaped ornament on a decorated Christmas tree was originally a German tradition dating back to the late 1900s. Glass ornaments were popularized in Germany at that time.

Parents hid the cucumber decoration on Christmas Eve, and the first child to find it on the tree on the morning of the great holiday was lucky for the entire next year. Currently, this custom is practiced in the United States of America, where special decorations in the form of cucumbers are placed on the tree.

Web that brings good luck

In Ukraine, Poland and some parts of Germany, it is customary to hang spider web-shaped ornaments called “pavushki” on the Christmas tree to bring good luck. They are based on a legend according to which the widow and her children could not afford a Christmas tree and decorations.

One day, the children found a spruce tree near their house and took care of it. On Christmas Eve they went to bed resigned, but the next day they witnessed a miracle: the tree was decorated with a beautiful cobweb, sparkling in the morning light, decorated with drops of dew, like sparkling balls, and tinsel, as in the story.

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