THE CHRISTMAS TREE is a pagan fertility symbol a suitable decoration in our sacred Places of Worship?

Nobody would dispute the magical effect of a brightly lit, beautifully adorned Christmas tree. One of my earliest and abiding memories of Christmas is as a tot being raised high enough to turn on the light switch very first thing on Christmas morning to discover that, in what had been a bare, dark corner the previous evening, Father Christmas had left a holly tree decorated with glittering tinsel, gaudy baubles, and twinkling lights! It truly was magical.

Now that I am older and a little taller (I can reach the light switch without help!) I have come to understand the early origins of our beloved Christmas tree. Down through the ages evergreen trees have been revered as positive reminders that the darkness of winter would pass and that the land would become fruitful again. The exchange of evergreen branches was a good luck blessing during the ancient Roman New Year festival of Saturnalia and the Pagans of Scandinavia were the first to bring evergreens indoors in mid-winter as a symbol of the promise of Spring. This symbol of life, fertility and good luck was first introduced here by German-born Prince Albert in 1841 –and by the 1890’s, despite its pagan roots, it would appear we were all keeping up with royalty.

So, a symbol of the promise of Spring brought indoors in mid-winter, hung with trinkets or ornaments of good fortune, even food delicacies to satisfy the spirits of good luck-fine in our own homes but pagan symbols in our sacred places?!

In 1957 a Mrs Spencer offered to decorate the Christmas tree of the impoverished Church in Danville, America. She decided her decorations would be handmade as befitted her service to Christ and that they would be representative symbols of the Christian story and faith. Christ Monograms became foreshortened to Chrismons and this was the birth of what some term the Christian Christmas tree. The tree is decorated only in Gold and White: colours signifying the kingship and divinity of Christ and his purity respectively. Symbols include the following: Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the alphabet – Jesus the beginning and the end. The Bell, which traditionally calls people to worship – symbolising the need to prioritise the things of God over the secular. The Butterfly, a symbol of resurrection and new life. The Cup/Chalice, representative of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of all God through Christ has done for us. A Triangle within a Circle, representing the eternity of the Trinity. A Dove, signifying innocence and purity, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the presence of God in the narratives of the Creation and of the Baptism of Jesus (we may also think of the Dove as a symbol of the peace that God brings through Christ). The Fish, identification symbol for the early Christians. The Lamb, representing Christ as the ‘lamb of God’. A Star, both a description of Christ -‘a star shall come forth of Jacob’ Numbers 24:17- and representative of Christ’s natal star ‘we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him’ Matt 2:1-2. This is by no means an exhaustive list but gives you an idea of what a Chrismon is.

I have come across folk who have difficulty equating a pagan fertility symbol with the Christian festival of Christ’s coming into our world-God made flesh to dwell among us. I think Mrs Spencer came up with a wonderful adaptation of this ancient symbol – creating a thought provoking, challenging and, if you get the chance to see a Chrismon Tree in all it’s Glory, quite breathtaking representation of the everlasting truth of what God began that first Christmas.

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