Germanic Pagan Origins of Christmas Tree.

[Visitor_22]

IMHO: Christmas trees of today are left overs of ancient Gemanic pagan traditions of worshipping 'Irminsul' trees.
See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminsul

"The Vikings and Saxons worshiped trees. The story of Saint Boniface cutting down Donar's Oak illustrates the pagan practices in 8th century among the Germans. A later folk version of the story adds the detail that an evergreen tree grew in place of the felled oak, telling them about how its triangular shape reminds humanity of the Trinity and how it points to heaven."

[sean]

Traditionally, the tree was decorated with edibles such as apples and nuts. The tradition started with the elements symbolised by evergreens in pre-Christian winter festivals: immortality and fortitude.The evergreen was also known to have represented the same values to a variety of cultures, including the Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. The worship of trees was also very common in European druidism and paganism. In Christian tradition, trees were often put up in December to serve the dual purpose of warding off the devil and allowing a perch for whatever birds still remained. Evergreen trees decorated with apples and wafers were also used in Christmas Eve plays during the Middle Ages to represent the tree from which Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. As for decoration, the first evidence for decorated Christmas trees comes from German craftsman guilds during the Renaissance. After the Protestant Reformation, trees enjoyed a surge of popularity among Protestant households as counterparts to the Catholic nativity scene.