These days, with an emphasis on saving energy and on being more aware of our environment, inventions like LED Christmas lights are being used more and more. Because LED lights use up less energy, don’t get hot like traditional lights and last longer, their use has changed the face of Christmas lighting and lighting in general. But when did the idea to put lights up for the holidays first arise?

History of Christmas lights

The idea of using lights as decoration at Christmas was something that had been taking place for some time.

The first illuminated Christmas trees were lit with candles, but even before the age of Christmas, light played an important part in ancient festivities that took place around this time of the year. Sun-worshiping pagans lit candles during the festivals of the Winter solstice, which coincide with the modern Christmas period, because they hoped that providing light from candles and bonfires would encourage the sun’s warmth and light to return after the cold, dark winter.

With the Christianization of pagan holidays, the candle-lighting tradition was incorporated into Christmas customs although it seems that this tradition really regained major popularity after the 18th century.

Around the 18th century it became a popular tradition in many Protestant upper-class German homes to honor Christmas by decorating their Christmas trees with many small miniature candles. The candles were sometimes glued to the tree with melted wax and at other homes they were attached to the trees with pins.

Because of the fire hazard that the flickering candles presented, by the early 1900s lantern-like glass balls were used to hold the illuminated candles, and after the invention of the light bulb, eventually the glass balls of light evolved into the traditional Christmas lights we know today. In spite of the modernization of Christmas lights there are still some places in the world that continue to utilize the old-fashioned candle lights.

What do the Christmas lights symbolise to Christians?

Regardless of their pagan origins, the Christmas lights have amassed new symbolism and meaning since becoming a Christian Christmas tradition. What do the Christmas lights symbolise in Christianity?

I did have a chuckle when I heard the joke that the Christmas lights are put up to help Santa Claus find your house and easily locate the tree in order to put presents under it, but the Christmas lights also have a more meaningful religious symbolism:

• Symbol of the starry night on which Christ was born:
  Some people like to think of the lights representing the Star of Bethlehem, the sign that marked that Christ was born.
• Symbol of the light of Christ:
  In Christian tradition, candles are a symbol for Jesus and the light he brings to earth even in the darkest times. Some believe that the light is symbolic of the eternal light of Jesus’ spirit that is particularly kept in mind over Christmas. Different colored candles also represented different qualities, for example a white candle represents the purity of Christ whilst a pink candle represents joy.
• Symbol of the light, hope and good in the world:
  The Christmas lights also served to remind good Christians to provide light to others.
• Symbol of following the enlightened path:
  Some suggest that the Christmas lights are a reminder to follow the way of Christ. The path of lights that wind around the tree leading to the star at the top may be symbolic of the enlighted path to salvation.

Credits:
Article contributions from Robert Lobitz

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You may enjoy the other articles in the culture section of saywhydoi.com, especially the Christmas articles like:
- Why do we put up Christmas wreaths?
- Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th?
- Why do we eat Turkey at Christmas?
- Why are robins on Christmas cards?

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If you’re ever in Britain around Christmas time, you’ll find pictures of robin red breasts adorning Christmas cards, ornaments, stamps, chocolate boxes, shop windows and Christmas wrapping paper. Their images can even be found decorating Christmas cakes. How did the humble European robin become the Christmas robin?

Why Robins are on Christmas cards

Although robin folklore existed for many years, the robin became far more widely associated with Christmas after it was depicted on Christmas cards in 19th century England; a tradition that has been retained to this day. (1)

Why are robins on Christmas cards? It’s all inspired by the robins who used to deliver the Christmas cards in 19th century Britain.

In the 1800s, British postmen wore bright red uniforms. They wore red in honor of the crown since red is considered both a Royal color and an important color on the English flag. (Incidentally, this may also be one of the reasons why British post boxes were eventually standardized to be red). The postmen in their red-breasted coats resembled the much-loved British bird, the robin red-breast, earning Victorian postmen the nick-name: Robins.

Around Christmas time, people would eagerly await the Robins’ delivery of Christmas cards from near and far. Some greeting card artists were inspired by this to illustrate their cards with the joyous delivery of letters, and instead of drawing a postman, one artist decided to draw the Robins’ namesake, the robin birds, delivering letters in their little beaks. The trend caught on and survives to this day despite the fact that the postmen’s red coat uniforms and the postmen’s Robin nickname have long been retired to the history books.

Robin Folklore

Aside from the postman-robin association explaining the robin’s presence on Christmas cards, the robins already had a rich association with Christmas because various folklore stories exist surrounding the Christmas robin. Below are three of the most popular Christian tales of robin folklore regarding how the robin got its red breast:

1.) The kind-hearted Robin who got its red breast tending to baby Jesus’s fire

One tale from robin folklore is that when Mary was giving birth to Jesus, the fire that was burning to keep the stable warm and comfortable was about to go out. Just as Mary was starting to worry about the chill of the night descending upon her and her newborn, a tiny brown bird alighted by the fire, singing and flapping its little wings. The flapping made the embers glow brightly, re-igniting the fire. In some versions of this tale, the little bird also brought small twigs in its beak to help feed the fire.

As the robin flew around, tending to the fire, the flames crackled and snapped, and a stray red-hot ember flew from the hearth, landing on the brown bird’s breast, making it glow bright red. When Mary saw all this, she declared that the red breast was a sign of the bird’s kind heart and that the bird and all its descendants would wear a red breast proudly for evermore. (2)

2.) The robin who got its red breast trying to help Christ at the crucifixion

Another story about how the robin got its red breast is based on Christ’s crucifixion. The story goes that as Christ was dying on the cross a little brown bird flew beside him, trying to comfort him with its song. The bird clamped its little beak on Jesus’ thorny crown, trying to remove it, and although the bird was not strong enough, in its passionate attempts pulling on the thorns, a little bit of Christ’s blood stained the bird’s breast red. (3)

3.) The robin who got its red breast when giving water to souls in Purgatory

A less popular bit of robin folklore tells of the robin who was kind enough to fetch water for the souls in Purgatory or hell. As it flew in this fiery place, its breast was accidentally scorched, giving the robin its red breast. (1)

Today the robin is considered by some to be Britain’s favorite bird. (4) With the existence of so many positive tales about the robin red breast in folklore and also in everyday life with its cheerful song and its role in keeping gardeners company, it is easy to understand why the robins were well-liked enough to be retained as decorations for Christmas cards and decorations well after their original meaning was forgotten. Well… forgotten until now!

References
(1) de Vries, A. 2004. Elsevier’s Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery. Emerald Group Publishing.
(2) Egan L.B. 1988. A Christmas Stocking: A Child’s Treasury for the Festive Season. Simon & Schuster Ltd
(3) Cooper J.C. 1992. Symbolic and Mythological Animals. Harpercollins
(4) British Bird Lovers website

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It’s probably a good idea to work out a bit before December rolls round so that you’ll be able to carry home the biggest turkey in the supermarket home with you.

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a roast turkey; but why do we eat turkey at Christmas?

To answer this, let’s start with another question:

Did we always eat Turkey at Christmas?

No. Christmas Turkey is an English tradition, but turkeys didn’t even exist in the UK until 1526 when William Strickland imported the first turkeys into the country. Before that, on Christmas day, traditional meat dishes were things like geese, peacocks and boars’ head (yum!).

In spite of this, turkeys only overtook goose as the #1 Christmas focal food in the mid-20th century.

Ok… but why turkey *specifically* on Christmas day?

There are a few theories:

Theory 1: To have a special type of meat to mark a special day.

If you eat chicken, or beef, or pork every day of the year, it feels a lot more festive to enjoy a different flavour of meat which you associate as being “Christmassy”. This is also why unusual dishes like peacock and boars’ head were so popular around Christmas back in the 16th century.

Theory 2: Big turkeys can supply the big family get-togethers!

One chicken or goose wouldn’t feed a table of all your favourite 100 relatives or so as they gather around the table. A big turkey is far more likely to go further. And even leaves enough for leftovers!

Theory 3: It became popular after Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol”

Dickens advertised the turkey-eating tradition in his famous “A Christmas Carol” which was published in 1843. This may partly explain the rise in turkey consumption specifically in the 20th century, when Christmas turkey sales really took off.

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For the answer, let’s take a step back in history…

In early Christianity, from Jesus’ lifetime and up until 300 years later, there didn’t exist a Christian holiday celebrating Jesus’ birth. It was only around 336 AD that the church officials decided to make Jesus’ birthday a Christian holiday.

What day to choose to celebrate Jesus’ birth? The logical choice would be his birthday surely! However, much to church officials’ frustration, The Bible doesn’t state Jesus’ birthday. Text talking of shepherds being hard at work around his nativity suggests it’s likely to have occurred in the Spring time.

Not knowing Jesus’ exact birthday allowed some leeway in allocating the day of his nativity celebration. After careful deliberation, Pope Julius, under the supervision of Emperor Aurelian, named the 25th of December the day on which Jesus’ birth would be celebrated.

So now we get to the why!

Why did they choose December 25th?

At this time of Early Christianity, the Roman era was still strong. As part of Roman tradition, the later part of December was already rife with holidays and celebrations. It was the time of the winter solstice festival of Saturnalia (December 17th-23rd), and it was also the birthdays of Roman sun god, Mithras, and his side-kick Sol Invictus (both celebrated on December 25th).

Roman Sun god Mithras, seen here famously killing a bull, is well known for his Persian-style hat which may have inspired Santa and his elves into designing their familiar pointy hats.

By allocating Jesus’ nativity celebration on a day that was already celebrated by Romans, it made the transition of the object of celebration easier. Initially, Christmas was called “The Feast of Nativity”, celebrating both the birth of Mithras and Jesus.

There are many parallels of Mithras’ life and Jesus’ which made this decision appropriate. For example, like Jesus, Mithras was also born in extraordinary circumstances, and like Jesus, Mithras the Sun god was also worshipped on SUNdays.  The stories behind both Jesus and Mithras are also quite similar. Mithras’ role was seen to save humanity from evil: he was the god of light, seeking to bring righteousness against dark forces.

The Winter Solstice period of Saturnalia which preceded Mithras’ birthday, celebrated the agriculture god, Saturn, because this time of year represented the rebirth of nature: A time when the worst of the winter is over, and new life can soon begin to grow. This also made this time of year appropriate for celebrating Jesus’ resurrected life.

To this day we have retained some traditions left over from Saturnalia and Mithras bithday in our Christmas celebrations.

For example, it is likely that the evergreen decorations like the wreaths and fir trees we put up at Christmas are remnants of the Saturnalia tradition of decorating the house with evergreen leaves. The Romans even decorated their trees, only they used “sigillaria”, tiny ceramic dolls,  which they tied to the branches of pine trees.

The obligatory break from work, feasting, merry-making and gift-giving may well also be leftover traditions from Saturnalia.

Even Santa’s and Santa’s elves’ pointy hats may well have been inspired by the pileus hats worn by Romans on Saturnalia.

So next time you’re writing your Christmas cards and writing “Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!” perhaps you can also add “Happy Saturnalia and Mithras’ day!”

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There are two main reasons why we put up Christmas wreaths:

1.) Because of what the wreath symbolizes

2.) Because of the ongoing tradition of putting wreaths up every Christmas

Let’s look at these in a little more detail:

What does the wreath symbolize?

A wreath is circular, a never-ending shape: so it’s easy to see how it represents the eternity and immortality of Jesus.

The fact that evergreen leaves are used is also to do with a symbol of eternal life. It represents that life goes on even in the coldest depths of winter!

How did the tradition of putting up a wreath begin?

It is likely that the tradition of putting up wreaths around December time existed in Roman times, even before the rise of Christianity. But why would Romans be putting up wreaths if it wasn’t to symbolise Jesus’ eternal nature?

If we think about the Romans, we often picture a proudly standing Emperor with a wreath on his head. Wreath crowns were used to symbolize honor to the wearer. So Emperors as well as anyone victorious in politics, wars or games could be adorned with a wreath crown. But wreaths weren’t only used to decorate people’s heads in Roman times.

Wreath-like greenery was also used to decorate the homes in the Roman Winter Solstice festival of Saturnalia which was celebrated on December 17th-23rd. It may be that this tradition of Saturnalia infiltrated Christmas traditions.  Click here to read more about the Roman Winter Solitice overlap with Christmas traditions.

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This site is working in affiliation with Amazon.com (for USA visitors) and zazzle. If you like a product that was recommended anywhere on this website, please consider buying these products via the links on this site, to help keep this website running. Thanks