If you want a tree,
you're entitled to have one.
Image © Getty Images
The answer is simple. You don't need anyone's permission to stick a tree in your living room and cover it in lights. Whether you call it a Yule tree, a Christmas tree, or a Festivus Fir, it's entirely up to you. Let's face it, trees are nice, and it's comforting to bring one into your home for a few weeks and celebrate the season. Pair that up with the fact that most of us grew up with a tree in our house every December, and there's absolutely no reason why you can't have one if you like.
If it helps, you might want to keep in mind that the ancient Romans -- who were most assuredly Pagans -- decorated trees and bushes outside their homes during the winter season, and often brought boughs of greenery inside to celebrate Saturnalia. Despite what the War on Christmas Brigade would have you believe, the Christmas tree really does have some fairly Pagan origins. So go ahead, and put up your Yule tree. Want to try a ritual to honor the spirits of the tree you bring into your home? Check out the Holiday Tree Blessing.
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I don’t see what the big fight is over! lol..
I see it this way we all should be secure enough in our own beliefs to celebarte as we see fit! As long as your celebration makes you feel happy, joyful, and LOVE then so be it!Trees are a part of nature that have been here long before the dogma that organized religions have now placed upon it!Trees are a gift for us to admire, use and adorn and take care of as they have taken care of us by providing so much for our race and species.
Have a Merry & Blessed Yule!
Read Winter Solstice by John Matthews. It traces a good many Yule/ Winter Solstice traditions back to their Neolithic origins. Including the use of evergreen trees-a symbol of rebirth and renewal. Its an amazing book that will make the holiday a lot richer for you. The origin of the “Christmas tree” is a lot older than Christianity. Enjoy—–Bob
I love trees, but hate seeing them sacrificed. We should honor them where they are instead of cutting them down. If you want to bring a tree in to your house, buy one that you can plant later or bring one in that is already in a big pot so it can last a long time. There are too many people out killing trees this time of year for us to add to their numbers. Save the trees for the earth mother. It will benefit us all.
I’ll be the first to agree that a potted tree is far better than a cut one, but I also know that this isnt’ an option for everyone.
Interestingly, it’s actually quite environmentally sound to buy a tree from a tree farm (as opposed to just chopping one down at random in a forest). They grow the trees for the sole purpose of being harvested, and every acre of Christmas trees being grown generates enough oxygen for almost 20 people. Typically, after the holidays trees get recycled by most municipalities, and turned into mulch for gardens, used to repair damaged banks in streams that are suffering from erosion, or piled up to create new homes for wildlife.
Trees that we cut down and enjoy for a couple of weeks get put back into the soil almost immediately so that the cycle of life can continue. I’d definitely like to have a potted tree this year, so I can plant it later on. For people who don’t have that as an option, I’d say a cut tree is a far better choice than an artificial one, which can lie in a landfill for a hundred years or more.
patti
We have a planted tree in the garden that we decorate and we also have a real tree brought inside. I don’t really like artifical trees and once the decorations are taken down the tree is stripped of leaves and chopped into firewood which benefits our friends and neighbours with real fires.
I also have a small potted tree in my room that I decorate with golden discs and other sun symbols to celebrate the solstice.
“Festivus Fir”? NICE!!! LOL
Personally, I like having a fresh tree, whether potted or cut. Every tree we’ve had in this house has brought a different energy to our space; and we would thank the tree when it arrived and thank the tree when it was time to take it down. We would keep some of the needles or twigs and put them away.
One year, I ended up in hospital just before Yule and i literally didn’t have time to get a fresh tree, so that year I got a white fake tree for about 10 bux, and decorated it with sunflowers. I got the idea thinking it would be nice to bring sun/fire energy into the house.
To me, having a tree is very Pagan. Depending on how the tree is decorated and what type of tree it is, you have all four elements represented.
It tickles me when other religions scream fire and brimstone about Pagans, and then they have the whole house decked out in full Yule regalia. They just don’t get it, I guess.
Quoted: “I love trees, but hate seeing them sacrificed. We should honor them where they are instead of cutting them down. If you want to bring a tree in to your house, buy one that you can plant later or bring one in that is already in a big pot so it can last a long time. There are too many people out killing trees this time of year for us to add to their numbers. Save the trees for the earth mother. It will benefit us all.”
Well said; I feel the same way. I haven’t had a holiday tree in my home in years; I just don’t feel the need. I do have a Yule basket that I put out on my coffee table and I, of course, decorate my altar for the season, which is permanently set up in my living room. To each their own, however. Blessed Yule to all, n matter how you celebrate!
Pretty much all the pagans I know don’t have any problems with sharing/respecting with love/peace everyone else’s customs for holy days. It’s the spiritually impoverished, fearful Christians that are freaking out. I qualify that, because I do have many Christian friends who are just as happy to wish me ‘Happy Yule’ as I am to wish them a ‘Merry Christmas.’
Celtic custom of digging up an evergreen, root ball and all, hanging it upside down over the meeting place for longest night is ancient. Stories were told, some reserved only to be told during longest night. Also family histories, lineages, etc… were also told during the night’s celebration, too. Then, at dawn the tree, now with all the people’s stories gathered in, was taken back out and replanted.
And, don’t get too bent out of shape over a tree actually being cut down. Many make a living out of tree farming with almost no ‘wild’ trees being cut down anymore. These farmed trees are pruned to shape and serve to save wild woods from trespass. Most municipalities also have a ‘recycling’ program where trees are chopped for mulch or are sunk in lakes and used as nursery for fisheries.
If you do want to get a live, root balled tree and plant in a pot or in your yard later, be SURE to get a ‘landscape’ tree and not one that’s been trimmed for a ‘christmas’ tree. Those so trimmed have lower branches pruned to nice pyrimidal shape and will NOT grow anymore! The upper branches will grow, but lower ones remain stubby.
One of my own personal favorite traditions (back in my youth when I could actually stay awake that late LOL) is to undecorate the live cut tree by New Year’s Eve and haul it out into the yard ( still in tree stand and far, far, FAR away from anything remotely flameable!!!) at midnight, and stuff newspaper into lower branches, light it and watch it go off like a Roman Candle!!!! YIPPEEEEE!!!
Donna
A practicing Celtic farmstead kitchen witch
My first “husband” was a Christian pastor (with a pagan spouse and pagan tendencies of his own). In the Medieval Xian Church Christmas began on December 25th and lasted until February 2nd or Candlemas (yep that’s what they renamed Imbolc). We liked to put the decorations up as late as possible and leave them up. We sometimes reused our neighbor’s Xmas trees. The last year we did it the tree was needleless and we hadn’t turned its lights on in weeks for fear of fire. I confess it was nice having the twinkle lights remain on in the house through the darkest part of the winter. Joe’s been dead for just ten years now and I live with a family of friends. The house is covered in lights and smells inside of pine. I find Yule to be such a time of Hope and hope it is for all of you as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbWDquXnsvk
If anyone caught Monday 12-15′s Big Bang Theory, they spoke all about Saturnalia.
Funny clip.
Read some of Joseph Campbells works on man and myth. The Power of Myth series is a good place to start with Campbell. In fact if you can find it on DVD with his interview with Bill Moyer thats even better. Its all about ritual and the wonderful myths and legends our species has grown up with since the Neolithic period. Its not about the tree but rather what it symbolizes and represents -a return to life and fertility. What a wonderful image of hope and renewal—many blessings to all at this time of the returning sun-happy Yule everyone-
Christmastime. A pleasant time of year for all to sit around in the warmth and drink hot cocoa and sing songs. A nice, happy time for all.
Unless you’re a tree! Yes, my brethren, my fellow humans… Christmastime is a time of HORROR and PAIN and FEAR for various kinds of evergreen trees. Be they fir, or spruce, or pine… Christmastime (or Yule as the Pagans call it) is the WORST time of the year for trees. Hacked off at the roots, left to die a slow and painful death as people merrily string its corpse with pretty lights and colors. This is, to the trees, how we would feel if trees crucified a human being once a year or beheaded a man, hung him from the ceiling, and decorated his decaying corpse.
What’s worse, most of these trees are not recycled after this horrific display of brutality and torture. They are thrown into landfills or dumped in ditches, discarded like so much trash.
Yes, my friends, the life of a Christmas tree is short and full of pain. Raised in crowded conditions on tree farms, they grow for a few years and then they are unceremoniously hacked off at the base, hauled screaming in agony on car roofs or in truck beds, and then set up in peoples houses and festively decorated while they sit and moan their last dying moans. When Christmas is over or the look and smell of tree’s corpse is no longer pleasing to the humans, it is tossed away like garbage. No one ever says they’re sorry, or asks permission, or even thinks about the life that was murdered for a once-a-year occurrance. All we here at PETOP can say is, thank goodness it’s only once a year!
For far too long these and other abuses have been going on. We of PETOP have nothing against eating plants (after all, what would we eat? We don’t eat meat either! Well, most of us don’t). What we DO object to are abuse, mistreatment, and lack of respect for the plants that are in our lives.
The following is a list of our complaints:
1. We are tired of plants being used for stupid, wasteful reasons. Our chief among these being the ritual of using real trees for Christmastime. That’s why our slogan is “FIR IS MURDER! FAUX IS YOUR FRIEND!” We strongly suggest that people buy fake (faux) trees for this purpose.
2. We are tired of plants being mistreated. This mostly happens after the plant has been killed, however, because unlike animals, plants do not respond positively to abuse while alive. Chief among our concerns in this regard is wastefulness – if you kill a plant, kill it for a good reason. Eat it, make it into clothing, burn it for fuel or warmth, make it into furniture, or use it for art. We don’t care, as long as its sensible and will be used for a long time or until it’s worn out.
3. We are tired of plants not being respected. Thankfully, the revelation that plants respond well to positive speech stimuli has helped plant treatment a lot. Houseplants in particular have easy lives for the most part. But other plants are not so lucky. They are treated purely as a commodity: something made, harvested, changed, and used, then thrown away. Most people, excepting many Pagans, do not respect plants. They don’t even think about the plants that went into their food, let alone thanking the food for its sacrifice… they just eat it. Some may thank God, but really, the plants put more work into their life than God did. And then, of course, there are ritual uses for plants wherein the plant is used once for decoration, then thrown away. This is unacceptable.
This lack of respect for plants seems to stem from people’s lack of respect of life – even their own life – in general. And it needs to change. Because this flawed way of thinking about plants and life is killing our planet. We need to respect life so we can save it.
It’s time for a change. If you’re going to use a plant of any kind for a one-time non-eating use, like decorating for a ritual, please at least recycle it when you’re done. Though we’d prefer all Christmas trees to be faux, if you insist on using a real tree, at least recycle it when you’re done. Many communities collect peoples’ used Christmas trees and turn them into mulch or other products. Or you could use your old christmas tree for firewood. Or furniture. Or make it into decorative carvings. But don’t put them in landfills! Don’t dump them in ditches!
Respect your elders, man.
FIR IS MURDER! FAUX IS YOUR FRIEND! SPRUCE UP YOUR THINKING! RESPECT YOUR ELDERS! PLANT A SEED OF HOPE TODAY!
View the pamphlet!
Whether I put up a tree or decorate my washing machine with garland and lights, What’s the diff????!?!?!?!?
Well, if you use a tree you probably don’t end up with wet socks tangled in your lights
patti
who typically adorns the fridge with holly
It’s a little hard for me to get really worked up about cutting my tree down for this time of year, all the “horror and pain”, when I eat salads every day, I pull young and screaming potatoes out of the ground for my meals, etc, etc,etc…I am not an air plant, so sorry, something is going to have to be “sacrificed” so that I can live. A tree is not NECESSARY, of course, but it’s ridiculous to act as if it’s on the same par as a human being in feelings and emotions. Of course, I HAVE met a few people who remind me of plants, but they weren’t too interesting to hang around. Plants are alive, yes, and who can say exactly what they experience, but I planted 25 scotch pines 6 years ago for the express purpose of having our own Yule trees and it is a real joy for our family to have harvested one of our own trees for this purpose this year. Just like it’s wonderful for us to be growing much of our own food. As long as we are responsible caretakers of the land, I think it’s perfectly okay to use these living resources. I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but hey, maybe that plant you have terrifyingly made captive in that pot on your windowsill is plotting revenge…or yeah, maybe not. By the way, don’t cut your grass…ouch! Happy holidays!
My brother and I had allergies and asthma from a young age, so we always had a fake tree. In fact, the setting up the tree became a rite of passage of sorts, because it was and old tree bought in the 60′s, it was a complicated affair, colour codes and such for each set of branches. But setting up the thing was part of the holiday and a way to know that Xmas was truly on the way.
I still have a fake tree. I am practically a “fundamentalist” Pagan and a Unitarian Universalist, but darn it, I still like Christmas. I don’t celebrate the birth of any saviors or anything, but I do relish in the sights and smells of the season and the feeling of warmth, real and familial.
It is a time to be with friends and family and be thankful that I still live, despite my not taking care of myself. My kids who are all grown save one, so I enjoy doing for him.
He associates a tree with the season, so we have a tree.
I really don’t see the harm one way or the other. It is just another decoration.
In my immediate family:
I have a brother who converted to Judaism, another who is an antheist, another who is catholic, and my mom is lutheran and I am a druid. We all just like to get together and eat a good meal and enjoy each others company.
My mom puts up a tree and decks the whole house out for christmas. My jewish brother puts up outside lights–blue and white of course. I collect nativities, but have made the “stables” Jewish and of the period, My catholic brother goes to mass at midnight. My anthiest brother just enjoys the whole thing.
I do not put up a tree in the house–I deck my outside trees and bushes with strings of cranberries and popcorn and dried bread coated with peanut butter and sprinkled with birdseed and nuts for the birds and other creatures.
I like the idea of keeping christmas in your heart, whatever way you celebrate it. The decorations don’t matter if Peace and Joy are in your heart!
@Jeff Kincaid – fundamentalist Pagan? Who knew there was such a thing?
Oh, and I will be attending the UU service where I live on Sunday.
In my immediate family, there’s me Buddhist Pagan, hubs is pagan friendly but has not identified with any belief system, and my 2 kids who have not identified with a belief system either. We celebrate Festivus which looks like Christmas but without the religious stuff. I celebrate Yule on the solstice day either privately or with a family ritual. Our Festivus is a floating day because hubs and I both work jobs where we may have to work on Xmas day. Festivus is held on the closest day to the solstice that we both are off.
We have this awesome fiber optic white tree about 3 ft tall. A real tree would have not been an option as I don’t like the pine smell. This year we are also doing lights in the front of the house. Next year, I want to do the backyard. Happy Winter Soltice!
In reference to a potted plant/tree – you can “give” a tree after the holiday. Buy the potted tree, and then donate to a park, school, or city.
We use a fake tree. A couple years ago we had a real tree. We found a little birds nest in it. That got us thinking about all the birds and other small animals that are left homeless because of real trees being cut down. This is not a good time of year for them to be trying to find a new home or build a new home. We felt horrible that we had made some little birds homeless in the snow and cold. How many animals end up dying because their homes are taken for someone to have a tree inside. We just can’t bring a real tree in anymore.