Pagan Christmas by Christian Rätsch Read Free Book Online

red fir)
    Abies sibirica Ledeb. (Siberian fir)
    OTHER NAMES
    Christ tree, Christmas tree, fir tree, kynholz (“firewood”), noble fir, tanne, tannenbaum, taxenbaum, weihntsbaum
    The fir is more warm than cold, and holds many powers within itself. And it is associated with bravery. Wherever the fir wood stands, the spirits of the air hate it, and shun it. Enchantments and magic spells have less power to effect things there, than they do in other places.
    HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, PHYSICA, III, 23
    Not many people can distinguish between fir and spruce, so here are their most important features: Fir cones point up, while spruce cones point down to the ground.3 Fir needles are soft and run horizontally from the branches; spruce needles are pointed and grow in a circle around the branch.
    Firs can be found in many regions of the world and can grow up to 60 meters (almost 200 feet) tall. The Black Forest of Europe got its name from the dark, dense, needle growth of fir trees. Up to the present day, the densest fir forests are still found in this region. And it is from here that the fir conquered the living rooms of the entire world—as the classic Christmas tree. Their evergreen-needle attire is the theme of the popular Christmas song with a melody from the eighteenth century:
    O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
    how lovely are thy branches.
    Not only green when summer’s here
    but in the coldest time of year …
    The Old High German word tanna not only means fir (and also, most astonishingly, oak), but—like the Middle High German tan—also means forest (Höfler 1990, 49). Thus, with the fir tree, you bring the forest and the wilderness itself into your house. What’s more, the German name for fir, tanne, may be related to the word for fire, tan.4
    High above, in heaven, angels are pouring Christmas gifts from Christ’s manger.
    In the forests of Europe, the fir has always been a holy tree. “Tacitus (I, 51) describes the holy feast Tasana, where people carried fir branches in their hands; and our Christmas tree also originates in this feast” (von Perger 1864, 340). Holy firs have always been worshipped in alpine countries and were considered the dwelling place, or seat, of the gods. The people believed that spirit beings lived in the firs. Even today, you can find firs in the forests that are objects of religious worship. They can be distinguished by the presence of a picture of the holy Mary, rarely because they bear a cross.
    In Indo-Germanic Phrygia (Asia Minor), the fir was dedicated to the fertility goddess Cybele. Romans saw in the enclosed shape of the fir cone a symbol of virginity, and dedicated it to the goddess of the hunt and the forest, Diana. According to a legend of the Siberian Jakuten, the souls of their shamans were born in a fir on the mountain Dzokuo. And in the end, the fir became the Christmas tree of the sacred nights.
    In shamanic cultures, holy trees were not to be thoughtlessly chosen and cut down, as this violated a deforestation taboo. Whoever disregarded a holy tree was punished with illness or death: “For the thieves of fir trees, it was prophesized that their arm would be cut. Whoever cut down a fir in defiance of this law was condemned to seven years of bad luck” (Hiller 1989, 285). Nevertheless, fir wood was used for ritual purposes and implements. Thus the fir tree itself, as well as its branches and the Advent wreaths made of them, had a central meaning at Christmastime.
    FIR RESIN AS INCENSE
    The perfume of fir resin and drying fir needles gives Advent and the whole Christmas season a characteristic, irresistible aroma.5 Most firs produce a resin that is uniform in smell, consistency, and character, which explains why they have been called “resin trees.” Because of its resin content, the fresh or dried wood catches fire easily and was used as kindling to start fires. This is why firs have also been called kynholz, meaning “firewood.” In Europe, fir resin might well be the