Where did the Christmas tree come from? Everything you need to know about the Christmas tree Pagan Totem Tree

Hello my dear friend! What is the main attribute of the New Year holiday? Definitely a Christmas tree. What do we know about her?

Petrovich went into the web and found an article on our friend Alexander Mishchenko’s classmate page, signed “Vladimir Solnyshko.” We really liked the article (it’s a big one and there are several topics), so we decided to introduce you to it in parts. And today I present excerpts from this article - about Yolka.

Spruce, pine, and cedar emit oxygen all year round. At any time of the year they delight us with their green outfit. Therefore, the Russian people have a special respect for these trees.

Take a closer look and you will see that this tree has a pyramidal shape, directed upward to the Sun, to the Stars, to the distant Worlds. Her whole appearance says that she looks like a space antenna. And the needles on the branches look like antennas; they sensitively listen to the voice of the Universe. Our ancestors knew well about the properties of spruce. They knew that this sacred tree was a kind of energy transceiver connecting CheloVeche with the cosmos.

Russians have always revered spruce and considered it "World Tree" (tree) - a tree that brings Peace and Prosperity to the Family, Family, Russian People, Humanity. Therefore, each family grew a World Tree from a seed near their home and cherished it with the whole family. In a village or other settlement, the World Tree of a given community of people was grown in a place of honor. On holidays, people danced around the food, sang songs, praised life itself, and made three cherished wishes. Usually they decorated the tree with hand-made items symbolizing the desires of these people. The miracle tree was often decorated with balls. The ball represents the Sun, the Sun of our Soul, the Spiritual body of the Russian Human Being. It is customary to make a wish when hanging a ball on a branch.

The more significant the Man’s wish, the higher to the top of the tree he hangs the decoration with the wish. Simple, everyday, household desires in the form of decorations are hung on the lower branches of the spruce tree. On the middle part of the tree there are decorations that personify the achievement of some creative abilities of the Human Being in the next Summer (year). The upper part was decorated with the most cherished desires of people and glories to the Family, to one’s Family, to one’s People, to Life Itself, to the Sun, to Mother Earth. And the spruce and the solemnity of the action are amplifiers of people’s good aspirations. Good dreams, good undertakings of people are pleasant to Everyone, therefore Nature strengthens them tens, hundreds, thousands of times. Dreams of benefit for the evolution of Man, Mankind and Nature are coming true.

The living Christmas tree enjoys the mission convey good wishes to Space, to the Universe . And people enjoy dancing round dances around her. People come to all Russian holidays with a clear conscience, a sober mind, an open Russian Soul and a cheerful Mood. Where spruce does not grow, cedar or pine is planted.

Obviously, only a living tree that is grown with care and love can strengthen and convey the good wishes of kind people.

Let's consider two more options - artificial trees and trees from the forest.

Artificial Christmas trees are good as part of the New Year's ritual - they sparkle with garland lights and various toys. There is a type of holiday, there are gifts under the Christmas tree. There is no just strengthening of people's good wishes.

Christmas tree from the forest. Who thought about the essence of this ritual? Who invented this ritual and why? As the children sing while dancing under the tree on New Year’s Day: “They cut down our tree to the very root.” We now read verbatim: “They cut down the World Tree.” Even according to current laws, cutting down a Christmas tree is a criminal offense. What kind of happiness in your home, in your city, in your country can you dream of after such actions? But many still buy such trees every year and take them home for their children and grandchildren. They decorate schools, houses of culture, squares, the Kremlin... To make it easier to understand, ask someone to hit you on your big toe with a hammer, and then have them hang you with decorations and make wishes. I wonder how you will feel towards this subject? After such an attitude towards the World Tree, who will fulfill your innermost desires? Wait, wait...

But that is not all. Joyful parents or grandparents brought the Christmas tree home and decorated it. The children rejoice and dance around the Christmas tree. Allegedly, at first glance, everything is fine, but something is not right - the tree is not alive. What does it mean? And the fact that she now needs energy to prolong her life - the energy of life. Where can I get it? The roots have been cut off. This means from the environment, primarily from those who joyfully dance around it. It seems like they did a good deed. What's good?

And, in addition, as the holidays end, there are heaps of discarded Christmas trees lying everywhere in all cities and villages, which means that the dreams of those who threw away the Christmas tree will remain with the Christmas trees. And then they will declare that their dreams did not come true. How can they be fulfilled if they were thrown away?

Now decide for yourself which option for celebrating the New Year you like: with a Living Christmas Tree, an artificial one, or one from the forest. Should you personally give traders a reason to cut down a Christmas tree in the forest in order to sell it to you and make a profit? Look at the photo. Nice? And if you refuse to buy such trees, then the traders will not go into the forest. The forest will thank you. There will be a lot of clean air.

The tradition of celebrating New Year's holidays with a tree has become so deeply integrated into our everyday life that almost no one asks questions about where the tree came from, what it symbolizes, and why the tree is an integral attribute for Christmas and New Year.

When did our Christmas tree appear and where did it come from, we will try to find out in this article.

In 1906, the philosopher Vasily Rozanov wrote:

"Many years ago I was surprised to learn that the custom of the Christmas tree does not belong to the number of native Russians customs. The Christmas tree has now become so firmly entrenched in Russian society that it would never occur to anyone that she's not Russian"

He brought the tradition of celebrating the New Year with a Christmas tree to Russia by decree in 1699:

"...now from the Nativity of Christ the year 1699 has reached, and on the 1st of January the new year 1700 will begin, together with a new centenary century, and for that good and useful cause, the Great Sovereign has indicated that henceforth it will be counted in Orders and written in all sorts of affairs and fortresses from the current January, from the 1st of the Nativity of Christ, 1700. And as a sign of that good beginning and the new centenary in the reigning city of Moscow, after due thanksgiving to God and prayer singing in the church and whoever happens in his home, along the streets and streets noble on the streets of noble people and at houses of deliberate spiritual and secular rank in front of the gates, make some decorations from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper against the samples that were made in the Gostin Dvor and at the lower pharmacy, or for whomever is more convenient and decent, depending on the situation I eat and the gate , it is possible to do it; and for the poor people to each at least put a tree, or a branch on the gate, or over their temple; and then it would have ripened, now the future Genvar by the 1st day of this year, and that decoration of Genvar will stand until the 7th day of the same 1700..."

The text of the sovereign's decree shows us that for the custom he introduced, which he became acquainted with during his European trip, both aesthetics were important - houses and streets were ordered to be decorated with pine needles, and symbolism - decorations from evergreen needles were to be created to commemorate the celebration exactly New Year's.

It is important that Peter’s decree of December 20, 1699 is almost the only document on the history of the Christmas tree in Russia in the 18th century. After the death of the impostor, they stopped putting up New Year trees. Only tavern owners decorated their houses with them, and these trees stood on taverns all year round - hence their name - “ tree sticks».

The sovereign's instructions were preserved only in the decoration of drinking establishments, which continued to be decorated with Christmas trees before the New Year. Taverns were identified by these trees, which were tied to a stake, installed on the roofs, or stuck at the gates. The trees stood there until the next year, on the eve of which the old ones were replaced with new ones. Having arisen as a result of Peter's decree, this custom was maintained throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

“The tavern building... consisted of an old two-story hut with a high roof... At the top of it stood a red withered pine; its thin, withered branches seemed to be calling for help.”

And in N. P. Kilberg’s 1872 poem “Yolka,” the coachman is sincerely surprised that the master cannot recognize it as a drinking establishment by looking at the Christmas tree at the door of the hut:

“We’ve arrived!.. we’re rushing through the village like an arrow,
Suddenly the horses stood in front of a dirty hut,
Where there is a Christmas tree at the door...
What is this?.. - What an eccentric you are, master,
Don't you know?.. After all this is a pub!..»

That is why people began to call taverns “Yolki” or “Ivan-Yolkin”: “ Let's go to the Christmas tree and have a drink for the holiday»; « Apparently, you were visiting Ivan Yolkin, that you are swaying from side to side»; « the tree (tavern) sweeps the house cleaner than a broom" Soon, the whole complex of “alcoholic” concepts gradually acquired “Christmas tree” doublets: “ raise the tree" - to get drunk, " go under the tree" or " the tree has fallen, let's go pick it up" - go to the tavern, " be under the tree" - to be in a tavern; " Yolkin» - state of alcoholic intoxication, etc.

Is it by chance that his decree introduces into the cult of veneration on the territory of Muscovy a tree that has become symbol of drinking establishments, and in folk tradition was considered the tree of death?

Naturally, among the people, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree took root with difficulty, since the spruce has been considered in Rus' since ancient times tree of death: It is no coincidence that to this day it is customary to cover the road along which a funeral procession is going with spruce branches, and it is not customary to plant Christmas trees near houses. And what kind of fear does a trip to a spruce forest evoke, where in broad daylight you can easily get lost, since spruce transmits sunlight very poorly and in spruce forests, it is therefore very dark and this makes it scary. There was also a custom: people who hanged themselves and, in general, suicides were buried between two trees, turning them. It was forbidden to build houses from spruce, as well as from aspen. In addition, in Russian wedding songs, the spruce was associated with the theme of death, where it symbolized the orphan bride.

In ancient times, among the Slavic-Aryans, the Christmas tree was a symbol of death, which connected with the “other world”, transition to it and a necessary element of the funeral ritual. Since our ancestors burned their dead, i.e. They sent them to the clan, then spruce, as a resinous tree that burns well at any time of the year, was used for cutting. The deceased Slavic prince or princess was thickly covered with branches of spruce and pine cones; at the completion of the funeral prayers of the Magi, when cereals were sprinkled on oats, rye and the “voicing” of numerous mourners, the mournful bonfire or crodus was set on fire. The burning flame rushed into the sky.

Throughout the 18th century, the spruce no longer appears anywhere except in drinking establishments as an element of New Year's or Christmas decoration: its image is absent from New Year's fireworks and illuminations; it is not mentioned when describing Christmas masquerades at court; and, of course, it is not present at folk Christmas games. In stories about New Year and Christmas celebrations held during this period of Russian history, the presence of spruce in the room is never indicated.

The people of Ancient Rus' did not see anything poetic in the image of the spruce. Growing mainly in damp and swampy places, this tree with dark green prickly needles, an unpleasant to the touch, rough and often damp trunk, was not particularly loved. Spruce, like other coniferous trees, was depicted without sympathy both in Russian poetry and in literature, until the end of the 19th century. Here are just a few such examples. F. I. Tyutchev wrote in 1830:

“Let the pines and spruces
They hang around all winter,
In the snow and heifers
They are wrapped up and sleeping.
Their skinny greens,
Like hedgehog needles
At least it never turns yellow,
But it’s never fresh.”

The spruce evoked gloomy associations among the poet and prose writer of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, A. N. Budishchev:

"Pines and mossy spruces,
White nights and darkness.
Angrily under the singing of a blizzard
The desert ravine howls."

And Joseph Brodsky, conveying his feelings from the northern landscape (the place of his exile - the village of Koreyskoye), notes:

“First of all, specific vegetation. She's basically unattractive- all these Christmas trees, swamps. There is nothing for a person to do there, either as a moving body in the landscape or as a spectator. Because what will he see there?

Mortal symbolism of spruce was learned and became widespread under Soviet rule. The spruce has become a characteristic feature of official burial grounds, primarily the Lenin Mausoleum, near which silvery Norwegian spruce trees were planted:

“The fir trees bend over as they age,

Above the echoing granite of the mausoleum..."

The mortal symbolism of the spruce is also reflected in proverbs, sayings, and phraseological units: “ look under the tree"- be seriously ill; " fall under the tree" - die; " spruce village», « spruce domina" - coffin; " go or stroll along the spruce path“- die, etc. The sound roll call provoked a rapprochement of the word “Christmas tree” with a number of obscene words, which also influenced our perception of this tree. “Christmas tree” euphemisms, widely used today, are also characteristic: “ tree sticks», « winder trees" and so on.

The revival of the Christmas tree began only in mid-nineteenth century. It is believed that the first Christmas tree in St. Petersburg was organized by the Germans who lived there. The townspeople liked this custom so much that they began to install Christmas trees in their homes. From the capital of the empire, this tradition began to spread throughout the country.

Neither Pushkin, nor Lermontov, nor their contemporaries ever mention the Christmas tree, while Christmastide, Christmastime masquerades and balls are constantly described in literature and in magazine articles at this time: Christmastime fortune-telling is given in Zhukovsky’s ballad “ Svetlana"(1812), Christmastide in a landowner's house is depicted by Pushkin in Chapter V" Evgenia Onegina"(1825), on Christmas Eve the action of Pushkin's poem takes place" House in Kolomna"(1828), Lermontov's drama is timed to coincide with Christmastide" Masquerade" (1835): " After all, today is the holidays and, of course, a masquerade...».

The first mention of a Christmas tree appeared in the newspaper “Northern Bee” on the eve of 1840: the newspaper reported that " beautifully decorated and decorated with lanterns, garlands, wreaths» Christmas trees. A year later, in the same publication, an explanation of the fashionable custom appears:

"We adopted from the good ones Germans children's party on the eve of the Nativity of Christ: Weihnachtsbaum. A tree, illuminated by lanterns or candles, hung with candies, fruits, toys, books, is a delight for children, who had previously been told that for good behavior and diligence on the holiday, a sudden reward would appear...”

During the first ten years, St. Petersburg residents still perceived the Christmas tree as a specific German custom. A. V. Tereshchenko, author of the seven-volume monograph “Life of the Russian People” (1848), wrote:

« In places where foreigners live, especially in the capital, the Christmas tree has become a habit».

The detachment with which they describe the holiday testifies to the novelty of this custom for the Russian people:

“For the Christmas tree holiday, the tree chosen is mainly the Christmas tree, from which the children’s festival received its name; it is hung with children's toys, which are distributed to them after the fun. The rich celebrate with exquisite whimsy."

The story by S. Auslander “Christmastide in Old Petersburg” (1912) tells that the first Christmas tree in Russia was arranged by the sovereign Nicholas I in the very in the late 1830s, after which, following the example of the royal family, they began to install it in noble houses of the capital:

“Well, after the sovereign, you were the first to adopt this German custom,” one old general said to the priest.

“Yes, it was touching to see last year in the palace what joy this innovation caused not only in children, but also in old people,” answered the father.”

Coming from Germany Christmas tree with early 1840s is beginning to be adopted by Russian families in the capital. In 1842, the magazine for children “Zvezdochka”, which was published by the children’s writer and translator A. O. Ishimova, informed his readers:

“Now in many Russian houses it is accepted German custom: on the eve of the holiday, quietly from the children, they prepare the Christmas tree; this means: decorate this evergreen tree is as good as possible, flowers and ribbons, hang on branches of walnuts, gilded nuts, red ones, the most beautiful apples, clusters of delicious grapes and various kinds of skillfully made candies. It's all illuminated many colorful wax candles, stuck to tree branches, and sometimes multi-colored lanterns.»

TO middle19th century German custom became firmly established in the life of the Russian capital. The Christmas tree is becoming quite a common occurrence for residents of St. Petersburg. In 1847, N.A. Nekrasov mentions it as something familiar and understandable to everyone:

“Still, the random is like candy on a Christmas tree, which can no more be called a work of nature than some kaleidoscopic novel from the Dumas factory can be called a work of art.”

V. Iofe, exploring “ literary flora" of Russian poetry of the 19th-20th centuries, noted the beginning from the end of the 19th century increasing popularity of spruce, apparently connected with the fact that the spruce in the minds of the Russian people is firmly connected with the positive symbol of the Christmas tree:

“...spruce and pine, outsiders of the 19th century, are now becoming more and more popular.”

And already pre-revolutionary children's literature is full of stories about children's joy from meeting the Christmas tree. K. Lukashevich writes about this “My Sweet Childhood”, M. Tolmacheva “How Tasya Lived”, nun Varvara “The Nativity of Christ - Golden Childhood”, A. Fedorov-Davydov “Instead of the Christmas Tree” and many others.

It’s a funny fact, but the Christian church has become a serious opponent of the Christmas tree, as a foreign and, moreover, Vedic custom in its origin. Until the revolution of 1917, the Holy Synod issued decrees prohibiting the installation of Christmas trees in schools and gymnasiums.

However, by the beginning of the 20th century, the Christmas tree was becoming a common sight in Russia. After 1917, the Christmas trees were preserved for several years: remember the paintings “Christmas tree in Sokolniki”, “Christmas tree in Gorki”. But since 1925, a planned struggle against religion and Orthodox holidays began, the result of which was the final abolition of Christmas in 1929. Christmas Day turned into a regular work day. Along with Christmas, the tree, already firmly fused with it, was also canceled. The Christmas tree, which the Orthodox Church once opposed, has now come to be called a “priestly” custom. And then the tree “went underground”: they continued to put it up secretly for Christmas, tightly curtaining the windows.

The situation changed after I.V. Stalin said the words: “ We need to live better, we need to live more fun" At the end of 1935, the Christmas tree was not so much revived as transformed into a new holiday, which received a simple and clear formulation: “ New Year tree is a holiday of joyful and happy childhood in our country». Setting up Christmas trees for children of employees of institutions and industrial enterprises becomes mandatory. The connection between the tree and Christmas was forgotten. The Christmas tree has become an attribute of the New Year public holiday. Eight-pointed star- the Slavic-Aryan sign of the Sun, which Christians called the Star of Bethlehem, on the top " christmas tree"has now replaced five pointed star, the same as on the Kremlin towers.

In 1954, the main tree of the country, the Kremlin, was lit for the first time, which sparkles and sparkles every New Year.

After 1935, toys reflected the development of the national economy in the USSR. The Soviet magazine Around the World, popular in those years, explained:

“You can trace the history of the construction of the New World communist society in different years by looking at the Christmas tree decorations. Along with the banal bunnies and squirrels, icicles and koloboks, toys were produced in the form of a five-pointed star, a hammer and sickle, a tractor, an airplane; later they were replaced by toys in the form of astronauts, spaceships, and rockets.”

Christmas remained banned until 1989. This is the complicated history of the New Year tree in Russia.

Where did the Christmas tree holiday originate?

It turns out that many Europeanized Slavic-Aryan peoples have long used Christmas or yuletide log, a huge piece of wood or stump, which was lit on the hearth on the first day of Christmas and gradually burned down during the twelve days of the holiday. According to popular belief, careful storage of a piece of Christmas log throughout the year protected the house from fire and lightning, provided the family with an abundance of grain and helped cattle easily bear offspring. Stumps of spruce and beech trunks were used as Christmas logs. Among the southern Slavs this is the so-called bad guy, among the Scandinavians - juldlock, among the French - le buche de Noël (Christmas block of wood, which in fact, if you read these words in Russian, we get buh - Russian butt - the reverse side of an axe-axe, it is quite a block of wood or log; and no-el is similar to a fusion of words - Norwegian tree or new New Year Christmas tree, or the best and most accurate hit night tree).

The history of the transformation of spruce into a Christmas tree has not yet been accurately restored. All we know for sure is that it happened on the territory Germany, where spruce was especially revered during the Vedic culture and was identified with the world tree: “ The queen of German forests was the evergreen spruce" It was here, among the ancient Slavs, the ancestors of the Germans, that it first became a New Year's symbol, and later a Christmas plant symbol. Among the Germanic peoples, there has long been a custom of going to the forest for the New Year, where the spruce tree chosen for the ritual role was illuminated with candles and decorated with colored rags, after which appropriate rituals were performed near or around it. Over time, spruce trees began to be cut down and brought into the house, where they were placed on the table. Lighted candles were attached to the tree, and apples and sugar products were hung on it. The emergence of the cult of spruce as a symbol of undying nature was facilitated by its evergreen cover, which made it possible to use it during the winter holiday season, which was a transformation of the long-known custom of decorating houses with evergreens.

After the baptism and Latinization of the Slavic peoples inhabiting the territory of modern Germany, customs and rituals associated with the veneration of spruce gradually began to acquire a Christian meaning, and it began to be used as christmas tree, installing in houses not on New Year's Eve, but on Christmas Eve, i.e. Christmas Eve of the Sun (god), December 24, which is why it got the name Christmas tree - Weihnachtsbaum(approx. A.N.- an interesting word, which if read in parts and in Russian is very similar to the following - holy night log, where if we add “s” to Weih, we get the Russian word holy or light). From now on, on Christmas Eve (Weihnachtsabend), the festive mood in Germany began to be created not only by Christmas carols, but also by a Christmas tree with candles burning on it.

A Christmas tree with candles and decorations was first mentioned in 1737 year. Fifty years later there is a record from a certain baroness who claims that in every German home “a fir tree is prepared, covered with candles and sweets, with magnificent lighting”.

In France, the custom persisted for a long time burn a Christmas log on Christmas Eve(le buche de Noël), and the Christmas tree was digested more slowly and not as readily as in the northern countries.

In the stylized story of the emigrant writer M. A. Struve “Paris Letter”, which describes the “first Parisian impressions” of a Russian youth who celebrated Christmas 1868 in Paris, it says:

“The room... greeted me decorated, but Christmas trees, dear to me according to St. Petersburg custom, even if only the smallest one, in it it didn't turn out».

Charles Dickens, in his 1830 essay “Christmas Dinner,” while describing the English Christmas, does not yet mention the tree, but writes about the traditional mistletoe branch in England, under which boys, according to custom, kiss their cousins, and the holly branch adorning the top of the giant pudding . However, in the essay “The Christmas Tree,” written in the early 1850s, the writer already enthusiastically welcomes the new custom:

“This evening I watched a cheerful crowd of children gathered around the Christmas tree - a nice German idea! The tree was installed in the middle of a large round table and rose high above their heads. It glowed brightly with many small candles and everything around was sparkling and sparkling with shiny things... Bright fun is now blooming around the tree - singing, dancing, all sorts of undertakings. Hello to them. Hello innocent fun under the branches of the Christmas tree that never cast a dark shadow!

Most of the peoples of Western Europe began to actively adopt the tradition of the Christmas tree only in the middle of the 19th century. The spruce gradually became an essential and integral part of the family holiday, although the memory of its German origin was preserved for many years.

Alexander Novak
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The custom of putting up a Christmas tree at home for the New Year holiday came to Rus' quite recently, a little over a century and a half ago. And, like many other things brought to us from Western Europe, it turned out, to put it mildly, not entirely useful...

The tradition of celebrating New Year's holidays with a Christmas tree has entered our everyday life so much that almost no one asks the questions: where did the Christmas tree come from? What does it symbolize? Why is the Christmas tree an integral attribute for Christmas and New Year? When did our Christmas tree appear and where did it come from, we will try to find out in this article. In 1906, the philosopher Vasily Rozanov wrote: “ Many years ago I was surprised to learn that The custom of the Christmas tree is not one of the indigenous Russian customs. The Christmas tree has now become so firmly entrenched in Russian society that it would never occur to anyone that she's not Russian… »

As you already know from the article “What do we celebrate on the New Year”, the tradition of celebrating the New Year with a Christmas tree was brought to Russia by the false Peter I in 1699. Here is a small fragment from this decree (the letter “ъ” at the end of the words is not readable):

«… Now from the Nativity of Christ the year 1699 has reached, and on the 1st of January the new year 1700 will begin, together with a new centenary century, and for that good and useful purpose, the Great Sovereign has indicated that henceforth the dates should be counted in the Orders and in all matters and fortresses to be written from the current Genvar with 1st of the Nativity of Christ 1700. And as a sign of that good beginning and the new centenary century in the reigning city of Moscow, after due thanksgiving to God and prayer singing in the church and whoever happens in his home, along the large and well-traveled noble streets, to noble people and at houses of deliberate spiritual and temporal rank before it is possible to make the gates with some decorations from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper against the samples that were made in the Gostin Dvor and at the lower pharmacy, or for whomever is more convenient and decent, depending on the place and the gate…»

However, the decree of Emperor Peter had only an indirect relation to the future Christmas tree: firstly, the city was decorated not only with spruce trees, but also with other coniferous trees; secondly, the decree recommended the use of both whole trees and branches, and, finally, thirdly, decorations from pine needles were ordered to be installed not indoors, but outside - on gates, roofs of taverns, streets and roads. This turned the tree into a detail of the New Year's city landscape, and not of the Christmas interior, which it became much later. The text of the sovereign's decree shows us that for Peter, in the custom he introduced, which he became acquainted with during his European trip, aesthetics were important - houses and streets were ordered to be decorated with pine needles; so is the symbolism - decorations from evergreen needles should have been created to commemorate the celebration of the New Year.

The sovereign's instructions were preserved only in decoration drinking establishments, which continued to be decorated with Christmas trees before the New Year. Taverns were identified by these trees, which were tied to a stake, installed on the roofs, or stuck at the gates. The trees stood there until the next year, on the eve of which the old ones were replaced with new ones. Having arisen as a result of Peter's decree, this custom was maintained throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Pushkin in “The History of the Village of Goryukhin” mentions “ an ancient public building decorated with a Christmas tree and the image of a double-headed eagle.” This characteristic detail was well known and was reflected from time to time in many works of Russian literature. Sometimes, instead of a Christmas tree, pine trees were placed on the roofs of taverns: “The tavern building... consisted of an old two-story hut with a high roof... At the top of it stood a red withered pine; its thin, withered branches seemed to be calling for help».

And in the poem by N.P. Kilberg’s 1872 “Yolka”, the coachman is sincerely surprised that the master cannot recognize it as a drinking establishment based on the Christmas tree driven at the door of the hut:

“We’ve arrived!.. we’re rushing through the village like an arrow,
Suddenly the horses stood in front of a dirty hut,
Where there is a Christmas tree at the door...
What is this?.. - What an eccentric master you are,
Don't you know?.. After all this is a pub!..»

That is why people began to call taverns “Yolki” or “Ivan-Yolkin”: “ Let's go to the Christmas tree and have a drink for the holiday»; « Apparently, you were visiting Ivan Yolkin, that you are swaying from side to side»; « the tree (tavern) sweeps the house cleaner than a broom" Soon, the whole complex of “alcoholic” concepts gradually acquired “Christmas tree” doublets: “ raise the tree" - to get drunk, " go under the tree" or " the tree has fallen, let's go pick it up" - go to the tavern, " be under the tree» – to be in a tavern; " Yolkin» – state of alcoholic intoxication, etc.

The tradition of celebrating New Year's holidays with a Christmas tree has entered our everyday life so much that almost no one asks the questions: where did the Christmas tree come from? What does it symbolize? Why is the tree an integral attribute for Christmas and? When did our Christmas tree appear and where did it come from, we will try to find out in this article. In 1906, the philosopher Vasily Rozanov wrote: “Many years ago I was surprised to learn that The custom of the Christmas tree is not one of the indigenous Russian customs. The Christmas tree has now become so firmly entrenched in Russian society that it would never occur to anyone that she's not Russian…»

As you already know from the article, he brought the tradition of celebrating the New Year with a Christmas tree to Russia by decree in 1699. Here is a small fragment from this decree (letter " ъ"at the end of words is not readable):

“...now from the Nativity of Christ the year 1699 has reached, and on the 1st of January the new year 1700 and a new centenary age will begin, and for this good and useful purpose, the Great Sovereign has indicated that henceforth in the Orders and in all matters and fortresses to write from the present January from the 1st of the Nativity of Christ 1700. And as a sign of that good beginning and the new centenary century in the reigning city, after due thanksgiving to God and prayer singing in the church and whoever happens in his home, along the large and well-traveled streets of noble people and at houses of deliberate spiritual and temporal rank in front of the gate it is possible to make some decorations from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper against the samples that were made in the Gostin Dvor and at the lower pharmacy, or to whomever is more convenient and decent, depending on the place and the gate...”

The sovereign's instructions were preserved only in decoration drinking establishments, which continued to be decorated before the New Year. Taverns were identified by these trees, which were tied to a stake, installed on the roofs, or stuck at the gates. The trees stood there until the next year, on the eve of which the old ones were replaced with new ones. Having arisen as a result of Peter's decree, this custom was maintained throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Pushkin in “The History of the Village of Goryukhin” mentions “an ancient public building decorated with a Christmas tree and the image of a double-headed eagle”. This characteristic detail was well known and was reflected from time to time in many works of Russian literature. Sometimes, instead of a Christmas tree, pine trees were placed on the roofs of taverns: “The tavern building... consisted of an old two-story hut with a high roof... At the top of it stood a red withered pine; its thin, withered branches seemed to be calling for help.”

“We’ve arrived!.. we’re rushing through the village like an arrow,
Suddenly the horses stood in front of a dirty hut,
Where there is a Christmas tree at the door...
What is this?.. - What an eccentric master you are,
Don't you know?.. After all this is a pub!..»

That is why people began to call taverns “Yolki” or “Ivan-Yolkin”: “ Let's go to the Christmas tree and have a drink for the holiday»; « Apparently, you were visiting Ivan Yolkin, that you are swaying from side to side»; « the tree (tavern) sweeps the house cleaner than a broom" Soon, the whole complex of “alcoholic” concepts gradually acquired “Christmas tree” doublets: “ raise the tree" - to get drunk, " go under the tree" or " the tree has fallen, let's go pick it up" - go to the tavern, " be under the tree» – to be in a tavern; " Yolkin» – state of alcoholic intoxication, etc.

Where did the Christmas tree holiday originate?

It turns out that many Europeanized Slavic-Aryan peoples have long used Christmas or yuletide log, a huge piece of wood or stump, which was lit on the hearth on the first day of Christmas and gradually burned down during the twelve days of the holiday. According to popular belief, carefully storing a piece of Christmas log throughout the year protected the house from fire and lightning, provided the family with an abundance of grain, and helped livestock bear offspring easily. Stumps of spruce and beech trunks were used as Christmas logs. Among the southern Slavs, this is the so-called bad guy, among the Scandinavians - juldlock, among the French - le buche de Noël(Christmas block of wood, which, in fact, if you read these words in Russian, we get buh - Russian butt - the reverse side of an axe-axe, it is quite a block of wood or a log; and no-yol is similar to a fusion of words - Norwegian Christmas tree or new New Year tree , or the best and most accurate hit night tree).

Over time, spruce trees began to be cut down and brought into the house, where they were placed on the table. Lighted candles were attached to the tree, and apples and sugar products were hung on it. The emergence of the cult of spruce as a symbol of undying nature was facilitated by its evergreen cover, which made it possible to use it during the winter holiday season, which was a transformation of the long-known custom of decorating houses with evergreens.

After the baptism and Latinization of the Slavic peoples (pure-blooded Germans are not Aryans, but Slavs, or rather the Holy Russians - blue-eyed and fair-haired) inhabiting the territory of modern Germany, customs and rituals associated with the veneration of spruce began to gradually acquire a Christian meaning, and it began to be used in quality christmas tree, installing in houses not on, but on Christmas Eve, i.e. Christmas Eve of the Sun (god), December 24, which is why it received the name of the Christmas tree - Weihnachtsbaum (an interesting word, which if read in parts and in Russian is very similar to the following - holy night log, where if to Weih add “s”, we get a Russian word holy or light). From now on on Christmas Eve (Weihnachtsabend) The festive mood began to be created not only by Christmas carols, but also by the Christmas tree with candles burning on it.

In France, the custom persisted for a long time burn a Christmas log on Christmas Eve (le buche de Noël), and the Christmas tree was digested more slowly and not as readily as in northern countries. In the story-stylization of the emigrant writer M.A. Struve’s “Paris Letter,” which describes the “first Parisian impressions” of a Russian youth who celebrated Christmas in 1868, says: “The room... greeted me decorated, but Christmas trees, dear to me according to St. Petersburg custom, even if only the smallest one, in it it didn't turn out…»

Now, knowing the truth about the tree and the holidays associated with it, you can perfectly celebrate the Christmas of the Sun (read my article for details) without a tree, and without Santa Claus, and without and not at midnight, and most importantly - on the present day Birth of the Sun, which is celebrated in the evening from December 24th to 25th, and not in our style from January 6th to 7th.

It turns out that the entire Christian world is celebrating correctly Christmas of the Sun, and us Russians, as always, deceived And slipped We have alien gods, alien traditions and holidays, and on days alien to the truth! As you celebrate, don’t forget why everyone has gathered at the table and whose Christmas you are celebrating...

Almost all people love New Year, regardless of gender and age.

The main attribute of this celebration is a Christmas tree - artificial or real. However, few know the history of the origin of this interesting and beautiful tradition.

1. It is believed that the prototype of the New Year tree was the World Tree - Yggdrasil - the center of the universe and a symbol of the structure of the Universe. Its crown went into the world of the gods, its roots were in the world of the dead.

2. There are several points of view about who was the first to decorate a tree for Christmas. According to one of them, the tradition appeared on the banks of the upper Rhine in the 16th century. On Christmas Eve, some guilds erected a Christmas tree in the main city square, and it was not necessarily a Christmas tree. They began to decorate their houses festively a little later - a small beech or spruce tree was often hung upside down from the ceiling. At the end of the holiday, children were allowed to pick sweets and nuts from the tree.

3. By the middle of the 17th century, the Christmas tree was already popular in Europe. In Vienna, fir branches and entire trees were used to decorate homes on St. Nicholas Day (December 19). In 1820, a festively decorated Christmas tree appeared on a square in Prague, and after that in other countries.

4. In our country, the New Year tree appeared thanks to Peter I in 1699. The new tradition took a long time to take root - more than 100 years. The nobility received her well, organizing lush Christmas balls with round dances around the green beauty, the common people just chuckled, not understanding why they should decorate the trees familiar to everyone. The first tall Christmas tree on the square was installed only in 1881.

In the early 20s, the Christmas tree was banned in the USSR, as was the celebration of Christmas - the country was struggling with the “priestly” legacy. On the eve of the holiday, special teams went from house to house, looking into windows to stop attempts to follow the anti-Soviet tradition.

Only in 1935 did Pavel Postyshev manage to defend the Christmas tree, calling attacks on it a “left bend.” The tree became not a Christmas tree, but a New Year's tree. After Postyshev’s article in the Pravda newspaper, not only the green beauty returned to the kids. Father Frost and his fairy-tale granddaughter Snegurochka began to bring gifts to Soviet children.

5. The New Year tree was able to penetrate into Muslim states. For example, in the 1960s it was decorated in Morocco and Tehran. Before the outbreak of World War II, spruce was decorated in Turkey, but this tradition was banned by Ataturk Kemal in 1936 in order to preserve the forests there. Today, the New Year in Muslim countries is considered a secular holiday and is not celebrated by 95% of the population.

In the modern world, natural trees have been replaced by artificial ones, but some designers have gone even further, offering their clients truly unusual Christmas trees.
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