The Back Story of the Christmas Tree

The evergreen tree was used to celebrate winter festivals of pagan origin. The Pagans would decorate their homes with evergreen boughs during the winter solstice to ward off evil spirits and witches.

  In the same way, the early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder. 

Germany was thought to have first used an evergreen tree to celebrate the birth of Christ. 
Martin Luther is believe to have first introduced lighting candles and fastening them on the boughs. The story goes, Martin Luther was walking home one night, going over his sermon for the christmas service when he saw  large firs pointing to the stars above.  This inspired him to create a scene for his family in the living room by erecting a small tree in the parlor and decorating it with candles.   I have my doubts about this fact, it may have been dreamed up by the Lutheren Church in order to create a "lovable" character out of Luther.   Even if I try hard I cannot seem to associate Martin Luther with the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree.  To be cont....