A lot of what is widely regarded as true
about Christmas or held as a tradition cannot or has not been verified, or, has
changed through the years.
Even Christmas Day itself, Dec. 25, has been
questioned about whether that is the exact day on which Jesus was born.
Skeptics have asked why shepherds would be out in the cold watching their
flocks by night during the winter. Those skeptics have put forward the thought
that Jesus may really have been born in the spring instead. It is therefore
little wonder that there are many fancy stories and tales that are told about
Christmas and the Christmas season.
The most common fancy tale that everyone
tells, particularly to children, is about Santa Claus, also called St.
Nicholas. But even if it were accepted that Santa Claus existed, where does he
live and how is he able to get to all the houses of good boys and girls on
Christmas Eve?
In the United States, Santa Claus is said to
have two homes. There is a home in Torrington, Connecticut, which is used as a
distribution point for Santa and his many helpers, who are elves, to hand out
gifts. And then, a second home is said to be located in Wilmington, New York,
and that is where Santa Claus and his delivery reindeer crew are located.
But Santa can be visited in Cyberspace at
anytime and what about the widely held belief that Santa Claus really lives in
a village at the North Pole?
The people of Finland also claim that their
country is the official residence of Santa Claus. That's because in Finland,
you can actually visit a village any time during the year and see Santa's
workshop and observe Santa and his elves hard at work as they prepare for their
very important Christmas gift delivery job on Christmas Eve.
The only day when Santa's workshop is closed
to visitors is of course, on Christmas Eve.
Maybe a very smart visitor could visit
Santa's workshop on the day before Christmas Eve to see if there are any clues
to how Santa and his reindeers plan to make their trip the next day. That's
because as the tale goes, in Finland Santa Claus and his reindeers do not reach
their destinations around the globe by flying.
Finland welcomes visitors to Santa's workshop
but there is nothing said about whether visitors actually have any chance of
having a word with the man himself. While the chances of doing so are believed
to be non-existent, among the questions that inquiring minds could ask Santa is
whether Rudolph is the son of Donner (and to confirm the spelling - Donner or
Donder) or whether Santa spotted him in a different reindeer village one foggy
Christmas Eve when he had already started on his Christmas toy-delivery
mission.
If mere mortals got a chance to question
Santa, then he also would likely have some questions for us humans. He may want
to know whose idea was it to have Christmas trees and for the gifts to be
placed under them.
The tradition of Christmas tree as it exists
today comes from Germany by way of immigrants. But it isn't clear how the
tradition really gained a foothold in Germany. One story is that Christians in
Germany during the 16th century started to bring trees that were decorated into
their homes. Some of those Christians would build pyramids for Christmas. The
pyramids were made of wood and would be decorated with evergreens and candles
if wood were in short supply.
It is however Martin Luther, a Protestant
reformer, who is said to have been the first to add lighted candles as
decoration to a tree based on his inspiration from the brilliant light of
twinkling stars that shone through evergreen trees as he walked home one winter
evening.
As the legend goes, Martin Luther placed a
tree in a primary room of his house and placed wires with small, lighted
candles around the branches of the tree. And that is how, as the tale goes, the
Christmas tree as known today, was started.
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