Dec. 7, 2025

The Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon Amazon Music podcast player icon Castbox podcast player icon Deezer podcast player icon Podcast Addict podcast player icon Podchaser podcast player icon JioSaavn podcast player icon Spreaker podcast player icon

Every holiday season, millions of people decorate a Christmas tree without knowing where the tradition truly comes from. Is it rooted in ancient pagan customs? Does it have a connection to Christ? Or has the meaning changed entirely over time?

In this archived episode of ParaTruth Radio, Erik and Justin explore the mysterious origins of the Christmas tree—its symbolism, its evolution, and why it became a global holiday icon.

If you’ve ever wondered why we put up a tree or what deeper significance it holds, this episode will take you straight down the rabbit hole.

Listen now and uncover the forgotten history behind one of the world’s most beloved holiday traditions.

#ParaTruthReborn #ChristmasTreeOrigins #ParanormalPodcast #HolidayTraditions #UPRN

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/paratruth-reborn--6273542/support.

Thanks for listening!

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.839
Welcome. Well go well do Para Truth Truth.

2
00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:40.399
How's it going, Paratruthers. We are doing another throwback episode

3
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:45.840
to a episode we did on Paratruth Radio where we

4
00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:50.159
talked about the different traditions that we have when it

5
00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:54.280
comes to Christmas trees. Is entitled the Christmas Tree.

6
00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.840
We hope you enjoy it. Did a full episode on

7
00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.000
the history of the Christmas Tree, and I ended up

8
00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.240
finding that there's a couple of sites out there that

9
00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:05.959
cover the history of the Christmas Tree, I think starting

10
00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:11.159
fifteen ten. But nonetheless it's pretty vast because there's a

11
00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:16.200
lot of different beliefs behind the Christmas Tree, and there

12
00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:20.760
are beliefs or opinions as to what the tree actually represents.

13
00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:25.319
So I think without much further ado, we should just

14
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:26.719
probably jump right into it.

15
00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:31.200
Yeah. The one thing, as I was looking through the article,

16
00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:35.719
like what we are led to believe is that the

17
00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:40.000
Christmas Tree kind of comes from paganism, which in a

18
00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:43.640
sense it does, but this article kind of goes in

19
00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:50.719
a little more depth as to like different cultures competing

20
00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:58.079
as to who actually created the Christmas Tree as well.

21
00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:59.640
Right, And I guess that's probably where we should start.

22
00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:01.359
Yeah, Yeah, let's do.

23
00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:05.200
It all right, so just for reference, and of course

24
00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:08.080
we'll have the link in the show notes. But this

25
00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:10.439
is at least this article that I'm starting with is

26
00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:14.560
coming from National Geographic dot Com. Obviously we're not sponsored,

27
00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:19.240
which we were, but I love nat geo. There's just

28
00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:21.560
so many things that you can learn through them. So

29
00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:26.719
with that said, there are competing claims in Northern Europe

30
00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:32.919
about who adopted the Christmas tree first. Those two places

31
00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:37.400
are Latvia and Estonia. They both claim to have been

32
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:41.479
home to the first Christmas tree, and Lativia traces Christmas

33
00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.960
tree traditions back to fifteen ten, when a merchant guild

34
00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:49.199
called the House of the Black Heads interesting name, carried

35
00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:53.400
a tree through the city, decorated it, and later burned

36
00:02:53.400 --> 00:03:00.039
it down. Meanwhile, Estonia has countered those claims, saying that

37
00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:03.080
it has evidence of a similar festival hosted by the

38
00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:08.520
very same guild in its capital capital city tall In

39
00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:16.360
in fourteen forty one, so significantly the amount of time earlier.

40
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.719
Almost one hundred years. Yeah, I'm sorry, sixty years.

41
00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:26.960
It's like yeah to lat Fia. Now. Historians have actually

42
00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:30.719
casted doubt on both of those claims. A person by

43
00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:35.919
the name of Gustava's Strenga of the National Library of

44
00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.240
lat Fia and Riga Latvia in Riga, I think it's Riga,

45
00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:46.759
maybe it's Rigil. Absolutely no idea, folks. No Idea told

46
00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:49.639
New York Times in twenty sixteen that the guild's festivities

47
00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:52.919
were likely unrelated to Christmas. But that hasn't, of course,

48
00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.280
stopped these two countries from fighting for bragging rights. Now.

49
00:03:56.280 --> 00:04:00.800
We do see that quite a bit within historic claims

50
00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:05.840
for various traditions, you know, just because they used an

51
00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:09.199
item that we currently use today for one reason, in

52
00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.199
this case, Christmas people. You know that the people have

53
00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:15.319
come forward in the past who have stated that they

54
00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:19.720
used it first, but out of context, they use it

55
00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:23.120
for something completely different. It's just a tree in this

56
00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:28.879
case that seems to look similar to our modern version

57
00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:29.959
of the Christmas.

58
00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:35.079
Tree, right well, and I think that's where a lot

59
00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.319
of the all of us kind of loses context, because

60
00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:45.399
the Christmas tree as we know it today is kind

61
00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:48.920
of what they're they're going towards, right.

62
00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:53.480
Yeah, that's the focus within this article. And according to

63
00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:59.600
the beliefs of let's be A and Estonia, that's what

64
00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:03.920
they cl you know, is what led it to our

65
00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.680
modern version of the tree.

66
00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:13.040
Well, what's interesting is it goes into the next part

67
00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:21.240
is Christmas tree origins in Germany m h. And it's

68
00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:24.199
looking through this article when you send it to me,

69
00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:27.759
I just started laughing because it's like every almost every

70
00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:32.920
country you can think of in history prior to the

71
00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:41.079
US wants to lame claim to it. So this this

72
00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:45.360
part is interesting that instead, Cuzak says, it's more likely

73
00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:49.519
that the Christmas Tree as we know it was actually

74
00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:54.720
born in Alsace region during the sixteenth century, now part

75
00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:58.759
of France, but it was German territory at one point.

76
00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.800
Historical records indicate that a Christmas tree was raised in

77
00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:09.279
Strasbourg Cathedral in fifteen thirty nine. Now take note of

78
00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:12.279
that because it's actually late later than than a Latvia,

79
00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.800
and that the tradition has grown so popular throughout the

80
00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:22.160
region that the city of Freyburg banned felling trees for

81
00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:26.519
Christmas in fifteen fifty four, meaning they outlawed cutting down

82
00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:31.279
Christmas trees because people were getting so into the tradition. Now,

83
00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:34.600
folklore offers a number of different explanations for the meaning

84
00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:37.920
of the tree. Some suggest that it was inspired by

85
00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:41.040
the Paradise Tree, a symbol of the Garden of Eden

86
00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.639
that featured in a medieval play about Adam and Eve.

87
00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:50.879
Others believe the Christmas tree evolved from Christmas pyramids, wooden

88
00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:56.920
structures decorated with evergreen boughs, and religious figures. Jusak doesn't

89
00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:01.079
believe there's any substance to those theories. Instead, she says

90
00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:05.120
the Christmas tree was intended to be religiously neutral in

91
00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:09.600
the context of Christianity, so the tradition caught on among

92
00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:17.399
German on among German families solely evolved through the years

93
00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:21.240
to what we know today. Kuzak says that the Protestant

94
00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:25.800
reformer Martin Luther, if you guys don't know who, that is,

95
00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:34.040
a very prominent person in the Christian religion, is often

96
00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:36.680
credited with being the first to put lights on the

97
00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:41.439
Christmas tree with candles rather than today's electric lights, which

98
00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:44.240
were invented in eighteen eighty two, after a night time

99
00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:49.000
stroll through the forest with twinkling stars above. German emigrants

100
00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:53.399
took these traditions with them as they resettled in other countries.

101
00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:57.600
By the eighteenth century, Kusak says Christmas trees were all

102
00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:04.319
over Europe. So right now it looks like Germany has

103
00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.240
the claim.

104
00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:10.079
That's what it seems. Now. What's interesting though, is like

105
00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:13.959
with with the folklore, I mean, this something indicates two

106
00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.720
pieces of folklore in which this tree represents. And that is,

107
00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:19.839
of course, as you had said, the idea of the

108
00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:24.000
symbol of garden of the garden of Geez, the garden

109
00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:26.959
of Eden, I keep on said, the garden of evil,

110
00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:34.559
which I mean technically is probably right, yeah. And then

111
00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.960
the other being the Christmas tree evolved from Christmas period pyramids.

112
00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:40.919
There's yet a third belief in Christian tradition that the

113
00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:45.879
Christmas tree is actually a representation of the prelude to

114
00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:49.799
Christ's sacrifice on a tree, because the scripture says that

115
00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:53.039
his arms are outstretched upon a tree, and so a

116
00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:56.320
lot of people will use that. There's also belief that

117
00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:02.159
the Christmas tree represents Holy Trinity in that it takes

118
00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:06.039
the form of a triangle three points, the Father's Son,

119
00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:09.480
and the Holy Spirit. A couple more things there that

120
00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:12.000
wasn't included in this article, and I think it's important

121
00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.200
to know in terms of just I guess the history

122
00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:23.559
and what people believe the tree to represent. Now the trees. Actually,

123
00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:32.120
despite supposedly being I guess having its origin within Germany,

124
00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.679
it didn't really take full because it says that in

125
00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:38.480
Germany it kind of spread throughout Europe. But that's not

126
00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:44.480
entirely accurate according to this article either, because it claims

127
00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:49.720
that the United Kingdom didn't really become trending with trees

128
00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:53.720
until a little bit later. Now, Queen Charlotte, the Princess

129
00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:59.159
of Germany of German Duchy, who married King George the

130
00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:01.720
Third in the middle teenth century, is thought to have

131
00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:05.200
introduced the first Christmas tree to the royal household. But

132
00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.600
it was another British queen who made Christmas trees the

133
00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:12.440
seasonal icon that they are today. That person was Queen

134
00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:16.159
Victoria in eighteen forty eight and her husband Prince Albert,

135
00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:19.720
another German transplant by the way, who captured the imaginations

136
00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:23.480
of royal watchers around the world when the Illustrated London

137
00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:27.240
News published an illustration of their family gathered around a

138
00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:33.480
decorated Christmas tree. Now, Queen Victoria was actually a transsetter

139
00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.759
of her time, and so naturally when people saw this,

140
00:10:38.039 --> 00:10:43.519
the tradition took off around the world. Now, of course,

141
00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:48.360
the most famous Christmas Tree is in London, which is

142
00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.639
the one that lights up. I think it's Trafalgar Square

143
00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:55.799
every winter. This tree, of course, has rich global history

144
00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:59.320
of its own, because in nineteen forty seven Norway started

145
00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:02.919
the tradition of giving the UK a Christmas treat every

146
00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:06.840
year as a token of gratitude for its allyship during

147
00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:10.360
World War Two when the Norwegian government took refuge in

148
00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:17.480
the UK after the Nazi invasion. HM.

149
00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:22.120
So kind of like how France gave the Statue of

150
00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.240
Liberty to the US.

151
00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:27.960
Right, except you know they do it every year one. Yeah.

152
00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:30.240
Can you imagine we just had.

153
00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:35.120
Like new statue of liberty every year, one.

154
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:36.919
Statue of liberty in every city of America.

155
00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.159
New York or New York Bay would just be filled

156
00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:43.720
with statues of liberty. There wouldn't be no more water.

157
00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.159
That's all it is. It's just a monument. New York

158
00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:50.159
City is just a monument, not a place of business.

159
00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:58.679
Oh man. So you know with that tradition from from

160
00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:05.480
Germany and the UK adopting this, of course, that came

161
00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:11.039
to the US in the eighteenth century with the immigrants

162
00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:14.559
from Germany coming here and then bringing this tradition along

163
00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:21.519
and I think everybody can say the most famous Christmas

164
00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:26.480
tree in the US is the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center,

165
00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:32.960
and I think to this day, I still haven't been

166
00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:35.240
able to see that tree in person. But I think

167
00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:40.720
every person watches the lighting of this tree, even if

168
00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:42.639
you have to catch it on YouTube or something, just

169
00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.440
because of how fascinating it really is. The first lighting

170
00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:53.720
something that I found really interesting. It talks about New

171
00:12:53.799 --> 00:13:00.879
Year's trees in Russia, but I scrolled down and found

172
00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:07.480
and Antarctica's scrap metal Christmas tree and I was like,

173
00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:14.639
I mean, the South Pole gets doesn't get the the

174
00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:17.200
notoriy to the North Pole does this time of year.

175
00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:21.399
So it's so fascinating to me that Antarctica has has

176
00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.799
its own Christmas tree tradition. So in this article it

177
00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:28.840
says even Antarctica has had its share of Christmas tree traditions,

178
00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:31.159
although there are no trees to be found in the

179
00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:35.519
South Pole. In nineteen forty six, crew members aboard a

180
00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:42.360
US Navy expedition to Antarctica celebrated Christmas at sea by

181
00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:46.679
tying a spruce tree from Canada to their mast. More

182
00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:50.759
than half a century later, researchers based at the US

183
00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:54.960
a munths in scott South Pole Station created a Christmas

184
00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.879
tree out of scrap metal, complete with custom ornaments, although

185
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:04.399
tradition believe briefly carried on the iron workers adding new

186
00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:07.720
adorments each year at the National Science Foundation says the

187
00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:10.480
scrap metal tree is no longer part of the Christmas

188
00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:16.600
celebrations at the Antarctic Research Station, which makes sense because

189
00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:20.840
who knows how many people were getting frostbit er freezing

190
00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:22.559
trying to keep this thing up.

191
00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:27.919
Or who you know, I mean, Antarctica. Down at these stations,

192
00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:31.600
there's I mean, in this case it was based in

193
00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:34.399
the US Humminson, but I'm sure there was like a

194
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.600
I don't know, some sort of thing in regards to

195
00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:45.960
discrepancy on people's beliefs, and so because there's so many

196
00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:49.200
different kinds of people that are working down there, that

197
00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:51.679
might have been one reason why they got rid of them.

198
00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:56.120
That could be whoever, one other thing that I thought

199
00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:57.480
was really I mean, there's a lot of things that

200
00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:01.639
I thought was interesting, but this next one actually originally

201
00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:05.039
in my research kept coming up as being the first

202
00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:10.080
official segue into the Christmas Tree. Now that, according to

203
00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:14.480
this article and one other, has kind of been sidelined.

204
00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:18.720
But you guys kind of decide for yourself. Because there

205
00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:24.639
were once Christmas boats in Greece and now people believed

206
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:30.320
Scientists believed initially that Christmas boats or boats that were

207
00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:33.840
decorated kind of like Christmas trees, were the original form

208
00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:36.720
of the Christmas tree before being docked on my end

209
00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.759
and becoming what we know today now. In Greece, people

210
00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:44.679
once decorated Christmas boats rather than trees, in honor Saint Nicholas,

211
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.679
the country's patron saint and protector of sailors. Not only

212
00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:52.440
would families play small wooden boats inside their homes to

213
00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:56.200
symbolize a welcome return from life at sea, but lighted

214
00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.759
boats took the place of honor in public squares of

215
00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:11.399
such as Okay. Now, of course, in modern days, however,

216
00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:14.480
the Christmas boat has been eclipsed by the Christmas tree,

217
00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:18.000
as I've stated, but such boats can still be spotted

218
00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:22.159
in some island communities. On top of that, you know,

219
00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:24.559
depending on where you go. You go to any large

220
00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.960
city country that's bordering you know, a lake, a river,

221
00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:37.039
a large river, the ocean, you're bound to see multiple

222
00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.080
boats that are just decked out in lights. Now maybe

223
00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:42.679
they don't take on the same meaning as what these

224
00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:48.120
Christmas boats did, but I'm fairly confident that it transitioned

225
00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:52.559
over to this. Just this pretty kind of some would say,

226
00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:56.720
romantic way of taking a boat ride with that's decked

227
00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:01.200
out in lightning these days. And I know I've seen

228
00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:02.960
a couple of those down in Savannah when I was

229
00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:07.480
When I was down there, they just up and down

230
00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:09.400
the river. You see boats like that.

231
00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:15.599
And so here's the question. And I don't know if

232
00:17:15.640 --> 00:17:17.799
you saw this in the other article that you saw

233
00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:21.839
this on. Does this kind of happen more in more

234
00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:30.240
warmer climates? The boats, Yeah, the the decorated boats.

235
00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:32.920
Like originally or like nowadays.

236
00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:36.599
Just even today. Yeah, yeah, I mean.

237
00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:39.119
I mean, I don't know. I can't see that for sure.

238
00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:41.200
I mean, I know there's nothing in Cleveland that I know.

239
00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:44.000
Well, that's why I'm asking, because I know we don't

240
00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.160
do it here in North Dakota here just because the

241
00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:47.200
frigid temperatures.

242
00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:50.720
So yeah, no, I don't know, you know, it's I mean,

243
00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.720
definitely nothing here. Like I said, I've seen them in Savannah,

244
00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:58.200
but I think it's really just I don't know. I

245
00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:01.160
guess it's where I'd imagine that there's more of it

246
00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:05.680
in huge ports or waterways, so Savannah being one of

247
00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:09.079
the huge ports of the US. You might see the

248
00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:13.759
same thing in New York also, I would say possibly

249
00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:19.720
on the West coast, especially maybe around San Francisco, But

250
00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:22.079
I know I haven't seen much in the La area,

251
00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:24.000
so I don't know.

252
00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:33.319
Well, this article just goes kind of HAPs all over

253
00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:36.359
the place, folks, so bear with us, because that's kind

254
00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:40.960
of how we're doing it too. I'm gonna skip the

255
00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:44.960
Scandinavian one right now because I found this one and

256
00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:55.079
it's so much more hilarious than the Scandinavian plundering of

257
00:18:55.160 --> 00:19:01.079
Christmas trees. It's called pooping locks of Catalonia and one

258
00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:07.559
tree adjacent tradition. In Catalonia's Teoda nadoll a hollow log

259
00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:11.519
with a painted face that families bring into their homes

260
00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:15.160
in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Children are expected

261
00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:20.720
to care for the Teo day nadal by wrapping it

262
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:24.599
in a blanket and leaving food and water out at night.

263
00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:30.400
Then on Christmas Day they beat the log with sticks

264
00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:36.720
to make it defecate presence and treats from a hole

265
00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:41.400
in its rear end. According to NPR, this unusual tradition

266
00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:45.440
may have evolved from a Pagan ritual in which people

267
00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:51.160
set tree trunks on fire to keep warm through the winter.

268
00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:55.839
I don't know how this relates to lighting a log

269
00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:01.359
on fire. Let's see if it gives us any more info.

270
00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.519
But why does the log have to poop out treasures?

271
00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:11.400
Cuzak says that may be related to the Kaganer, the

272
00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:17.079
figure of a defecating peasant and Catalan Nativity scenes who

273
00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:22.960
represents the world turned upside down when it's at certain times,

274
00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:29.880
the poor or disenfranchise are celebrated and the lofty brought low.

275
00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:35.039
Cusack explains the idea is that the feces fertilizes the

276
00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:41.680
earth and the Kaganer embodies civil virtues. But the true

277
00:20:41.720 --> 00:20:45.559
origins of this Catalan ritual remain shrouded in mystery, and

278
00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:50.000
much like other Christmas tree lore, may be lost time

279
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:56.839
now that they're talking when when they're talking about lighting

280
00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:01.559
the log and being connected to Pagan ritually, that's the

281
00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:07.599
Yule log if you guys don't know, But it fascinates

282
00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:13.640
me that somehow somewhere it got translated into this tree

283
00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:19.599
should poop things out because in other low, in an

284
00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:23.599
nativity scene, there's this guy just pooping.

285
00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:29.039
Like I imagine, just like, let me go set up my

286
00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:32.000
Nativity scene on my mantle or something. Oh, here's a

287
00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:34.680
little guy with a little turn hanging from his buttle.

288
00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:36.720
Who's going to place him right here next to Jesus?

289
00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:44.000
That should work? Odd?

290
00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:48.640
Yeah, and we're not laughing at people's traditions, folks, But

291
00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:51.720
that that's the first time I've ever heard of that.

292
00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:53.119
I don't know about you, but.

293
00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:57.440
I mean, I know I see little versions of it,

294
00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:58.839
and I don't know if you can just buy these

295
00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:03.759
because I kind of want to pooping glog now. I

296
00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:05.359
mean it's a happy looking log.

297
00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:12.720
Well, I mean yeah, they paint a super happy face

298
00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:20.440
on it. But the picture that they show though, isn't

299
00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:24.079
like a hollow log. Almost looks like a bench or something.

300
00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:28.200
Well, well, we don't know, because it's being respectful and

301
00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:31.000
not showing us as back end. I guess, so I

302
00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:33.440
don't know, you know, I mean, that'd probably be too

303
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.559
much for the for this particular version of the Internet

304
00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:41.519
that is National Geographic can't show a deprecating log. That

305
00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:45.160
would be you know, there's children who come under this website.

306
00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:49.480
The last thing we'll talk about then is the tree

307
00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:56.039
plundering in Scandinavia. So since the seventeenth century, Scandinavian families

308
00:22:56.039 --> 00:22:59.720
have dedicated a feast day to plundering their Christmas trees

309
00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:04.400
for weeks before throwing them out, Observed on January thirteenth.

310
00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:11.440
Saint Cannutt's Day is named for King Canot, who ruled

311
00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:16.160
in the eleventh eleventh century. Primarily celebrated in Sweden, the

312
00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:20.559
holiday is considered the twentieth and the last day of Christmas,

313
00:23:20.839 --> 00:23:24.359
unlike other countries where the Christmas period is twelve days long.

314
00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:29.680
I mean, for the record, they say it's twelve days

315
00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:36.400
along in the US. But this this shit started in September. Guys. Okay,

316
00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:40.799
I was on my beach vacation. I stopped at a store.

317
00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:43.279
There were Christmas stuff, and I was like, this is

318
00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:45.359
not cool. I'm trying to like wrap up my summer

319
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:52.000
and already given us Christmas. Anyway. To celebrate Saint Knut's Day,

320
00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:55.640
families hang Christmas or hang cookies and other treats on

321
00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:59.119
their Christmas trees for children to raid. Once a family

322
00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:03.319
has finished the tree of its decorations, people sing while

323
00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:07.279
tossing it ceremonially out the door. In Norway the tree

324
00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:12.200
is chopped up and thrown it in the fireplace instead.

325
00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:16.920
It's just it's so brutal, like, here's this pretty little tree,

326
00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:21.240
We're gonna strip it naked and they're gonna beat it,

327
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:23.640
chop it up and throw it the fire. What.

328
00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:38.000
Yeah, some of these traditions that it baffles me. But

329
00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:43.119
yet this article never really, like you said, comes to

330
00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:48.400
the conclusion who started the tradition of the Christmas tree

331
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:49.920
other than Germany?

332
00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:57.200
Yeah, I think, I think, I think, in my opinion,

333
00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:04.920
it really originates in Germany because only because Latvia, Latvia

334
00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:08.960
and Estonia there is no facts backing up their claims.

335
00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:13.200
They seem to have the same claim in two different periods,

336
00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:17.839
so six years apart. But it's just word of mouth.

337
00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:21.559
Apparently there is no evidence that like, no hard facts

338
00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:27.480
that prove which country or if either or which city

339
00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:31.200
I should say, had started it. So I do think

340
00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:35.400
that we stating that it origin originates in Germany is

341
00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:39.039
probably a fair fact or a fair assumption, but that

342
00:25:39.079 --> 00:25:43.319
the UK was the one who really just made it

343
00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:49.359
widespread throughout the world.

344
00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:53.200
So since we brought out the twelve Days of Christmas.

345
00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:56.480
I decided to look this up because I've actually never

346
00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:02.119
done research on this, know, the whole tradition of the

347
00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:03.599
twelve Days of Christmas.

348
00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:06.839
No, but I was thinking about the Twelve Days of

349
00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:08.920
Christmas song the other day because there was it was

350
00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:12.640
on the radio, and I realized, because you know, I

351
00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:16.039
always thought like, oh, day one they get partridge and

352
00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:20.279
pear tree, and day two they get whatever it is.

353
00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:28.279
Well, do you you know Day one is actually Christmas Day, okay,

354
00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:35.079
and it represents the birth of Jesus Christ, So it

355
00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:38.599
would make sense that the partridge in a pear tree

356
00:26:39.559 --> 00:26:47.200
or I do believe Christ was also represented by a

357
00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:51.640
dove at one point, which is a part or yeah,

358
00:26:52.079 --> 00:27:00.599
something connected to God, Jesus and Christmas. So that that

359
00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:03.480
does make sense then because it's supposed to represent the

360
00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:08.119
birth of Christ. Day two good.

361
00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.519
Oh no, Well, what all I was gonna say was

362
00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:15.799
the thing that I noted because I didn't finish before

363
00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:18.119
letting you go on. There was that on the first

364
00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:20.039
day Christmas, my tree love sent to me a partridge

365
00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:22.720
in pair tree. Right on the second day of Christmas,

366
00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:27.119
two trolled doves and a partridge in a pair tree,

367
00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:30.599
and I started realizing, do you know how many partridges

368
00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:33.440
in a pair trees this person has? By Day twelve twelve?

369
00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:36.359
Do you know how many five golden rings they have?

370
00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:42.920
They have thirty five. I started thinking about that, like,

371
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:45.759
wait a second, is it really saying on the eleventh

372
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:49.400
day of Christmas they you know, they get ten or

373
00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:52.359
whatever eleven pipers piping and then it just counts down

374
00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:55.599
as to the other gifts that they got, or on

375
00:27:55.640 --> 00:27:58.559
the eleventh day of Christmas already getting eleven pipers piping

376
00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:00.480
plus the ten lords of Lee, I mean that they

377
00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:04.640
already have, plus the nine ladies dancing that they already have.

378
00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:06.359
Like it's crazy.

379
00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:08.920
I think it's just a retelling of what they got

380
00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:09.799
for each day.

381
00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:12.839
Because I don't know if I can agree with that,

382
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:15.279
like the context says otherwise.

383
00:28:18.519 --> 00:28:23.440
So this article is from a website called Christmas Genius

384
00:28:23.559 --> 00:28:29.519
dot com. The second day celebrates the life and martyrdom

385
00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:34.920
of Saint Stephen. Not sure who he was, so if

386
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:37.920
you folks know who he is or have looked up,

387
00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:41.759
let us know. Day three is dedicated to Saint John

388
00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:45.880
the Divine because Jesus reportedly loved him most out of

389
00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:51.759
all of his disciples. Day four is one of the

390
00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:55.680
few days which doesn't celebrate a saint. Instead, it marks

391
00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:59.160
the feast of the Holy Innocence, a day to mourn

392
00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:05.759
the babies killed by King Herod. Day five celebrates Saint

393
00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:10.160
Thomas Beckett and his courage in opposing King Henry the

394
00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:14.839
Second's attempts to make the monarchy more powerful than the Church.

395
00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:22.359
Day six is dedicated to Saint Egwin of Worcester, who

396
00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:27.119
legend says, brought forth a stream when lost in the

397
00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:34.960
Alps and doubted by his derisive companions. Day seven is

398
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:38.440
New Year's Eve, a time of joyous celebration both today

399
00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:42.839
and throughout history. Is also a time to commemorate Pope

400
00:29:43.079 --> 00:29:47.839
Sylvester the First, a Catholic leader renowned for his generosity, patience,

401
00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:56.160
and willingness to work alongside the monarchy in Germany, Israel, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Poland,

402
00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:00.079
and many other Eastern nation European nations. This day is

403
00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:07.240
sometimes referred to as Sylvester Day eight. New Year's Day

404
00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:12.119
is traditionally a time to celebrate the life of Mary Magdalene,

405
00:30:12.279 --> 00:30:15.799
mother of Jesus Christ. No Mary Magdalene wasn't the mother

406
00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:23.279
of Jesus Christ. That's not correct. Day nine remembers the

407
00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:30.880
deeds of two saints, Saint Gregory Nazianzen and Saint Basil,

408
00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:34.440
the great close friends and doctors of the Church who

409
00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:38.160
spent their lives tending to the sick. Day eleven is

410
00:30:39.160 --> 00:30:42.200
special because it was the day of Jesus naming ceremony,

411
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:46.279
or christening as it were, as we'd refer to it now.

412
00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:50.599
On this day, Jesus was officially named the Jewish in

413
00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:56.559
the Jewish Temple. It is widely celebrated and different churches

414
00:30:56.599 --> 00:31:00.359
commemorated on different days, though January third is ought to

415
00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:05.759
be the original naming day. Day eleven, January fourth celebrates

416
00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:09.599
the life of the first American Saint Elizabeth Seton. She

417
00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:14.240
is the patron saint of Catholic schools, widows and seafarers.

418
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:18.680
And Day twelve January fifth, also known as Epiphany Eve

419
00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:24.119
or Twelfth Night, is the final day of festive celebrations.

420
00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:29.440
It remembers Saint John Newman, the first American bishop. He

421
00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:33.599
is known for his tireless efforts to bring Catholic scriptures

422
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:36.799
and teachings to wider audiences.

423
00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:41.960
So what I find most interesting about this is that

424
00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:49.279
pop culture or even just modern bleep I guess or whatever,

425
00:31:50.519 --> 00:31:53.000
indicates to twelve days of Christmas leading up to Christmas,

426
00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:56.200
so that would be December fourteenth to the twenty fifth,

427
00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:01.160
but according to your article, it's actually begins on Christmas

428
00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:01.920
the twenty fifth.

429
00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:07.359
That's the most modern traditions. But the main points of

430
00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:09.960
the twelve Days of Christmas, which is still a part

431
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:13.000
of this article, it says the twelve days of Christmas

432
00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:15.480
is the span between the birth of baby Jesus and

433
00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:20.119
the visit of the Magi, so it was twelve days

434
00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:24.240
to get to him.

435
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:26.519
Which again just mine, sorry, mindful of every to everybody,

436
00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:29.279
because even though January, you know, they talked about New

437
00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:34.759
Year's January first, and of course New Year's Eve, but

438
00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:40.559
again Christ wasn't born in December, and theologians believe that

439
00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:45.400
he was born in the springtime at some point. Sorry,

440
00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:50.640
so that is something to also just just a side note,

441
00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:52.960
you know, because there's a lot of people who still

442
00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:56.359
believe that Jesus was born on December twenty fifth, which

443
00:32:56.440 --> 00:33:00.440
is not accurate. And the fact is that the Church

444
00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:03.000
pretty much just through Christmas on the twenty fifth, to

445
00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:06.079
align with pagan holidays so that it would be easier

446
00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:09.640
to basically convert them.

447
00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:15.160
Right, But even still, Yeah, even though what I read

448
00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:18.119
is kind of like the modern day of what the

449
00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:24.079
Twelve Days of Christmas represents, this article still says, even

450
00:33:24.119 --> 00:33:26.440
though you know, we're saying the twelve Days of Christmas

451
00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:28.680
is the span between the birth of Baby Je's and

452
00:33:28.839 --> 00:33:34.279
the visit of the Magi, his birth is celebrated on

453
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:38.720
the twenty fifth, so that, even though pop culture wants

454
00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:42.839
us to believe otherwise, this is saying, yes, it actually

455
00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:48.319
starts on the celebrated day of Christ's birth. It doesn't

456
00:33:48.359 --> 00:33:54.839
say it's his actual birthday, but it doesn't really go

457
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.279
into anything more than that as far as the main points,

458
00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:01.680
because it just kind of reiterates a lot of stuff

459
00:34:01.960 --> 00:34:04.319
it says. Also known as the Twelve Tides, the Twelve

460
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:07.720
Days of Christmas is a facivity to celebrate the nativity

461
00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:11.159
of Jesus. The Twelve Days of Christmas usually begins on

462
00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:14.000
the twenty fifth day of December and runs till the

463
00:34:14.039 --> 00:34:16.960
sixth day of January. The last day of the Twelve

464
00:34:17.079 --> 00:34:20.400
Days of Christmas is known as the Epiphany. It is

465
00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:25.159
also called the Day of the three Kings. Sometimes during

466
00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:28.199
the twelve days of Christmas, some families like to observe

467
00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:31.920
other feasts or other days set aside for the saints.

468
00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:42.440
So to me, truthfully speaking, we should just be celebrating

469
00:34:45.400 --> 00:34:50.159
the birthday. But that's just my personal opinion, of course,

470
00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:54.000
because I mean, I do see what it's getting at.

471
00:34:54.039 --> 00:34:56.639
You know, it's not just celebrating that he was born,

472
00:34:56.880 --> 00:35:02.719
but that the Magi showed up and basically crowned him

473
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:10.119
king in a sense by by bringing him these gifts

474
00:35:10.119 --> 00:35:17.239
and everything. So I don't know, I still don't understand

475
00:35:17.239 --> 00:35:20.000
the twelve days of Christmas even after reading this article.

476
00:35:20.559 --> 00:35:26.920
But I see it as a day of basically TV

477
00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:30.119
shows that I can watch an ABC Family for twelve

478
00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:33.559
days and then it's over.

479
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:41.679
I yeah. And you know, the more we do research

480
00:35:41.800 --> 00:35:45.400
on Christmas for the show, the more it really makes

481
00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:50.639
me question, you know, what is Christmas really about? Because

482
00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:58.440
as we've just read today, it's more about vanity and

483
00:36:03.320 --> 00:36:07.360
commercialism really, because we're celebrating twelve days money that we

484
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:14.280
need to on gifts basically, and then the vanity part

485
00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:23.719
meaning the claim as to the original Christmas tree.

486
00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:26.480
Right, and that's something that's going to continue.

487
00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:29.719
Oh, definitely, nothing's going to change that.

488
00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:32.519
It's been that way since the dawn of Man as

489
00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:35.480
far as I can tell, quite to the history books.

490
00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:39.800
But so out of all of the stuff we've talked about,

491
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:47.599
I mean me personally, the pooping log and then the

492
00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:50.159
metal Christmas tree and Antarctica or the two that are

493
00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:52.400
the most fascinating to me, just because I've never heard

494
00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:57.440
of any of it or even like not even in

495
00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:04.719
normal conversation have we heard anything about these things?

496
00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:10.280
I think, Yeah, again, guys, I keep doing that thing

497
00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:13.039
because I feel like I got a cough, had a

498
00:37:13.039 --> 00:37:15.800
really nasty head cold last week, which is why we

499
00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:20.440
kind of skipped a week. But the pooping long, for sure,

500
00:37:20.679 --> 00:37:23.960
is one that was new. And then I think the

501
00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:28.400
other thing for me was probably the the decorating of

502
00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:31.760
boats because initially when I when I had read that

503
00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:34.119
article not that article, but a different article about the

504
00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:39.280
decorating of boats last week when we were originally originally

505
00:37:39.320 --> 00:37:42.960
going to do this episode, I had thought that the

506
00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:45.519
boats were just boats that were on water, and I

507
00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:48.679
hadn't realized that people would decorate small boats that they

508
00:37:48.679 --> 00:37:51.400
would then put above the fireplace or on the table

509
00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:56.360
or something like that. I still don't fully understand how

510
00:37:56.400 --> 00:38:01.960
it represents anything related to the Christian but I get

511
00:38:02.039 --> 00:38:06.639
that it's at least some sort of I guess it's

512
00:38:06.679 --> 00:38:09.159
similar because the boat is made out of wood and

513
00:38:09.199 --> 00:38:10.719
his lights and the trees made out of wood in

514
00:38:10.760 --> 00:38:11.280
his lights.

515
00:38:12.119 --> 00:38:16.039
Yeah, I mean, I think that's a logical conclusion because

516
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:20.440
one thing that I mean most people don't realize is

517
00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:25.280
Greeks were known for their the decorations that they would

518
00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:29.800
put on their boats as a whole. I mean, they're

519
00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:33.400
not the original ones that started decorating their ships, but

520
00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:38.920
the Greeks are one of the many that I find

521
00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:45.320
fascinating because of how much decoration was on their boats. Right,

522
00:38:46.440 --> 00:38:50.000
So it doesn't surprise me at all that there was

523
00:38:50.199 --> 00:38:53.679
some type of tradition like that for the holiday season.

524
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:58.599
And I believe it was last episode you talked about

525
00:39:03.039 --> 00:39:09.719
Saturn being the original or one of the original traditions.

526
00:39:10.639 --> 00:39:12.960
I can't remember the name of the day. It wasn't

527
00:39:13.079 --> 00:39:13.840
Saturn Day.

528
00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:21.000
M h. I can't remember these a conversation actually, like

529
00:39:21.199 --> 00:39:23.960
I recall the Saturn thing, but I can't remember what

530
00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:24.320
it was.

531
00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:33.119
The actual day is recognized as are called, but turna

532
00:39:34.920 --> 00:39:39.079
something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, which is actually Roman

533
00:39:39.239 --> 00:39:43.519
not Greek. But if if you know your history, those

534
00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:49.239
two cultures were so close in their mythology because the

535
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:59.800
Romans adopted the Greek religion. So so yeah, any anything

536
00:40:01.199 --> 00:40:07.280
that comes to mind for how we decorate Christmas trees today,

537
00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:12.519
not necessarily any research you've done, but just through the

538
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:18.239
past years of doing this tradition, have you noticed anything

539
00:40:18.639 --> 00:40:23.760
that is different now compared to many years past, like

540
00:40:23.800 --> 00:40:26.000
when we were kids.

541
00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:28.639
I mean, I think the biggest thing for me is

542
00:40:28.760 --> 00:40:32.000
just the expansion of what a Christmas tree looks like

543
00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:38.639
in terms of shape, color, types of lighting, what time

544
00:40:38.679 --> 00:40:42.679
of year they're used. Because there's a house near my

545
00:40:42.760 --> 00:40:45.639
parents where my parents live, they have a tree year

546
00:40:45.719 --> 00:40:49.320
round and they decorate for Christmas and Thanksgiving and New

547
00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:53.119
Year in Easter and Dealton's Day in the fourth of July.

548
00:40:53.480 --> 00:40:56.679
So the tree always has something for the holiday, whatever

549
00:40:56.719 --> 00:40:57.159
it is for.

550
00:40:58.239 --> 00:41:02.159
Is it green or is it I mean it's.

551
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:05.199
Yeah, the tree itself is green. It's just you know,

552
00:41:05.320 --> 00:41:08.320
Fourth of July. It's decorated with red, white and blue

553
00:41:08.440 --> 00:41:10.920
and has stars all over it. Valentine's Day, it's a

554
00:41:10.960 --> 00:41:13.119
bunch of pink hearts and cupids that are all over it.

555
00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:18.440
Things like that. Don't fully understand it. But I guess

556
00:41:18.880 --> 00:41:23.079
some people just love Christmas trees, I guess, or holiday trees.

557
00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:24.960
I guess you'd call it at that point.

558
00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:32.199
Well, I actually made that suggestion to Shelley one year

559
00:41:32.199 --> 00:41:35.760
because it was February before we had even taken our

560
00:41:35.800 --> 00:41:40.599
Christmas treet down, that's how busy and everything we were.

561
00:41:40.679 --> 00:41:42.639
But I think a lot of people kind of leave

562
00:41:42.679 --> 00:41:45.320
it up late into January. I know we do. I

563
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:49.760
leave mine up probably about at least a week maybe

564
00:41:49.800 --> 00:41:54.320
two weeks after January. First for me though that that

565
00:41:54.480 --> 00:41:56.440
kind of tradition. You know, it always stays up a

566
00:41:56.480 --> 00:41:58.599
little longer growing up, That's how it always was. My

567
00:41:58.639 --> 00:42:00.760
mom always kept it up for about a week or

568
00:42:00.760 --> 00:42:06.480
two after New Year. But I don't know. One of

569
00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:08.599
my favorite things, like I put my tree up a

570
00:42:08.679 --> 00:42:15.039
few days are early this year, and the one thing

571
00:42:15.079 --> 00:42:17.440
for me is like the first or set about the

572
00:42:17.480 --> 00:42:20.239
second week of January when it comes down is kind

573
00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:22.519
of like even though it's still very much winter because

574
00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:25.599
as of the recording of the show Winter Solstice, so

575
00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:30.800
happy Winter, everybody. You know, when the tree comes down,

576
00:42:30.840 --> 00:42:34.079
It's kind of like the step forward into spring. It's like, Okay,

577
00:42:34.079 --> 00:42:38.239
here we go. No more decorations coming out until March.

578
00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:41.920
You know, when we're getting ready for spring, We're getting

579
00:42:41.960 --> 00:42:46.239
ready for Easter, for Saint Patty's Day, things like that.

580
00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:50.119
So I love. That's probably one thing that I'm always

581
00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:52.679
kind of nostalgic for as well, is when it comes down,

582
00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:56.559
I'm like, cool, here we go. Only, you know, a

583
00:42:56.599 --> 00:43:00.440
couple of months away from summertime again. Really, I mean

584
00:43:01.079 --> 00:43:03.320
in the North, like you and I are you even

585
00:43:03.360 --> 00:43:07.239
more so nowadays, you know, summer isn't really a few

586
00:43:07.239 --> 00:43:12.360
months but like several months from within January. But nonetheless,

587
00:43:13.079 --> 00:43:15.000
there's just a feeling to it. It's like sweet, here

588
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:15.280
we go.

589
00:43:16.079 --> 00:43:18.960
Yeah, North Dakota, it's winter and summer. There's no spring

590
00:43:19.039 --> 00:43:30.079
or falls. That's our two seasons. Yeah. And we actually

591
00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:32.199
didn't even put up a Christmas tree this year, just

592
00:43:32.360 --> 00:43:38.239
that's how busy we've been. We really even haven't even

593
00:43:38.480 --> 00:43:42.079
been able to decorate a whole lot for Christmas either,

594
00:43:42.760 --> 00:43:47.800
but usually we do. And the other part of that

595
00:43:47.880 --> 00:43:51.079
too is I don't know about everywhere else in the US,

596
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:55.159
but North Dakota has been getting slammed with horrible weather

597
00:43:55.280 --> 00:43:58.880
for the past at least two to three weeks, so

598
00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:02.639
before I could even get to my shed to get

599
00:44:02.719 --> 00:44:09.920
my Christmas decorations, I couldn't get to my shed. So

600
00:44:11.639 --> 00:44:18.840
but yeah, it's something that I think about every year

601
00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:26.559
because our Christmas tree, I love decorating it, but it's

602
00:44:26.599 --> 00:44:29.079
gotten to the point that there's so much on the

603
00:44:29.119 --> 00:44:33.119
tree that you don't even really see the tree anymore,

604
00:44:33.119 --> 00:44:36.199
even though ours is fake and it's a white tree.

605
00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:43.119
But I think we worry more about how many ornaments

606
00:44:43.119 --> 00:44:50.119
we can get on there, or the intricacy of the

607
00:44:50.280 --> 00:44:52.800
ordnaments that we're putting on our tree, that we kind

608
00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:58.760
of lose the true tradition of doing putting that up,

609
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:04.400
and really what that boils down to is families coming

610
00:45:04.440 --> 00:45:07.440
together to decorate the tree together as a part of

611
00:45:07.480 --> 00:45:08.079
a tradition.

612
00:45:09.559 --> 00:45:14.159
Yeah, but I feel like my mom has a ton

613
00:45:14.239 --> 00:45:17.639
of Christmas ornaments and I see it more. As you know,

614
00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:20.760
the more ornaments you gain over the years, the more

615
00:45:20.800 --> 00:45:23.199
memories you have, and each of those ornaments on a

616
00:45:23.239 --> 00:45:28.920
tree can represent a memory or memories of past years.

617
00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:33.119
That's very much the case with my mom's tree. You know,

618
00:45:33.159 --> 00:45:34.880
you look at it and see things from when we

619
00:45:34.920 --> 00:45:38.639
were you know, babies, first Christmas. One of my ornaments,

620
00:45:38.679 --> 00:45:42.199
you know, stuff that I made when I was in

621
00:45:42.280 --> 00:45:47.639
like you know, elementary school, stuff like that. You know,

622
00:45:47.679 --> 00:45:50.880
you see all those history animals that we have on

623
00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:54.239
their pets. Even my Christmas tree, I only have like

624
00:45:54.320 --> 00:45:58.400
two or three ornaments that are becoming part of tradition,

625
00:45:59.119 --> 00:46:01.599
but there are memories the last three years since I've

626
00:46:01.679 --> 00:46:04.920
had this tree, and I look at it and think,

627
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:06.960
you know, yeah, some of those things are gone, like

628
00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:09.440
some of those elements that were in my life at

629
00:46:09.480 --> 00:46:12.000
one point, but it's still a reminder like that was there.

630
00:46:12.039 --> 00:46:14.800
I remember those years. Those are good years. And I

631
00:46:14.800 --> 00:46:17.039
think that's the most important part to the Christmas tree

632
00:46:17.119 --> 00:46:21.440
tradition for most people is looking at their tree. Yes,

633
00:46:21.480 --> 00:46:25.599
there's a beauty behind it, but in my opinion, despite

634
00:46:26.360 --> 00:46:30.239
that the tree is supposed to represent whatever you know,

635
00:46:30.880 --> 00:46:35.960
christ in Christian tradition or just the joy of the

636
00:46:35.960 --> 00:46:41.280
holiday spirit. I think it's really just the joy and

637
00:46:41.320 --> 00:46:47.880
reminder of past traditions and what you've experienced over the years.

638
00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:53.679
Yeah, I mean that's a good point too, But in

639
00:46:54.159 --> 00:46:56.599
that case, why don't we just get just a raw

640
00:46:56.719 --> 00:47:02.400
tree and the ornaments on it, worry about the bristles

641
00:47:02.599 --> 00:47:04.800
and all the other stuff that kind of makes it

642
00:47:04.840 --> 00:47:08.840
a little annoying to decorate the tree. I'm not saying

643
00:47:09.119 --> 00:47:12.960
that's what we would do. It's just it gets to

644
00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:16.960
the point that, especially if you have a real tree,

645
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:23.440
getting stabbed by needles every year kind of gets annoying

646
00:47:23.760 --> 00:47:27.440
at certain points. But no, yeah, what you're saying doesn't

647
00:47:27.440 --> 00:47:29.880
make a lot of sense. It's just it seems like

648
00:47:31.719 --> 00:47:35.280
I shouldn't say all people, but certain people lose that

649
00:47:35.360 --> 00:47:38.920
even that part of it to make it a competition

650
00:47:39.079 --> 00:47:41.400
or something like that, like who's got the better tree?

651
00:47:42.480 --> 00:47:44.599
Well, yeah, I mean in this year, I've seen two

652
00:47:44.719 --> 00:47:48.440
or three competitions around the city. But there's you know,

653
00:47:48.880 --> 00:47:52.039
six to twenty trees and you can vote on which

654
00:47:52.039 --> 00:47:55.159
one's the best. And you know, I think tradition like

655
00:47:55.159 --> 00:47:57.679
that has always been around there. Aways there's competition and everything,

656
00:47:59.639 --> 00:48:02.719
but I do think that there's a time and place

657
00:48:02.760 --> 00:48:04.880
for it, and I think like in terms of the

658
00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:07.519
I mean, for me, I don't know anyone who's posted

659
00:48:07.559 --> 00:48:09.199
a tree and said, hey, look my tree is better

660
00:48:09.199 --> 00:48:12.039
than everybody else's. You know, it's just push a Tree

661
00:48:12.079 --> 00:48:16.920
because hey, it looks pretty and that's it. So you Jesus,

662
00:48:17.400 --> 00:48:19.519
I promise I'll be getting off air here soon. Guys.

663
00:48:20.679 --> 00:48:23.599
You know I'm drum annoying everybody with the coughing and

664
00:48:23.840 --> 00:48:29.280
having trouble talking. But I don't know. I guess I

665
00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:31.599
don't see it. I guess you know. I can't agree

666
00:48:31.599 --> 00:48:34.199
with you because I don't see what you see. So uh,

667
00:48:35.159 --> 00:48:37.960
maybe it's different up in Indie, you know. I don't know.

668
00:48:38.880 --> 00:48:43.760
No, I'm just talking in general across the US, but

669
00:48:44.480 --> 00:48:52.599
the specifically. But we hope you've enjoyed this episode of

670
00:48:52.639 --> 00:48:54.960
the Christmas Tree that we did when we were a

671
00:48:54.960 --> 00:48:58.159
Paratruth Radio. We hope you guys have a great and

672
00:48:58.239 --> 00:49:01.320
safe week and we will see you at the same time,

673
00:49:01.920 --> 00:49:02.760
same channel.

674
00:49:03.760 --> 00:49:25.679
Talk to you guys later. Kh