A Spider Christmas Legend…
There are many versions of this folk legend about the Christmas spiders (most prevalent in Western Ukraine and Germany) where small ornaments in the shape of a spider are traditionally part of the Christmas decorations. The legend explains the orgin of tinsel on our Christmas trees.
The legend goes…
The day before Christmas, the resident spiders in the small house in Germany hid in the attic to avoid the house cleaning. The family was poor and did the best they could in decorating their tree.
When the spiders crept downstairs that night they saw the carefully decorated Christmas tree. They loved it and crawled about in the branches, leaving the branches covered with webs.
When Father Christmas arrived, he came up with a wonderful solution for the now cobweb-covered tree. He turned all the webs into beautiful shimmering silver strands.
And when the family saw it, they realized that they had everything they truly needed. They had each other and that was more than enough!
From that day on, tinsel became a treasured ornament for trees all over the world. Those who know the legend make sure they give thanks to those industrious spiders and hang a beautiful silver or gold spider ornament in a prominent location on their tree.
I love the tinsel on MY Christmas tree, though I don’t have any spiders on it! So much so, that I carefully collect the tinsel from my tree every year for the next year’s Christmas tree.
And…I’ve done it for over 20 years. (Yes, I know my family thinks I’m nuts, but they just don’t make that kind of tinsel any more!)
Do you and your family have any special traditions that YOU love?
1 Comment
I’m really happy to hear a story about good spiders (I know all spiders are good – they just terrify me…..)!! I’m sure glad you still collect your tinsel too because you are right – they just don’t make it like that anymore!