The origin of the sacred Christmas tree

From our childhood we all long for the moment to decorate the Christmas tree, a tradition rooted in the Christian world for representing the light of the Birth of Christ. But how Catholic or Christian is this tradition? Is its European or German origin true?

Representación turca de Ulgen (Papá Noel turco)

Decorating a pine tree: a Turkish tradition

In the secular beliefs of the ancient Turkic and Sumerian cultures there was a tree that was born from the center of the earth and that reached to the sky, which they called the "tree of life". Above him lived the god Ulgen, whose mission was to organize the arrival of days and nights.

Throughout Central Asia, every December 21 and coinciding with the longest night of the year and the night of the winter solstice, a pine tree was cut down and decorated with colored ribbons, as an offering to fill with good fortune homes.

According to the beliefs of the ancient Turks, the sun defeats the darkness on this day called "NARDUGAN" (in Turkish: Rising Sun) and which symbolizes an old sun that becomes smaller as the days shorten and yearns the arrival of a new sun.

This holiday was celebrated by placing gifts under the tree so that their prayers would be heard, singing and dancing around it. It was also customary to visit the elderly and eat together.

It is a tradition preserved by the different Turkic peoples (Tartars, Bashkirs, Chuvasians, Karaçay-Malkarlar, Hittites, Urartu, Seljuks and the later Ottomans) and proof of this is that it is represented in many of their ancient tapestries and rugs.

Antiguo tapiz turco con la imagen del «árbol de la vida»

The arrival in Europe and the Christianization of the pagan tradition

In the year 325 AD. C., the great Christian Council of Nicaea (act. Iznik, Turkey) was summoned by Constantine the Great and it was where all the bishops accepted this pagan holiday as a symbol of the birth of Jesus.

The Turkish tradition of the tree of life, which would later become the Christmas tree, spread to European territory with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and the arrival of Hungarian warriors in our territory.

The first Christmas tree in the traditional sense was decorated in Germany in 1605. Similar practices were later observed in France and later spread throughout the world.

Ïzza always keeps the Turkish culture in mind in her designs, as it has been one of the main sources for other Mediterranean cultures and also the origin of many civilizations. Its symbology, beliefs, character is what reflects other brother towns and that gives us the opportunity to create special pieces loaded with meaning.