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Hidden Meanings Behind Christmas Decorations

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Helsinki chapter.

The first winter month is upon us, so it’s the right time for an official Christmas countdown. What could be better than pre-Christmas hustle and bustle with advent calendars, decorations and gifts. But do we know anything about the reasons for these traditions or we follow them because that’s what everyone does? So, we’ve done some research and here are what we have.

Wreaths                          Image credit: Vika Fleisher on Unsplash

Who would think that apart from just being a door or window decoration, it’s actually viewed as an invitation to the spirit of Christmas to enter the home and bring luck. It’s also believed by Christians that wreaths represent the crown of thorns worn by Christ on the cross, wheres little berries symbolize drops of his blood.

Christmas tree                            Image credit: Chris Benson on Unsplash

The most iconic symbol of Christmas is believed, keeps away evil spirits and illness.

Stockings

                            Image credit: Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

As for the legend, a widowed father of three daughters had some financial difficulties and could not provide for them. After some time, St Nicolas heard about his situation. He climbed down the family’s chimney and filled the girls’ stockings with gold coins.

Gingerbread man

                                  Image Credit: Pietro De Grandi on Unsplash

Our beloved gingerbread man, according to the Catholic Church, serves as a reminder of the time when God created Adam in the Garden of Eden. 

 

Helsinki-based, Anna is an MA graduate in English Philology, an inspirational corporate English trainer at goFluent professional training language school, and a former Campus Correspondent/writer/social media manager at HC Helsinki. When Anna is not teaching and running her language blog @annalina.eng , she can usually be found practicing chillout Hatha yoga and dancing energetic Zumba.