The Colorado statesman., 1918-12-21
CELEBRAT|NGDEC
YuIetide Festival Once Marked
Return of Sun God.
Observance Of Day Is Habit of More
Than Twenty Centuries Standing
"Yule" Means Sun-commu-
nifty Christmas Tree.

Celebrating the 25th of December Is
habit of more than twenty centuries
standing. 1t is n remnant of that good
nature of our early ancestors, which
1as disappeared to a great extent with
.he irritating problems of civilization.
All the rest of the year, writes Fred
eric j. Haskin, we fight and grab
things away from each other and wear
jur nerves to frazzle, but at Christ
mas we close our commercial ex-
changes, eat tremendous quantities of
tood and send presents and postal
cards to our friends and relatives
bearing our good wishes. AT least this
Is what we are supposed to do. Many
people do a great deal more in the
way of community Christmas trees,
visits to the hospitals and baskets for
he poor, and still others regard the
whole thing as absurd and consider alb
:tinence from Christmas gifts n sign
)f strength of character.
Long before the birth of Christ our
ancestors in northwestern Europe cele-
orated the 25th of December, which
marked the passing of the winter sol
stice or the return of the~sun in the
heavens after cOnquering the powers
If darkness. That was the day of the
sun worshipers. The problem of the
Universe was just beginning to puzzle
and our ancestors figured 1t out in q
straightforward manner that was not
lalf bad for supposed savages. All
plant life, it was observed, depended
IN the sun for its existence, and all
animal life depended on plant life, so
bat the power of the sun was greatly
respected and it was personified in the
person of the god Thor. Thor was
watched with considerable interest,
since there was always some doubt as
to whether he would survive the win
,er solstice. Hence the feasting and
GerrymaSing when he continued to
shine clear and strong in the heavens.
Meaning of the Word "Yule."
Besides Thor there were numerous
gods who lived in the branches of
trees. Therefore the people gathered
mistletoe boughs and holly branches
and put them in conspicuous positions
In their houses, where they might
easily be seen from the outside, in the
hope that some wandering god would
take q fancy to them and take up his
residence among the red berries. In
Germany the early Huns chopped
down the evergreens and brought them
indoors for the same purpose. The
burning of the yule log and the term
yuletide are survivals of these early
December festivals whose influence is
still to be seen today in our own
Christmas celebrations. "Yule" means
sun.
With the dawn of Christianity and
the conversion of the sun worshipers,
the birth of Christ was substituted as
the cause for celebration and the fes-
tivities became religious demonstra-
tions. The people still gormandized,
trimmed their houses with holly
branches and gave presents, but the
25th of December usually saw them
comfortably seated in church.
SO Christmas has come down to us
with all these traditions. The German
Santa Claus legend has improved 1t
considerably for the children, and it is
now known almost entirely as the chill
drens season.
Community Christmas Tree.
Among the finest Christmas institu-
tons today is the community Christ
mas tree, which originated in Madison
square, New York, five years ago and
since then has spread to communities
all over the United States. The cen
munity "r'ree of Light" is usually
planted in n central location in the
city, trimmed with balls and Orna-
ments and lighted with electricity.
Citizens are organized into committees
to collect donations for the tree and
employ bands of musicians to play
Christmas carols and hymns. In Bal
timore last year groups of men and
boys carrying holly-trimmed lanterns
walked through the streets singing
and greeting each pedestrian with
"Merry Christmas!"
While every year there is an increas-
ing number of persons who decide to
"be sensible' and send cards in the
place of Christmas presents, the aver
age person lacks the courage to face
his family empty-handed on Christmas
morning. But Christmas is a spirit,
which you either have or haven't. If
you haven't it. the holidays are only
a bore; on the other hand, If you allow
yourself to become enthusiastic there
is really lot of fun to be derived
from it, even though you're lonely and
away from home. Last year a travel
ing man who was compelled to spend
Christmas away from his family in a
strange city gathered number of
little tenement waits together, took
them into large restaurant and treat
ed them all to Christmas dinner. ~
never had so much fun in my lifen