Metaphysical Xmas Tree Deco

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Dark Inquisitor	03 Aug 2002
Since it is hotter than hell, it seemed like a good time to ponder Christmas - or Yule- or whatever you personally call it.( I don't like the Christmas term myself, but it's kind of stuck in the popular culture.) In particular, the tree problem. Last year I decided that it was the last time I was going to deal with the vintage Victorian explosion - too much work. And I'd like the new tree to be a more pagan or metaphysical affair. Any ideas or examples of things you've done yourself? Tarotphelia

jade	03 Aug 2002
string popcorn and dried cranberries. we string beads for our tree and that way we can reuse it every year. a real live tree of course :D transplanted into a near by park afterwards. :D jade

wavebreaker	03 Aug 2002
I don't celebrate X-mas, because to me it's all about hypocrisy. So I never have a tree, not even one decoration. It saddens me that so many trees are cut and then thrown away after X-mas. Most people here don't have live trees and even if they do, they can't be bothered to keep it, they just throw it away and buy a new one the next year.

Red raven	03 Aug 2002
plastic tree at my house. the real thing was too messy and we didn't like the tradition of killing a tree every year. You could try decorating somethng besides a pine tree. I've heard of my relatives decorating their potted palm tree.

Dark Inquisitor	03 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by tarotlady I don't celebrate X-mas, because to me it's all about hypocrisy. So I never have a tree, not even one decoration. So what do you celebrate then," bitter-mas"? I'm sorry, but this made me laugh. Sometimes I don't feel like celebrating either, but I feel worse if there are no decorations. Winter can be very bleak. Besides , the tree is an ancient pagan custom and can be disassociated from modern stuff. (I like real trees, but I have a fake one because I can buy more tarot cards with the money I save!) Not all Xmas is hypocrisy, maybe you could find a little part somewhere that is not. Tarotphelia

DarkElectric	03 Aug 2002
The building I live in has strange fire laws. We aren't allowed to have live trees at all. I didn't want to bother with a fake one because...well... they look FAAAAAAKE! So, I decorated my big potted palm tree. I gussied it all up with lights and tried to hang things on it, but the leaves were slippery, and nothing but the lights stayed on. It was a bizarre looking tree to begin with. After it was all tarted up, it looked even weirder. But it was really cool, in it's own endearingly odd way!

lunar_rabbit	03 Aug 2002
I agree with the idea to decorate your houseplants, or simply to add festivity in other parts of your decor such as the dining room table, the mantle, even string up lights around the perimeter of your room or along the windows. In the true spirit of the holiday, I love the idea of decorating a living tree that is still in the ground outside with berries and seeds for the animals.

RedWood	03 Aug 2002
I also do not celebrate xmas or any part of it..When we get our own place we might put up Winter decorations..My reason is religion and also..THe people...all most people do is complain they don't have money and commit suicide...It is to publicized to enjoy..Then of course when everything is done and you spend thousands of dollars..you complain even more you don't have money and bills..If i ever have xmas there will be a minimum of xmas presents..I don't find it fun when parents (not all parents) say wait until you birthday or xmas...I like buy things year round...

Dark Inquisitor	03 Aug 2002
OK- I can see there is a need for the expression of hostility /regret towards Xmas. So I will be starting a thread for that shortly. Please post here any nice thoughts for a paganish tree decoration scheme. Tarotphelia

RedWood	03 Aug 2002
it is a very nice thought..I read in my book Magical Household..something about witch balls..which can also be smaller silver balls since apparently the real ones are hard to find..

DarkElectric	03 Aug 2002
I would probably go out and collect pine cones, white birch bark, Maybe some bitter sweet (to symbolise this holiday, of course) and try to create natural decorations from these. And I'd go to my local dollar store and get some little plastic animals. I'd attempt to stick these into the branches. And I'd make the crescent-full-crescent moon Goddess symbol out of aluminim foil or something for the top of the tree. )0(

zorya	03 Aug 2002
my family celebrates the winter solstice. we decorate a live, norfolk island pine, that gets bigger every year. our decorations are all handmade. we string popcorn and cranberries, that later get fed to the birds. we make lots of sun, star, moon and snowflake ornaments. my son gets to practive his geometry by making three dimensional paper shapes, like dodecahedrons lol, lastly, the tree gets topped with a sun.

DarkElectric	03 Aug 2002
Zorya, that sounds like a really cool tree!

cjtarot	03 Aug 2002
Ok.. I just added my 2 cents to the hostile thread so heres mine on the nice one (and thank you for having one). If I wanted to do a Pagan/Christmas or for me Wiccan/Christmas, I would decorate with stars and white lights..maybe a bright star at the top. I think silver and gold stars and a few crystal ball ornaments..to reflect some of the lights...it would be beautiful. I would also include the rest of the house..it's not just about the tree in the 1 room..it should be through out your house..the feeling of joy .. as for now (with 2 small kids)..I have to do the hand made..UNBREAKABLE..decorations..so my trees are more charlie brownish...but all the peices are made with love. Something to consider..why not decorate at every holiday..not just christmas..my next big one will probably be Samhain, All Saints day, Halloween...pick your name..last year there was a online celebration that brought tears to my eyes...I want to decorate the house in a way to honor my relatives that have passed...forget the holloween stuff...it's about the holiday..not the: whine "I want Candy"..stuff...I would like to teach my children better. What do you think Cj

purplelady	03 Aug 2002
Last year in the stores I noticed something brand new. These "mod-art" or "art-deco" or "ultra-mod" things that stood in for a tree but didn't even purport to look like a tree! To try and describe it: A metal coil that spiraled into a conical shape of a tree. If you looked at the Outline , just the bare shape of a pine tree and then bent a metal wire into a spiral shape resembling that, this is what you would get! It was maybe 4' tall and I think it lit up. I think if I had the bucks , which I don't , I might purchase one or two of these faddish items to stand in for the tree. I mentioned these to a few other people. NONE of them cared for the new metal spiral trees! I think it would be FUN to set them up in my house (no other christmas tree) and place presents under them , and then know that everyone else was whispering how tacky the trees were but I would just snicker! (maybe it's called the "minimalist look")

cjtarot	03 Aug 2002
Purple lady, "I think if I had the bucks , which I don't , I might purchase one or two of these faddish items to stand in for the tree. I mentioned these to a few other people. NONE of them cared for the new metal spiral trees! I think it would be FUN to set them up in my house (no other christmas tree) and place presents under them , and then know that everyone else was whispering how tacky the trees were but I would just snicker! (maybe it's called the "minimalist look")" I love those trees..some people around here put them on the lawn..they are beautiful and simple..and don't kill anything... GO FOR IT--and as for tacky...oh well...life's no fun without a little tacky...Let people talk.. Cj

purplelady	04 Aug 2002
Uh Oh , now I've put my foot in my mouth! Well, all the people I Asked scoffed at these trees but I'm glad that there's someone else out there who actually likes them ;) .

wavebreaker	04 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Tarotphelia So what do you celebrate then," bitter-mas"? I'm sorry, but this made me laugh. [snip] Not all Xmas is hypocrisy, maybe you could find a little part somewhere that is not. Why do I HAVE to celebrate anything? I don't celebrate something just because everyone is doing it. Christmas doesn't mean anything to me, so why should I celebrate it? I respect other people if they want to celebrate Christmas, so I expect them to respect my choice not to celebrate it too, and not laugh about my views on it or try to get me to celebrate it after all...

Dark Inquisitor	04 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by tarotlady Why do I HAVE to celebrate anything? I don't celebrate something just because everyone is doing it. Christmas doesn't mean anything to me, so why should I celebrate it? _________________________________________________ You don't have to celebrate anything, but you seemed very unhappy about the whole idea and I would wish you to be enjoying yourself somehow, not necessarily anything to do with Xmas. (This is not a plot against you.) __________________________________________________ I respect other people if they want to celebrate Christmas, so I expect them to respect my choice not to celebrate it too, and not laugh about my views on it or try to get me to celebrate it after all... My laughter was from the incongruity . Much of humor is about surprise - like expecting a box with a little bunny in it and getting a lion instead. I was not expecting such controversy over some decorations for a tree- it seemed like a harmless fuzzy bunny topic! Please enjoy posting in the hateful Xmas thread . Tarotphelia

mara	04 Aug 2002
the way that we celebrate Xmas at our house is the celebration of the awareness (for us personally that is) of the "Christ conciousness" that lives within us and that we are here to accomplish. that is the way that we see Xmas. We did have a tree last year (the 2 years before that we didn't) and decorated it with pinecones and a large golden Pentagram on top with a light in it. The other lights were really tiny and in the centre of the tree close to the core... and for the rest we left it as natural as possible. No presents though coz we don't believe in that, we give eachother presents all through the year. It's much nicer that way coz you don't expect it then.

Liliana	04 Aug 2002
Hey those Sprial trees are a great Pagan alternative, representing clearly the Spiral of Life after all. We were using fake trees, but last year we had this strange live one that smelled like oranges. It was cool. Anyway for a metaphysical tree one (expensive) idea is to use silver wrapped quartz points on the tree, the look like icicles. I believe that idea is from scott cunningham, I think in Wicca: A guide for the Solitary Practioner he has Yule Tree decorating ideas. Others were using fruit, stringing popcorn and berries (and ceral, remember the Kix commercial with the kids stringing Kix lol). Lighting the tress with candles like victorian times would be appropriate but too dangerous, Id love to use some of those electric clip on candle shaped lights. :THP

Moonklad	04 Aug 2002
Next to Samhain I think Yule is my favorite holiday. Around that time of year I love to fill my house with the smells of the holiday-cinnamon, apples, baking hams, warm mead, roasted meats, wassail..mmmm..I can almost smell them. I also enjoy decorating my home inside and out. It is amazing how much pagan related decorations can be obtained at the stores around that time of year! I use lots of garland (fake of course..would love the smell of fresh but would never cut a tree for that). We also have a small fake tree that we decorate with lots of stars. I have this really cool Yule log decoration that sits in the center of my table. It has a place to put candles on it and makes a wonderful centerpiece for our Yule feast. Yuletime to me is about celebrating the love and joy of a happy home. Traditionally around this time we spend alot of our time visiting friends also. I am looking forward to it! blessings, Moonklad

Diana	04 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by tarotlady I respect other people if they want to celebrate Christmas, so I expect them to respect my choice not to celebrate it too, and not laugh about my views on it or try to get me to celebrate it after all... I respect that tarotlady! It's like if someone asked me to celebrate Ramadan, I would really find it hard, although I have great respect for this Muslim celebration. It just doesn't mean anything to me. Before I had a kid, I would spend my Christmas day in the movie-house watching three different movies. No-one was there and I had a great time eating ice-cream and drinking Coke. When he's grown up, I suspect I'll go back to my old ways.

amyel	04 Aug 2002
My step-mom used to have this...stand..that had various sized glass bulbs which could be stacked on it. The little loops on the bulbs threaded onto the rod that came up through the stand. She had this very modern/minimalist decorating style that did not suit a tree - living or fake - and this stand stood about 2 ft high. It was totally cool. But when I moved to Oz for 6 months and left my furniture and boxes with my then former roommates, the box it was in disappeared. I've always intended to create one myself. It was quite simple. I like decorating a tree. We've used live ones recently because the fake one of my hubby's was borrowed by one of his sisters and has never made it back. But what really disappoints me is that neither he nor the kids like to help decorate it! In my house growing up, we all gathered together to decorate - remember Lunar Rabbit? Waiting for dad to untangle to lights and pulling out the decorations. It was dreaded and yet fun, too. But here, I'm the only one who does it. The kids won't help because daddy doesn't help. He doesn't even want holiday music on - he wants to watch TV while he "watches" me do all the work. Last holiday, I asked for a few ornaments for the tree, and I got some from L.R. I'm sorry to say, I think this year, I just won't have one (a tree living or fake) at all. Why bother if no one will get into it? So, I've become jaded about holidays since I've moved to Canada. My bio-dad *hated* the holidays. The only year I spent one with him & my step-mom he threw my gift across the room, cursing. And my step-mom, as I've mentioned, tended towards minmalism. Coming from a family where it was something we mostly looked forward to (I think), this was quite a shock. My fondest memories of Canadian XMas' are the ones a few friends & I set up as "orphans' holidays" where we all celebrated at one or another's homes, and exchanged gifts and ate good food. All the others, I went back home to Michigan for.

jade	04 Aug 2002
i decorate the entire room. i hand the mini christmas lights around the ceiling and then i hang all my antique and special decorations from there. (yes i've small kids in my house for too many years heehee) also, my tree is always alive, in a pot, so it doesn't hold very many decorations. just a few. love jade ps and this year, since we own our home :D, we can put up lights outside :D:D:D:D.......going to look at the christmas lights on houses is one of our favorite passtimes in december :D

cricket	04 Aug 2002
This looks like a good topic to jump into after being baked outdoors all weekend. :D Here goes... One year we went out and found a HUGE tumbleweed (huge as in my arms couldn't fit around it), painted it silver, and tied different colored ribbons all over it. I think we even strung some lights on it. *L* Then we tied it down to some tent stakes in the yard. It looked really cool. We would always get whole walnuts, then use sturdy kitchen knives to pop them open. If you put the tip of the knife into the rounded end and twist the shells usually just split in half. We'd scrape out the insides for eating, lay the shells out in split pairs, and paint them. (spray paint works really well) While they were drying we would cut yarn into lengths, fold and tie them into hanging loops, then glue the two shell halves back together with the knot down in the hollow part where the nut meat used to be. I used to have a recipe around here somewhere for 'cookie dough' to make ornaments out of. It was almost like homemade play-doh, but you would roll it flat, cut the shapes out, make a hole in the top, then bake them. It was really easy to put a string through the hole and hang them up. We'd have them all over the house all year round. For the more advanced craft people, there's always the construction paper and 'stuffing' ornaments... Take two sheets/layers of construction paper (black tends to look best) and cut shapes out of them. Then use an exacto knife or similar razor-style knife to cut designs from inside the shapes - something like stained glass. Get different colored 'stuffing' paper (like what is put into presents to keep them from rattling), sut them to shape, and glue a layer or two between the sheets of construction paper. You have to be careful with that step because the glue can make the colors bleed. Then just attach a string and hang. :) We used to do all of those things every year, then add lights and dried flowers to fill in any gaps in the tree. If the lights are strung up the right way, the tree just glows!

Mermaid	04 Aug 2002
Hehe, here in NZ our christmas trees decorate themselves! :) our beaches are covered in pohutakawa (aka NZ christmas tree) which in summer get decked out with masses of gorgeous bright red blossoms. It's one of the most beautiful sights, no fake pine tree covered with artifical snow could ever compete. And there's no better way to celebrate summer solstice than to take a walk along the beach and have a picnic and a bottle of wine under a pohutakawa, with the bees buzzling round and the sun beating down... *sigh* roll on summer!

tabbycat	08 Aug 2002
When I had a Krimble tree, it was a really tacky silver one and I decorated it with stars and a golden apple at the top for Eris. Had to stop doing it when the cat count rose above two, as they'd try to climb up it and knock it over. After that, I just draped all the pictures and posters with tinsel. For the past few years, I haven't bothered at all. I get very depressed in mid-winter, which isn't helped by the compulsory fake joy and celebrations of the season. If it wasn't for my parents, I wouldn't do any of it - in fact, I have this dream that one day someone will say to me "Did you know it was Christmas Day yesterday?" and I'll reply "No, I didn't notice." I know - just call me Ebeneezer! Jilly

Sorceress_Jade	08 Aug 2002
I celebrate x-mass with my family because i'm not 'out' and I like gifts and giving them, and wrappign and unwrapping and all of the fun that goes along with the modern x-mass activites. However Yule is a different affair. I understand that in the old religion and wicca the new year begins on novermber 1st/oct 31 (however you want to look at it) However /my/ new year is Yule. Just as the moon wanes and when it begins to wax once more it is a new moon, so I look at the the sun. It a time for the next life cycle of the earth to begin with a waxing sun and I devot energy to focusing on that same cycle in myself. I have heard that one possible origin of dressing up on the pagan new year was to dress as what you wish for the coming year, what you want to make of yourself. And so I've taken this idea and applied it to the Dark Solstice. I put into myself on this holiday all that I wish for the upcoming year. I dress how I want to be seen, and basically let my mind wander into productive thoughts to cast a sort of web to propel me and protect me as I move toward it. I hope that makes sense. I love hearing ppl celebrate Yule rather than the traditional Christmass. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in that rebelious half of my heart. :)

midnightmerry	08 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Sorceress_Jade ...However Yule is a different affair. I understand that in the old religion and wicca the new year begins on novermber 1st/oct 31 (however you want to look at it) However /my/ new year is Yule. My private New Year begins at Spring Equinox. It's when light truly becomes stronger & the world is waking up.

midnightmerry	08 Aug 2002
As far as Pagan decorations go, I have to vote for Santa decorations. A big elf bearing cheer and gifts and riding through the sky with reindeer... it's great!!

The Metaphysical Xmas Tree Deco thread was originally posted on 03 Aug 2002 in the Chat board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Chat, or read more archived threads.