Christmas Trees and their Meanings
Trees play an important role in human spirituality with their beauty, abundant nature, and strength. Trees have offered humanity shelter, food, and inspiration for countless generations. Evergreen trees are no different. While they have different meanings in different cultures, the fact that they keep their leaves throughout the winter months offered hope to a cold humanity, waiting for the sun to return. It wasn’t just early humans who saw symbolism in the Tree. Carl Jung, a famous doctor, thought that a tree symbolizes the Self. Trees have cradled humanity from birth to death and are now part of many holiday traditions.
Christmas trees are generally Fir, Pine, or Spruce trees. Evergreen trees most often symbolize immortality and eternal life. In this article we’ll discuss the meanings behind the popular Christmas trees and why people want to become one after they die.
Fir Trees
Fir trees symbolize determination, honesty, and the endurance that comes with hope for the future. These are all beautiful qualities for a memorial tree. The symbolism of a fir tree carries the message of hope during challenges and encourages you to have patience while you wait for a better future. Fir trees can also inspire dreams of better times while going through hardship. Fir trees teach the lesson of being true to yourself while being confident in your decisions. Also known as a symbol of remembrance, the ancient Celts used the Fir tree as a symbol of bravery. Fir cones also have their own symbolism. They open to the sun when it is out and shining, and close up protectively when the weather would snow or rain. This gives them the meaning of wisdom and discernment.
Pine Trees
Pine trees have played a role in many different cultures over time. For Native American cultures, the pine tree represented wisdom and longevity. Pine trees are some of the longest-lived trees, and with their cold-resistant “leaves”, they seem wiser than trees who lose their leaves each fall. In many other cultures, pine trees symbolize fertility and life, because these trees live on during the cold winter months. Around the world, pine trees have had many different meanings. Another characteristic thought to be embodied by the pine tree is fertility. You can imagine why when picturing a winter forest landscape, and pine trees being the only green punctuating the greys and browns of dormant trees. Some cultures associate the pine tree with love and hope. Still, others consider a tree worthy to be featured in legends of heroic deeds.
More of the symbolism of pine trees comes from their sturdy characteristics. Pine trees can generally tolerate many different temperature ranges and can thrive in difficult climates such as extreme cold and snow, rocky soil, and even drought. Its soothing scent evokes home for many people.
Spruce Trees
Another popular, beautiful evergreen tree is the spruce tree. Since they remain green and unmoved by winter, many people associate these trees with the qualities of resistance and strength. Spruce trees symbolize that, after a harsh winter, the season thaws and relents again to warmth. Along these lines, spruce trees are also seen as symbolizing life and hope. The oldest tree on the planet is a thousand-year-old spruce tree in Sweden called Old Tjikko. Spruce trees are also seen as symbols of kindness, peace, happiness, friendship, and of course, protection. Trees have protected humanity for thousands of years, either under the shelter of their branches or through the wood they provide.
Why Do People Choose to Become a Tree After They Die?
Many people are choosing to be reborn as a tree after they die. Choosing to become a tree offers a living memorial for those left behind. Trees will grow for many years, and memorial trees will continue to offer comfort both emotionally and physically for years to come. Burying your ashes, or the ashes of a loved one, with a growing tree, allows for the physical remains to be used as nourishment for the young tree, and the deceased to be reborn as a beautiful tree. It is comforting to imagine children playing under your tree for generations to come.
The Living Urn offers a Christmas tree urn that comes with a young evergreen tree for planting. Being reborn as a Christmas tree allows a person to be part of holiday festivities, even after they’ve passed. Memorial Christmas trees can be decorated as part of the holidays and can make a fun way for those left behind to remember and memorialize you for years to come.