Fabulous Christmas Wreaths

Christmas South Africa

Do you like decorating with wreaths? Where do you usually place it?

Wreaths have 3 major uses. They show remembrance when laid at memorials. They show triumphs when they're put on horses and they show the combination of the two when put on our front doors at Christmas.

For those in the Christian community, the wreath shows the house is celebrating the future and the memory of its own history. For the rest of the world, it simply says that the house inside is ready for the annual explosion of too much food, new clothing, for the year and new toys for the little guys.

The wreath is such a good signal that's even edging its way into thanksgiving celebration not with holly and pine branches but made of corn and other harvest symbols. But the Christmas wreath is special, especially the homemade ones.

With fresh leaves on your Christmas wreath, you herald spring as well and if you are in the midst of wonder Winterland, this will bring hope in your heart. But since many of us have no access to fresh evergreens, we just have to make use of other things.

There are lots of choices for wreaths aside from fresh leaves. Dried leaves and fruits can also be used. If not, use Christmas balls. Or, use whatever you have lots of from your collection or your storage.

You can mix and match your tiny toys, dolls and other decors and presto, you will have a fabulous wreath.

Looking at pictures of ancient civilizations like Egypt and Persia, circlet around the head decorated with precious stones seemed to have already been worn.

But the use of evergreens seemed to have been part of the tradition practised by the Germanic tribes who gathered evergreens and built fires to extend daylight and remind them during the gloomy winter days of the coming spring. The Scandinavians lighted candles around the wheel to signify the coming around of spring as the wheel turned.

The wreath was also found as a symbol among the early Etruscans who used leaves of laurel, oak, wheat, and olive sewn in decorated bands which they used as crowns. The wreath symbol was also stamped in some of their old medallions. The circle is so apt a symbol for eternity and many ancients must have also appreciated this.

In Greek mythology, Apollo, the son of Zeus is shown wearing a crown of leaves around his head. Around 776 B.C., the Greeks used these crowns to honour the victory of the athletes in the Olympic Games and depending on where the Olympics was held, the leaves used were of the popular trees of the locale.

The Romans made this even more of a symbol of achievement when conquerors like Caesar were given these to give them honour for their victory, the laurel crown. Those who got these laurel crown proudly wore these to show their crowning achievement.

Then, eventually, the symbol was taken by the Christian Churches to instruct people on the coming of Christ. Again the circle is an apt symbol for the eternal God.

Wreaths were made four weeks before Christmas and embellished with 4 candles, each candle symbolizing the weeks of preparation for the birth of Christ, thus, the Advent Wreath.

Eventually, the wreath even became more popular as decors not just on Christmas but on other occasions as well.