THE SYMBOLISM BEHIND CHRISTMAS TREES

 

Christmas is the Mass of Christ. The Mass is a celebration. And Christ, who is He? Christ is the highest expression of the Divine manifested here on earth. He is one of the Lights, who – from time to time – in the history of man are sent when great darkness covers the Earth.

A tree is the highest form of plant life. What in the kingdom of plants can be greater than a tree? Consider its size, its shape, its perfect symmetry and colours, its majesty. What great spirit of nature is in charge of a tree!

So, at Christmas these two great symbols merge to express Divinity in its clearest possible way. Lights are added to the tree and beautiful decorations, some of which reflect wonderful flashing sparkling patterns to which the Heart responds in heightened awareness and greater expression of Love, Love for the Divine Creator – or Manifestor, as I always prefer to call Him.

And who might be the most sensitive to this expression of love? A child. Childlike innocence is pure, but at the same time contains within itself the seeds of impurity, samskaras inherited from the past, which will be expressed later in life. Primal innocence, on the other hand, is for ever pure and can never be contaminated by past samskaras, for it has none. The child in his innocence feels very greatly the primal innocence of Love as expressed by a Christmas tree, with all its beauty and magical symbolism of divine power.

……… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: “Jewels of Silence”