Upside Down Christmas Tree

Have you ever heard of an upside-down Christmas tree? Does this sound weird to you? This may be absolutely surprising to you, but the concept is very much prevalent in today's time and is the hottest fashion of the season. The idea may be unique to you, but one can trace its roots to the Middle Ages. The traditional Christmas trees are shaped in the manner that the tip of the tree faces the heaven above. On the other hand, an upside-down Christmas tree is exactly the opposite of the traditional one. In an upside-down Christmas tree, the tip faces downwards.

 

Upside-down Christmas trees are hung from a bracket on the ceiling, like a chandelier; stand upside-down on a stand; or are mounted tip-down on the wall. Their inverted structure makes it easier to see the ornaments and decorations on them, because they are hung away from the branches and do not get lost in all the foliage. An upside down Christmas tree is a great way to capture the attention of your guest. It also provides an excellent conversation starter, simply due to its novelty. If you are interested in knowing the history and evolution of upside-down Christmas tree, go through the following lines.

 

Although the history of upside-down Christmas tree remains vague, many argue that it dates back to 7^th century. During the time, St Boniface made his journey from Devonshire (England) to Germany, to disseminate his preaching and the message of the Almighty. He was busy in doing social as well as religious work. For the purpose, he spent a lot of time in Thuringia, a town located in Germany, which was the hub of industries that dealt with Christmas decorations.

During his stay in Thuringia, St Boniface made use of a triangular fir tree to teach the concept of Holy Trinity made up of God - the Father, God - the Son and God - the Holy Spirit. He represented the triangular fir tree to represent the paragons of Trinity, to the pagan tribes as well. St Boniface’s preaching was attributed to the advent of a new custom by 12^th century - the custom of hanging fir trees upside-down from the ceiling, to symbolize the Holy Trinity. The triangular fir tree came to be known an upside-down Christmas tree, thus representing Christianity too.

While hanging upside down triangular fir tree from the ceiling was a trend, many considered it disrespectful or sacrilegious to Christianity. People would take it as an offense to God. With changing times, the concept of upside-down Christmas trees attained the much-needed revival. They are no more considered impertinent. The trees have caught up with the trend and are being sold in a number of retail shops. A little offbeat to the traditional ones, upside-down Christmas trees are sold to the public as innovative pieces. They occupy less space and are a great way to fit more gifts as well.