It’s Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year. From Thanksgiving to New Year, our lives are filled with traditions, new and old.
Once my children married, had children and began their traditions, I cut back on mine. We live in the country and any holiday decorations are shared with our UPS and Fed-Ex drivers delivering gifts to wrap. I willed all my German glass ornaments, crystal icicles and various antique ornaments with my children and my favorite sister-in-law who appreciates vintage. Instead of decorating a live tree in our limited space, I fondly prepare my Grinch tree. My small tree is the color of the Grinch. It is wound with orange and purple Halloween lights that flash and blink, and drive my husband crazy. The branches have Martha Stewart's shiny round ornaments. In between those bulbs, my Christmas spiders weave the season's magic. Most folks are surprised about the carefully crafted bead and wire spiders, but there’s a good reason I chose spiders. First, I am by trade a hand weaver. I have a spider tattoo named Deloris on my shoulder. Spiders are also good for the environment. We live in the cold Northern Plains so we have very few run-ins with poisonous varieties. One year, I enlisted the help of the grandchildren to make a few spiders for me under the guise of a craft project after Thanksgiving Dinner. They are on to me now and make faces when I bring up “making” things at my house. Have you heard the legend of the Christmas Spider? On Christmas Eve, a mother began to clean so her house would be ready to be blessed by the Christ Child's birth. Vacuuming sent those spiders in a frenzy of legs to the basement to find new corners to weave webs. While the family slept peacefully in anticipation of Christmas morning, during the night, the spiders returned to find the main house clean and adorned with decorations. In the center of the room, a Christmas tree. In their excitement, the spiders danced through the tree branches to admire each ornament spinning strands of dull spider silk behind. Naturally, when the Christ Child arrived on Christmas Day, He loved that His creatures created such beautiful webs, however, wasn’t convinced the mother who worked so hard the day before would feel the same way. So, the child touched the webs, and behold, they took on gold and silver shimmers. In the morning, the family discovered a true Christmas miracle. The tree was glowing with beautiful silver and gold threads and the tradition of hanging tinsel and shiny garland on a Christmas tree was born. To honor the spiders' weaving, the mother hangs a spider ornament on the tree every Christmas. I happen to have a few more. Being of German-Russian descent, some legends have Weihnachtsmann, German for Father Christmas performing the miracle of the spider webs. So that’s why my tree has spiders.
1 Comment
Cheryl Visger
12/13/2024 10:55:31 am
Thank you for sharing that lovely story Sue! I had never heard it! Will share it with my grandchildren this Christmas. 🎄
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Root Seller SueTimeless wisdom for gardeners, cooks, farmers, those of faith, or anyone seeking to reconnect with traditional ways of living. Archives
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