14 Responses to “Oh Tannenbaum…”

1. camojack Says:
   December 23rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm

   Unless I’m mistaken, the White House tree decorations have been something of a “free-for-all” for years now…

2. neo-neocon Says:
   December 23rd, 2009 at 2:43 pm

   camojack: but in that particular direction? Mao??

3. Gringo Says:
   December 23rd, 2009 at 2:49 pm

   So that is the White House’s version of a holly, jolly Christmas. “Inclusion” and “diversity” can also mean “Let’s have a little love for the killer of fifty million, who gets so much hate from the intolerant.”

4. Daniel in Brookline Says:
   December 23rd, 2009 at 4:19 pm

   I have to wonder what Mr. Obama thinks when he sees things like this. Granted, he didn’t design the ornaments, and he didn’t put them up… but he certainly could take them down if he wanted.

   Does he smile and think “this will drive the wingnuts crazy”? Does he think “some people will complain, but I’ll get out of it, the way I always do”? Or does he think “I can afford to be this obvious, because I know the idiots STILL won’t get it”?

   One wonders, wonders one…

5. Sgt. Mom Says:
   December 23rd, 2009 at 4:26 pm

   Amazing … there is one thing that I hadn’t yet detected in the Obama White House.
   And that is a jaw-dropping degree of tackiness. These people are vulgar, tacky and tasteless. They are taking tacky to whole new and heretofore unexplored levels of tackiness.
   Jackie Kennedy is revolving in her grave like a Black & Decker drill, I swear.

6. Perfected democrat Says:
   December 23rd, 2009 at 6:22 pm

   A deserving honor for sure; Didn’t Mao, after all, by his mass murder campaign do the world a big favor? Imagine the carbon imprint legacy those starved and murdered peasants and their kin would otherwise have caused in today’s world; and isn’t it time, after all, to eat the dog? http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091220/sc_afp/lifestyleclimatewarminganimalsfood
   With a coming left-wing world government taking care of us, perhaps Soylent Green isn’t far off… What’s your favorite flavor?

7. expat Says:
   December 23rd, 2009 at 8:30 pm

   Sgt. Mom,

   Spot on. Social climbers of the worst type, and they started a few levels lower than most. I bet Michelle was real impressed that the decorator from Barney’s would do the WH.

8. Artfldgr Says:
   December 24th, 2009 at 7:48 am

   When searching for the historical beginning of the first Christmas tree, one must go very deep into the past. Just like Santa Claus one finds that the first Christmas tree was combination of many different facts, legends and customs all starting in the Baltic countries and what is now Northern Germany.

   The first documented use of an evergreen tree in a Christmas celebration was in Riga, Latvia, in the year 1510 according to many sources.

   [ya can thank the latvians for playboy bunnies too! among other things]

9. Artfldgr Says:
   December 24th, 2009 at 7:56 am

   Finland has Santa Claus. Russia has traditional handmade Christmas ornaments. Germany has Christmas markets. But arguably the most well-known of Christmas traditions — decorating the Christmas tree — may have its origin in Latvia. And it’s all but unknown.

   In the past, there have been stories about Martin Luther walking in the woods near Riga and he created the first Christmas Tree. But actually, the Riga tree reference and the Martin Luther Tree reference are two different occurrences.

   The Martin Luther Tree was not the Riga Tree. In fact, little is known about the original Riga tree other than the fact that it was attended by men wearing black hats, and that after a ceremony, they burnt the tree.
   This was a mixture of pagan and Christian custom, as were very many of the customs in Central/Northern Europe at that time.

   The Martin Luther walk in the forest, believed to actually in Northern Germany and his lighted tree actually occurred several decades later.
   In Latvia as in all of northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun as a part of pagan activities where people were living their life as they had done for hundreds of years before.

   The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer.

   It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.

   Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means wheel, the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Holly berries were thought to be a food of the gods.

   The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again.

   In all societies, there were people who filled the roles of judge, doctor, diviner, mage, mystic, and clerical scholar – they were the religious intelligentsia of their culture.

   These people often used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees and gathering around a large bonfire.

   The legend says that the first Riga tree in 1510 was decorated with paper flowers and burnt on the bonfire after the ceremony; most probably, with a toast for the future, with steins held high!
   According to Countess Maria Hubert von Staufer of the organization Christmas Archives International based in the England, “Riga is very important in the History of the Christmas Tree”. more historical information
   Riga Latvia was the home of the first Christmas tree

   []

   The location of this first recorded evergreen tree being used in a new year (Christmas) celebration was in Town Hall Square in Riga Latvia.

   Located just meters or yards from the majestic Daugava River banks that was a major transportation route in the early Latvian development.

   []

   Town Hall Square, developed in the middle of the 13th century, was initially a marketplace. Various celebrations, dances, games, tournaments, performances of mysteries, carnivals and parades took place there. The main function of the Square, though, was the administration of the city: the rules and orders of the Town Council were read out there.

   The most splendid building in the Square is the House of Blackheads originally built in 1334, and now rebuilt in 1995 – 1999), which hosted a brotherhood of unmarried foreign merchants. The town hall building across the square was built later and rebuilt again in 2003.

   []

   Just in front of the House of Blackheads is placed domed plaque marking the site of the first New Years (Christmas) tree ceremony.

   The plaque is engraved “The First New Years Tree in Riga in 1510″, in eight languages.

   []

   Riga has come a long way from those early beginnings. Surviving the harsh Soviet occupation for 50 years, Latvia is once again one of Northern Europe’s most exciting places with great possibilities.

   Latvians look like and consider themselves Nordics, evidenced through the strong cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Germanic and Scandinavian colonization and settlement.

   This highly literate society places strong emphasis upon education and as a result is poised to become an economic powerhouse in the expansion of the Baltic countries.

   Lots to do and lots to see year around. Please come soon and enjoy the experience!

   Mike Johnson, General Manager, Patricia Tourist Office, Riga

   MERRY XMAS!!!!

10. CV Says:
    December 24th, 2009 at 9:09 am

    artfldgr,

    Among the many interesting things I noticed on my first visit to Rome was how many ancient pagan symbols, locations etc. were adapted and converted into Christian symbols and churches.

    The Pantheon is now a Catholic church for example. And the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (one of the most spectacular Gothic churches in Rome) got its name because it was built over a Roman shrine to the goddess Minerva and sunsequently consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

    Works for me

    Merry CHRISTmas!

11. Assistant Village Idiot Says:
    December 24th, 2009 at 9:18 am

    I thought artfl was off-topic, but maybe not. Christmas customs have always been something of a cultural projective test, with everyone putting in what they really think down deep. Europe did indeed remain deeply pagan long after the introduction of Christianity – one might say that it has never fully abandoned paganism, actually – and even the religious celebration has always been imbued with values of family, physical comfort, and nostalgia in addition to the Christian virtues of generosity, forbearance, and gratitude. Since the 1960′s, the Holy Spirit dove and the Christian understanding of Peace on Earth have taken on almost entirely earthly meanings at Christmas.

    Small wonder that the increasingly secular holiday takes on increasingly secular values as it moves along. People can only give what they have.

12. Oblio Says:
    December 24th, 2009 at 9:41 am

    Great post, artfldgr.

13. will Says:
    December 24th, 2009 at 10:51 am

    The tranny ornament is interesting, wonder if Brother Obama shares the same proclivities as Brother Murphy?

    The Mao ornament is curious as well. Not only was he un-Democratic, but was as un-green as they come! The enviornmental disaster visited upon his country by his policies are the stuff of legend.

    Personally, I don’t think the photographer looked hard enough, I think there’s a Bob Mugabe ornament hiding in that tree.

14. OlderandWheezier Says:
    December 24th, 2009 at 5:37 pm

    Mao and a transvestite? I think they can rewrite the last part of that favorite carol now…..

    “And a Marxist on a queer tree!”

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