Weird Christmas Traditions

May I direct your attention to the decorations in the photo above: upside down Christmas trees. Our church is infested with them, and basically has had them for several years now for some reason. It still looks weird. The picture above doesn't quite illustrate how odd they are - I'll post one further down that's a good example. Here's an explanation I found on the internet, typed up five years ago when the fad was already a few years old:

"Though strange, this idea may have been inspired by Germany, which hung their trees upside-down back in the 12th century to represent the Holy Trinity. This trend is catching on to the real pines as well. But, they would require special steps like bending the branches and misting the trees with water to prevent them from drying out, as upside-down trees go completely against nature."

The "completely against nature" part has a nice ring to it, and is essentially what I think of these poor trees. Somehow, according to history, the upside down Christmas tree represents the Holy Trinity. The tree is a triangle with three points, and that's where they get the "trinity" part. Yet, doesn't the same tree, when placed right side up like a normal tree, have three points as well?

Madison and Daddy see the upside down Christmas tree in the children's ministry. Daddy hoists Madison up so she can touch it - that's because the weird thing hangs from the ceiling. It's become somewhat of a ritual. Unlike Daddy, she's never questioned why there's a Christmas tree hanging upside down from the ceiling before, but then again, she's seen a few different versions of "Alice in Wonderland," so perhaps it doesn't mess with her mind as much. Having an upside down Christmas tree does spring to mind the Cheshire Cat's words: "We're all mad here." But there are other odd traditions at Christmas time that we hear about each year. Look below, and behold the Gävle Goat:

The burning of the Gävle Goat in Sweden springs to mind immediately when I think of odd traditions. Well, not necessarily the goat itself, but rather the tradition of vandals to set it on fire.

Now that is bizarre. Of course, there's probably someone in Sweden or Germany looking on the internet right now - perhaps even this blog - and seeing our weird Christmas traditions here.

Like the "Living Christmas Trees." Or dancing elves. And yes, visiting a Pink Pig train each year is probably pretty weird too!