The day after Thanksgiving, many families in the United States put out the Christmas tree. It’s a beautiful display that really helps get through dreary winter days. Although it’s called a Christmas tree, few may be aware of where the custom came from. Still fewer have heard about esoteric meanings. Yet, there is some truly fascinating symbolism at work right there in living rooms everywhere.
In a world rife with divisions and war in the Holy Land, knowing about these esoteric meanings might be healing and uniting. Why? This tree’s roots connect us with ancient traditions that all share a common theme. We’re not so different at all in reality.
The Origins of Christmas Trees
First, we’ll look at the brief origins of how people started putting Christmas trees in their homes in the United States.
Ironically, the custom of Christmas trees may have started in the newly-formed United States thanks to the wife of King George III. Yes, he’s the guy who lost when the states claimed independence from Britain. It was King George’s wife, Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who hung a yew branch in her home in the early 1800s and then a Christmas tree. Such traditions were customary in her small, northern German duchy. Why?
The German tradition was these trees were “paradise trees‘ that symbolized the Garden of Eden, according to Business Insider. As we know, a tree representing the Garden of Eden is the Tree of Life, a symbol seen worldwide.
Then, Queen Charlotte’s granddaughter, the future Queen Victoria, continued the tradition in the 1830s. Her family hung toys, popcorn, and cakes on the tree. Later, as German immigrants arrived in the United States in the 1840s, the custom spread, thanks in part to publishers (see video below).
An illustration of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria around a Christmas tree in 1848 really boosted the custom across the states and the world. That’s when growing Christmas trees for profit took off. Now, Christmas trees are grown everywhere, including Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Video by Vox about the origins of Christmas trees in the United States:
So-called ‘Pagan’ Origins of Christmas Trees
As in the video above, the custom of Christmas trees goes back a long way before German traditions. They touch on the Roman Saturnalia, which marked the solstice by hanging evergreen boughs.
The exact origins, as with so much of history, are murky. However, these traditions go back long before the Romans to ancient Egypt. The general story (not the esoteric version) is that they brought greenery, such as palm leaves, indoors to celebrate the return of Ra, the sun, at the winter solstice. Mainstream accounts talk about this being a celebration of Ra overcoming a kind of sickness which dimmed the light, but there is a deeper meaning, too. That meaning is about resurrection and eternal life, and the victory of light over darkness, quite similar to other world religions, like Christianity, and those dubbed ‘pagan.’
For example, a recent discovery from 2022 relates the Egyptian belief in rebirth and resurrection to the winter solstice. A 4000-year-old tomb was found to be oriented to the winter solstice. On that day, light fell on a statue of a ruling governor from 1830 B.C.
“The solar cycle, the researchers explained, was related to ancient Egyptian ideas about rebirth and resurrection of the dead. Placing the statue in a spot where sunlight fell on it with the rising sun of the winter solstice marked the beginning of the victory of light over darkness, while the summer solstice occurred at about the time of the life-giving annual flooding of the Nile River,” reported Archaeology News.
Relating to trees, the Egyptian story about the resurrection of Osiris references that he arose to everlasting life from a sacred tree. That tree became the Djed pillar which also represents Osiris’ spine. Most have probably seen the Djed pillar, a simple column-like object with four horizontal lines at the top, often seen with the Ankh symbol (see a video of the Djed pillar below). The lines represent higher levels of consciousness.
An Old Saxon representation of a sacred tree as a ‘great pillar,’ the Irminsul, looks much like the ancient Egyptian Djed pillar (see below).
Great Video about the Djed column and Osiris by The Undying Stars:
Ished Tree of Life
The complex story of the Djed pillar is symbolic of the Egyptian Tree of Life from the Old Kingdom, an evergreen called the Ished Tree, associated with the sycamore, acacia, and goddess Mut. Evergreens symbolized eternal life to the ancient Egyptians and also the Chinese and Hebrews. Similar customs spread around the world to Europe with the Druids, the Celts, and the Vikings.
While symbolic, the location of the Egyptian Tree of Life was traditionally the courtyard of the Temple of Re or Ra in Heliopolis, or Anu. Its branches were home to the Egyptian phoenix, the Bennu Bird. Amazingly, this bird who rose like a phoenix was a symbolic manifestation of the resurrected Osiris.
For spiritual aspirants, they must become like Osiris, called Asar in Egypt.
“Any soul aspiring to continue its existence in the afterlife had to ‘become an Osiris,’ referring to Osiris (the Tree) as the vehicle by which this journey occurred,” writes psychoanalyst Didem Çivici.
In the image above per World History: “A depiction of Ramesses II in the sacred Tree of Life before Ptah and Sekhmet, with Thoth behind him. Relief on the north wall of the second pillared hall in the Temple of Derr on Lake Nasser, Egypt. The Temple of Derr is a rock-cut temple built by Ramesses II (r. 1279-1213 BCE) and dedicated to Ra-Harakhte, Amun-Ra and Ptah.”
Esoteric Meanings of Christmas Trees
Thousands of years later, after immigrants brought the tradition of paradise trees to the United States, the original meanings gave way to a festive display. It’s a fun, sparkly tree covered in multicolored lights and baubles, but has lost the deeper meaning to most folks. But that’s a little ironic, as you’ll see.
As with so many traditions, there are alternative, lesser-known esoteric meanings to Christmas trees. To be sure, we can barely scratch the surface here and to the uninitiated, it may be too much. But nonetheless, these meanings are fascinating and show how interconnected world beliefs truly are. For some, the meaning could come as profound. Or, you may already be familiar if you’re following this page.
Briefly, as touched on before, the Egyptian beliefs about resurrection to everlasting life and an evergreen (Djed) tree are related. If not immediately dismissed as ‘pagan,’ they should begin to sound familiar to Christians and those with other spiritual beliefs. Related to this resurrection is the belief in Kundalini energy, called Sekhem in Egypt. (Or one of many other names around the world.) This lifeforce energy (or serpent power in Egypt) rises through seven chakras or seven souls of Ra (Sefech Ba Ra) to reach the Crown, called Sahasrara, leading above to what some call the cosmic egg.
Atop the Christmas tree, this cosmic egg is symbolized by one big star. While in mainstream Christian beliefs, that’s the literal Star of Bethlehem, the esoteric teaching is quite different. In that view, the tree isn’t a literal tree or star but a symbolic metaphor. Like the Djed pillar, it represents the human spine, which is where the chakra energy centers are aligned. Most people have heard about chakras, but probably never associated it with a Christmas tree.
Awakening Paradise Within
By awakening these energy centers, spiritual practitioners from all over the world say one can achieve a state of ‘paradise,’ a blissful connection to a higher consciousness. So, calling it a paradise tree is fitting! Those thought to have achieved this higher state were leaders like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Osiris, and many others.
However, the probable outcome for most is they won’t attain the key to such a state of abiding peace. Not in this lifetime, anyway. Ironically, they are distracted by the material world and all its sparkly baubles and coveted material objects, such as those that hang on a gaudy Christmas tree. Instead, they will reincarnate again and again. (Reincarnation is found in the earliest Gnostic Christian beliefs, by the way.)
But, what happens when a person does achieve a full awakening, lighting the star atop the metaphorical tree? Well, that’s the ultimate esoteric knowledge. Still, more than a few spiritual practitioners say it’s an attainable goal for any man or woman: an eternal resurrection, carrying on after physical death. Instead of reincarnating, they perhaps become an ascended master, an eternal light being or angel. Enlightenment is achieved. Interestingly, Jesus may have even alluded to it in Luke 20: 36, Matthew 22: 30, or Mark 12: 25.
Like the angels, one of the winged goddess who helps Osiris to achieve that ultimate goal is called Isis, or Aset. She is personified esoteric, intuitional wisdom. Yet Her wisdom is only revealed to those who learn the art of ‘Knowing Thyself’ versus becoming entangled in all the temporary material illusions around us. In other words, listen to your conscience, your inner guide more and tune out the noise and distractions of the ever-chaotic world. Achieving such a clarity is why meditation has been considered fundamental to the process for thousands of years.
As a sidenote, the Egyptian priests and priestesses wore a beeswax conical hat. Mainstream thinking is these melted down from the head to perfume the body. However, the esoteric meanings relate more to the fully awakened chakras, with a resulting surge of energy that could well melt wax.
For more about Kundalini, and related subjects, check out the advanced works and videos by Master Kambo, Neven Paar, Weinz Belardo, Bledsoe Said So, and for in-depth esoteric Egyptian spirituality, the incredible and easy-to-read books by Muata Ashby.
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Video about the conical hats via The Lost History Channel:
Featured image: Composite of Tree via Pixabay, chakras and Merkaba via Pixabay and background, Pixabay