The Legend of the Christmas Spider - the Tradition of Tinsel

Posted on December 18, 2015 | 0 Comments

The story of the Christmas Spider appears in many different versions throughout central and eastern Europe. In all of them the spiders' webs, spun on Christmas Eve, turn to silver and are seen as the beginning of the beautiful tradition of hanging sparkling tinsel on your Christmas tree. The tinsel symbolizes a Christmas miracle from long ago.

And, the Christmas Spider legend beckons us to give thanks to the industrious spiders by hanging a spider ornament in a special place on our trees.

In Germany, the legend has it that a poor woman was unable to provide the traditional decorations for the Christmas holiday. A spider, who had narrowly escaped the dust mop, made his home in her tree and began to spin beautiful webs. On Christmas morning, the first light of the day struck the cobwebs, turning them to silver. When the woman awoke, she found the tree covered with silver treasure - the spider had brought good fortune! And the tradition of hanging tinsel on one's Christmas tree was begun.

This Christmas, pair the Christmas Spider ornament from Inge-Glas with one of these two delightful children's books as a charming addition to your Christmas traditions.

Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel by Shirley Cimo with illustrations by Jane Manning -