X-mas Tree Traditions
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Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is the Weather Notebook. Evergreen trees feature prominently today in celebrations of Christmas. But did you know that evergreens are part of traditions around the globe to take note of the winter solstice?. Robin White files this report.

Everyone's familiar with the ritual of decorating Christmas trees, but according to Sheryl Karas, author of a book called The Solstice Evergreen, that tradition is only one of many worldwide. People everywhere have rituals that go along with the celebration of a solstice evergreen.

"Almost any culture that had pine trees had some kind of solstice celebration also."

Karas says that before they became Christians, the ancient Romans used to decorate a pine tree to celebrate the holiday of Saturnalia which was their version of the winter solstice.

The Japanese also celebrate the solstice with an evergreen tree. They have an ancient story about the Sun Goddess who had a disagreement with her brother the North wind.

"It was a major disagreement where he was running riot and destroying all vegetation and making her very depressed so she went and hid in a cave."

And with the sun hidden in a cave all the vegetation started to die. The gods and goddess of Japan tried everything they could to get her to come out again. They had a big celebration in front of the goddess's cave and decorated a pine tree.

"And she heard all of this laughter and haymaking going on outside and she got curious and they pulled her outside and the sun came back. And that's the Japanese winter solstice."

Evergreens don't drop their needles in winter and they've have been interpreted as symbols of everlasting life. From Roman times to the present people have decorated their solstice evergreens with special food and lights which symbolize the pagan hope for the return of light so much needed in the darkest days of winter.

Thanks today to correspondent Robin White. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory and supported by the National Science Foundation. Thanks today to producer Margaret Landsman and executive engineer, Sean Doucette.