CHRISTMAS SPIDER in the mid 1970's.
THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER
(A custom and folk legend from Poland and the Ukraine)Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year....The day on which the Christ Child came to bless the house!
Not a speck of dust was left in that home. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling. To avoid the housewife's busy cleaning, they had fled to the farthest corner of the attic.
At last, it was the Christmas Eve! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not be present for the Christ Child's visit nor see the tree. Yet, the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see Him. Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room. The spiders were so small they needed to view the tree closely. Since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room, they crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw every one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the beauty of this Christmas tree.
But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when the little Christ Child came to bless the house He was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but He knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for her little children, wouldn't feel the same. He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering, silver and gold!
Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees. According to this legend, it has also become a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.
--translated from a Ukrainian legend, December 2006
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I first came across THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER in the mid 1970's. |
The picture above is a copy of the first version I saw, which came with a little hand-made spider at a craft fair. The mid 1970's were my early teen years and I was attending a Catholic school that always did fund raisers around Christmas. My mother suggested we make a bunch of these to sell at my class booth, attaching the legend to them. Initially, we could not find a cultural origin source for this tale.
Text of tale in scanned copy:THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER
Once upon a time long ago on a Christmas Eve, a mother and her children prepared their home for the visit of the Christ Child. Everything was scrubbed and cleaned, and when the tree was beautifully decorated the family went to bed. While they were sleeping, the little spiders, who had been chased from their favorite nooks and cracks, crept back to view the lovely preparations. They were filled with wonder at the tree's glittering beauty and crawled on every branch to see each shining ornament, but alas, after their inspection the tree was shrouded with cobwebs.
When the Christ Child came, and saw what had happened, He smiled at the thought of the spiders wanting to see His tree and as He blessed it He touched each web to turn it into silver and the tree glistened with greater beauty than before.
That is how it happened in many parts of the world, that it became a custom to have a spider on the Christmas tree.
History Regarding this Legend and Custom
The tale of the spiderweb covered "yalynka" (Christmas holiday tree) has become a standard Ukrainian Christmas story. There are many versions of the story. It has even been retold in a number of contemporary children's books.
The story is as follows: Basically, a poor family has little--or nothing--to decorate their yalynka (tree) and for some reason—-after the family is asleep in bed--a little spider, or "pavuk," overnight spins its web all over the tree. It's a famous Ukrainian story.
I’ve read a number of different versions which tell slighty different stories. (Please note ALL the versions I have read, other than the translated verions above, are English versions.) In the English versions, the family may or may not be very poor. They are in all cases a family of modest means. After the spider or spiders climb all over the tree, trailing webs, one of the following holiday figures--the Christ Child/ Santa Claus /Christkind/the Christmas Angel/Good Angel--arrives sometime after midnight. This figure may transfom the grey dusty cobwebs into glittering tinsel-like strands. In other version the the thin strands are transformed into genuine silver or gold or both. In all cases, The magical Christmas vistor makes the spiderweb sparkle and glitter in the morning sunlight.
This charming story explains the tradition of tinsel on the Christmas holiday tree.
The custom of the Christmas holiday tree originated in Germany as the Tannenbaum/Weihnachtsbaum and arrived in the Ukraine in the 19th century.
The yalynka (tree) became a festive holiday decoration along with the more traditional Ukrainian "didukh." According to Orysia Paszczak Tracz in THE THINGS WE DO...A spider for Christmas?, “…the sheaf of wheat and other best grains, which symbolizes Ukrainian Christmas. The spirits of the ancestors come into the home in the didukh for the holy days. They had lived in the fields in the grain helping the bountiful harvest. The didukh is symbolic, the yalynka is decorative.”
Tracz speculated that story of the spider and its web on the yalynka probably arrived from Germany along with the Christmas holiday tree (Tannenbaum/Weihnachtsbaum). However, the Germans claim the spinnen (spiders) and their spinnweben (spiderwebs), as holiday tree decorations relate to the Polish custom of the “Pajak ?wi?teczny.” The “Pajak ?wi?teczny” is a traditional folk decoration for the household hung in the middle of the room like a chandelier (?yrandol), which turned back or reversed the effects of the evil eye (zle oko). These Polish decorations do not resemble either spiders and/or webs except perhaps in the most abstract manner. However, they served in Poland as symbols of fertility and happiness in the New Year.
In the Ukraine, "pavuchky" (spider) ornaments now adorn "yalynka" (Christmas holiday tree). Though the custom did not originate there, the pavuk (spider) is well-established as a special symbol in the Ukraine. As Tracz explained, “The arachnid has been held in high esteem since prehistoric times.”
The gift shop at The Ukrainian Museum in New York sells pavuchky (spider) ornaments as well as a booklet on traditional Ukrainian ornaments.
Sources:
Orysia Paszczak Tracz, THE THINGS WE DO...A spider for Christmas? The Ukrainian Weekly, December 31, 2006, No. 53, Vol. LXXIV, accessed 1/30/16.
Unnützes Wissen rund um Weihnachten, accessed 1/30/16.
Beata Terczy?ska Czytaj wi?cej,December 19, 2014, accessed 1/30/16.
End Note
Unnützes Wissen Platz 3: Spinnenweben statt Lametta
Achtbeinig, haarig und eklig … für die meisten Menschen gehören Spinnen allenfalls in den Keller, aber ganz sicher nicht an den Weihnachtsbaum. Ganz anders sieht es da in Polen aus. An den polnischen Weihnachtsbäumen findet man nicht nur bunte Christbaumkugeln, sondern vor allem Spinnen und Spinnenweben. Den achtbeinigen Tierchen wird nachgesagt, sie seien ein Symbol für Güte und Wohlstand. Die Tradition geht aus einer Legende hervor, laut derer eine Spinne die Babydecke für das Jesuskind webte.
--Unnützes Wissen rund um Weihnachten, accessed 1/30/16.
Useless Knowledge 3rd place: cobwebs instead of tinsel
Achtbeinig, hairy and disgusting ... most people do not belong spiders possibly in the basement, but certainly on the Christmas tree. Is quite different from that in Poland. At the Polish Christmas trees can be found not only colorful baubles, but especially spiders and cobwebs. The eight-legged creatures are said to be a symbol of goodness and prosperity. The tradition emerges from a legend, according to which a spider wove baby blanket for the baby Jesus.
–Unnützes Wissen rund um Weihnachten, translated by Google Translate, accessed 1/30/16.