Tradition of wreaths abides Use of evergreens for decoration hails from Christmas past

Everywhere we look there are wreaths. Gigantic ones loop the front entrances to businesses; others hang on windows, lampposts, garage doors and even on the front grills of trucks we meet along the highway.

Evergreen wreaths appeared by the hundreds – by the thousands, to be sure – as November faded into December and the holiday season began in earnest.

Nowhere are there more balsam fir wreaths than Down East, where deft hands twist wire around boughs with the speed of sardine packers, and in minutes have produced another stack of 10- or 12-inch, two-sided wreaths, lush green and aromatic to boot.

Then come florets of spruce cones, then pine cones, a patch or two of reindeer moss, chestnuts, bunches of rose hips and the signature velvet bow. Perfect symmetry, made to order.

Symbols of the season, wreaths and red bows decorate barn doors, gravestones, storefronts, fences and porches. One house nearby has a wreath hanging in every window, upstairs and down, and an inn in a neighboring village boasts dozens of identical wreaths covering its windowpanes.

Inside one house, wreaths made of cedar add a lacy touch between bookshelves; in another, a wreath of pine and fir hangs above the living room fireplace. On the kitchen door is a wreath made entirely of cones, while a smaller one, a circle of bay leaves, hangs on the pantry wall.

Who knows when the first wreath donned a dwelling or why the wreath came to symbolize the strength of life overcoming the forces of winter. In ancient Rome, decorative wreaths were used as signs of victory, while in other times and places, memorial wreaths were hung on doors after a death in the household. The significance of the wreath apparently lies with its deeper meaning.

Thomas Miller wrote of the traditional Christmas wreath: “What though upon his hoary head have fallen many a winter’s snow? His wreath is still as green and red as ’twas a thousand years ago. For what has he to do with care. His wassail-bowl and old armchair are ever standing ready there, for Christmas comes but once a year.”

Finally, there’s the Advent wreath, whose origins are found in the folk practices of the pre-Christian Germanic peoples who, during the cold December darkness of Eastern Europe, gathered evergreen wreaths and lighted fires as signs of hope in a coming spring and renewed light.

Christians kept these traditions alive and by the 16th century Catholics and Protestants throughout Germany used these symbols to celebrate their Advent hope in Christ. The practice spread to other parts of the Christian world and continues with the lighting of the Advent candles during the weeks preceding Christmas Eve.

One Advent wreath, at least 4 feet in diameter, hangs horizontally from the church beams. It is decorated with three purple bows and a pink one of the same hues as the tall candles gracing the sanctuary. It will remain high above those of us sitting in the pews, as one by one, the Advent candles are lighted. And on Christmas Eve, the single Advent wreath will be replaced … by dozens more Christmas wreaths.