Christmas origins

The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131. In Dutch it is Kerst-misse, in Latin Dies Natalis, whence comes the French Noël, and Italian Il natale; in German Weihnachtsfest, from the preceeding sacred vigil. The term Yule is of disputed origin. It is unconnected with any word meaning "wheel". The name in Anglo-Saxon was geol, feast: geola, the name of a month (cf. Icelandic iol a feast in December).

Have a good look at this site:-

Christmas traditions, Christmas tree history
Some people trace the origin of the Christmas tree to an earlier period.
Even before the Christian era, trees and boughs were used for ceremonials. ...
http://www.christmas-tree.com/where.html - 19k

Thank you for starting this discussion rosebug because I have just learnt heaps from checking the site that rolcam gave. LOL

I was always told as a child that the Christmas tree was a symbol of the Christian spirit and that was why we always had a living tree, so it was interesting to read that this is factual and not just something that parents tell their children. I cannot remember the story behind the decorations but we used to make them ourselves, adding more each year. :)