During this holiday season of giving, many of us put up a Christmas tree. We decorate it with ornaments and place gifts for our loved ones underneath. What is the origin and evolution of this long tradition? A Transcendent Symbol Evergreen trees—the type of tree often used for Christmas trees—has had symbolic use all throughout…

For centuries at Christmas, Christians have set up devotional crèches, three-dimensional Nativity scenes that they normally display in their homes, churches, and stores until Jan. 6. That day, Epiphany, is celebrated as the time when the divinity of Jesus was revealed to the Magi, or wise men. These three wise men were the first Gentiles (non-Jews)…