December 1999
hristmas is, amongother things, a sea-
sonoflights.Lightsontrees,lightson
houses,lightsoncitystreetsandlamp
posts.Whetherblinking,twinkling,or
shining bright and steady, lights have long
beena part of the Christmastradition.
OneGermanlegendhasitthatthe
first Christmas lights were candles placed
uponatreebyMartinLuther.Itseems
Martinhadbeenwalkinginthewoods
preparinga sermonfor the comingSun-
day service. Time passed and soon it was
dark. The woods of Germany were dense
and home to all manner of wolf, bear and
boar so Martinwasfrightened as he has-
tenedhome. A glance above, up through
thetrees,revealedtinyspecksoflight,
twinkling blue andsilver. At first Martin
waspuzzledbutthenhethought,stars!
Lights from Heaven to guide and comfort
him. After all, it was a star that guided the
wise men to that stable on the first Christ-
mas night.
This, thought Martin, would be a fine
subjectforhissermon. Feelingsafe and
protected in God’s hands helooked around
andfounda smallfir tree whichhe took
home to hisfamily.
In 17th Century Germany it was cus-
tom to have a candelabra inthe form of a
triangleplacedinthewindow.Thetri-
angle shape was said to represent God the
Father,GodtheSon,andGodtheHoly
Ghost.Onthisnight,Martintookthe
candles from the candelabra and tied them
tothelittletree.Astheyflickeredthey
reminded him of the stars he had just seen
in the woods and howthey had comforted
himin his moment of fear.
“God’s light shines through thedark-
estnightforeveryone,”hesaid,“but
sometimeswe have tolookup tosee it.”
Thelegendsaysthiswasthefirst
time a candle was put on a Christmas tree
andwhywe still today putlights onour
Christmastrees.
Oneparticularform of Christmas light
isknown as theluminariaor bag candle.
These are small votive candles placedin
paper sacks that have been weighted with
sand. The luminarias give off a soft warm
glow and many legends say they are sup-
posed to light the way to the Christ child.
This legendistoldanew ina wonderful
new children’s Christmas book titledThe
Christmas Path: A Legend of the Lumi-
Inthebookthetaleistoldofhowthe
Innkeeperandhisfamilyplacedlamps
and lanterns along the path from their Inn
to the stable where Jesus was born to light
the way for the wise men.
The practice of lining sidewalks and
roof tops with luminarias is practicedby
peoplearoundtheworldalthoughhere
luminarias are most prevalent in the south-
westUnitedStatesandanywherethere
are sizable Hispanic communities. In Al-
buquerque, NewMexico entire neighbor-
hoods decorate withthese delightful bag
candles. In fact, so popular are these dis-
plays that the City’s Luminaria Tours are
perhapsitssecondbestknowncelebra-
tion (Balloon Fiestabeing first,of course).
ThisChristmasEve,forthe21styear,
localballoonistswilladdtheirglowing
aerostats to the holiday display.
This traditional display began in 1979
when Kim Vesley first saw a balloon test
inflated after dark. Admiring the inherent
‘glowing‘effect,itremindedherofa
giant luminaria. Today there are two main
siteswheretheballoonssetup,atthe
originalsiteontheCountryClubgolf
GlenMoyer
