I get the Xmas tree thing. The smell, the presence, the lights, the presents, the ornaments, the memories - all good things.
Also, I have an old college friend whose multigenerational family farming business is in growing, nurturing, and selling them (he's got a phenomenal farm - Beck Tree Farms, check it out, it's awesome)... But... I just can’t get over this one thing: you literally kill a tree for no reason but to have it dry out in a corner in your house. We don’t even eat it, or use it for anything!
That tree grew for years. Years! It might be older than your kids. …and we just kill it and dry it out and throw it away. I don't like that.
Feel free to skip the rest of this essay; as Blaise Pascale wrote, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” Although if you do skip it, you’ll miss out on the Sealing the Deal “easter egg.”
You’ve seen the top of the iceberg; the rest is merely the bottom.
I’m not saying any of these things
Before I share more of my reflections on the subject, I’d like to clear up what I’m not saying.
I’m not saying that plastic trees are The Way. There’s a great argument to be made that tree farms are beneficial for the environment - and for the economy; better than the manufacture and shipment of plastic trees from China, Mexico, or wherever. I agree with much of the argument (even though some particulars are misleading - I think the recycling of dead Christmas trees is overestimated, tree farming is not forest management, and Christmas tree farms aren’t the same as forests in terms of wild animal habitats).
I’m not saying that no one, anywhere, ever, finds good uses for dead trees. One very inventive practice that my uncle shared with me was dropping weighted trees into a lake. Theoretically that provides habitat for water life. On a very small scale, that’s a great idea. On a large scale, we’d have lakes quickly filling up with trees, after a few years of this practice, and I’d be concerned about impact on water life - and ours - I imagine tree farming involves chemicals that probably shouldn’t end up in our water supply. There’s also tree composting if you’re into that sort of thing, and there are xmas tree recycling programs.
I’m not saying there aren’t other examples of wanton waste of natural resources and disregard for human or non-human life. Humans are good at that.
I’m not saying that I want you to feel bad for loving this one brief connection to nature and memories. I am not judging, I promise.
Hubris all the way
What I am saying is that the more I think about the practice, the more it seems that the entire Xmas tree situation is a perfect stand-in for how we see the world - merely there to satisfy our self-indulgence. We have reached the peak of Mount Hubris.
This particular Xmas tradition sure seems like a real experience, but dig just a little, and it’s the worst kind of self-indulgence possible.
Why? Here’s the tldr; version: its meaning is hollow; it’s disconnected from reality; it’s unexamined and wasteful; it’s self-perpetuating; it’s short-sighted.
“Faux” real
The annual ritual is cemented in the Western cultural psyche: whether it’s for Christmas in the Christian world, or for New Year’s in my native Soviet Union, this tradition of arboreal ritual sacrifice is practically a requirement. Some families go for a stronger faux connection by cutting down the tree themselves - at a farm. Still consumer-oriented, but maybe more of a ‘pick your own berries’ level rather than ‘already packed in plastic.’ Faux real.
Hollow
The interesting thing about this sacrifice is that it’s so superficial - the object of the sacrifice isn’t even really considered. How many of you actually think about the tree in ways other than as a temporary aromatic scaffolding for ornaments and lights?
In cultures that still maintain their primary ties with nature or the universe, sacrifices must be meaningful to have impact. Not this one, this one is all surface. The Christian Trinity doesn’t demand a spruce of certain proportions, nor that it lived according to Scripture, nor that it grew on blessed ground, or whatever. It’s just some tree that fits into your space. Come to think of it, Christianity stole the timing of the holiday from pagans. Even the origins of the sacrifice are hollow.
Unexamined & Wasteful
You know that scene in Jurassic World when the Big Scary Dinosaur finally escapes from its confinement and goes on a killing spree, murdering innocent smaller, less scary dinosaurs without even eating them? That was Bad, and you felt Bad. At least if it ate them there’d be a reason for the killings. That’s us and Christmas trees. I don’t know if it’s worse that we’re actually growing these life forms on purpose, to be slaughtered for our pleasure. We don’t make furniture from them, or paper, or even burn them in our fireplaces.
In Perelandra, C.S. Lewis wrote the Devil as an indifferent, casual murderer of defenseless frog-like creatures. That comes to mind too.
At some point in human history, you cut down a tree because you needed it to heat your house and cook your food. To celebrate the winter solstice, you dragged it inside and put ornaments on it while waiting for it to be ready, cut it into firewood when it was, and made your rabbit stew with its energy. That seems appropriate: you reaffirm your spiritual understanding of the world, pay homage to the tree's life, and when it’s all done, the tree helps you survive. Primary ties to nature, action necessary for survival, one life sustains another.
If I were, as a writing prompt, to try to think of a scenario exactly the opposite of that, I think I’d come up with today’s Christmas trees - except I’d make them kittens or baby seals, just for a little extra emotional impact.
All the motions and the hubbub, and at the end, all of this is just to make us feel good for a few weeks.
Short-sighted
The other interesting thing this brings to my mind is how bad we are, collectively, at thinking holistically. OK, so we thought through the process of bringing these trees to market. We’ve thought about how to plant trees in succession to have a crop every year.
Why haven’t we thought through the process on the other end? Why not DO something with those trees when they’re done?
Last I checked there’s a ton of stuff being manufactured from wood. We clearly have a surplus every - single - January, without fail. Has capitalist ingenuity or government funding of start-ups finally met the one problem that can’t be solved?
Self-perpetuating
There is one real thing embedded in this ritual - it’s the emotional connection it creates. The family joy and the memories created around Christmas trees are real and meaningful to us. And in pursuit of this meaning, we recreate the same conditions year after year, further instilling them in our children, so they perpetuate them as they grow, because for them that joy and those connections are also real.
“Sealing the Deal”
A little religious background: three thousand years ago, a deal was struck between demon Bepholumet and angel Solantes. After a conflict that nearly destroyed all creation, Bepholumet agreed to leave this plane of existence in exchange for Solantes sacrificing herself as part of Bepholumet’s departure. The sacrificial fire forever sealed the rift between planes and the First Peoples used remnants of the Solantes Fire during the long winter that followed.
Ever since then, every year, in the midst of winter, those that followed the First Peoples - at least those who still carry on the tradition - commemorate Solantes’ sacrifice with the ritual of Sealing the Deal. Initially this ritual involved a hunt, where a Seal - an adorable indigenous creature with white fur, large, black, liquid eyes, and lots of life-giving fat - would be killed, its fat being used to start the Solantes Fire and keep the house warm, its skin to clothe the family, and its meat to feed them. The Curing of the Seal leading up to starting of the Solantes Fire was a time of respect, Thanksgiving, and remembrance, culminating in a feast after the Fire was started.
Over time, the need for actual fat, meat, and fur of the Seal declined due to industrialization and other technological developments, so nations that still practiced Sealing the Deal developed more consumer-friendly approaches to celebrate.
Seal Farms were created to grow the seals in waves, as the peak fat production was reached when they were 4-5 years old. At that time, the young seals are culled and people buy them fresh and hang them in special stands above cinnamon- or other spice-scented heater to slowly render the fat over three to four weeks. The delicious smell of seal fat and spices makes the season so jolly and irresistible!
Some families that feel more connected to their ancestral roots prefer to club the seals themselves at Club-Your-Own-Seal Farms - rather than relegating that duty to Seal Farm employees. This is thought to create special bonds between children and parents and teach children a little something of the old ways.
Per tradition, the seals are decorated with ornaments pinned to their hides, wrapped in glittering lights, and a large twinkling flame ornament is affixed to the seal’s head, as a symbol of Solantes’ sacrifice.
After the 3-4 weeks of fat rendering, a portion of it is used during the Solantes Fire Feast, when it is used to light tiny candles around the house and on the dining room table. The feast serves up Seal Meat (purchased at the grocery store, sometimes already prepared) and other delicacies.
After the feast, the Seal’s carcass is ready to be discarded, although some families let it hang another week or two. Everyone loves the Seal the Deal season, it is generally considered the most beloved of holidays by children and adults alike.