Article: Time Off: The meaning of Christmas; Jane Woodhead uncovers the reasons for our festive traditions.(Features)

Byline: Jane Woodhead

AS you decorate the tree with tinsel, deck the halls with boughs of holly, and plant pennies in the pud, have you ever wondered . . .

n Why do we dress-up our trees with tinsel?

This is down to the tale of the Christmas spider.

Many years ago a poor widow was determined to give her family a good Christmas. She spent hours decorating a tree but, during the night, spiders scurried over it, leaving dusty grey webs. As a reward for her unselfish behaviour, Jesus turned the webs into silver threads.

n What do ...

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