Old Tales On This Magic Night

There is a legend shared by many countries that animals talk at midnight on this special night, Christmas Eve.

 Some tales tell of the animals being given the power of human speech for one hour. Others say they can speak until dawn. God was so grateful for their help in comforting baby Jesus in the stable, he gave them voices for a short time. Bees are said to gather to hum hymns and oxen and cattle rise in their stalls or kneel in adoration of the new-born king. Since childhood I have loved these tales. One of my favourites has to be of the spider.
When Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus were on their way to Egypt, the story tells, as evening came they were weary and sought refuge in a cave. It was so cold that the ground was white with hoar frost. A little spider saw the baby Jesus and wished so much that he could do something to help keep him warm in the cold night. He decided the only thing that he could do was to spin a web across the cave entrance, a curtain to keep the icy wind out. Along the path came King Herods soldiers seeking to carry out his bloodthirsty order. When they came to the cave, they were about to burst in and search it to see if anyone was hiding there, but their captain noticed the spider's web. It was covered with the white hoar frost and stretched right across the entrance to the cave.
'Look,'he said, at the spider's web there. It is quite unbroken. There can't possibly be anyone in the cave as anyone entering would have torn the web'.
So the soldiers passed on and left the holy family in peace.

And that, so they say, is why to this day we put tinsel on our Christmas trees.
It is said that every tree should have a spider ornament to acknowledge the generous spirit of the little Christmas spider.

Wishing you all a happy and peaceful Christmas.
xxx