AIBU to find 'Easter trees' ridiculous?

[WaltzesWithSnobs]

I'm already annoyed at the general melding of traditional holiday themes, eg Easter crackers, Halloween wreaths etc. Yes it is precisely none of my business and people can decorate or pull crackers however they wish but I have lots of irrelevant opinions.

But Easter trees? Easter trees have tipped me over the edge into proper Grumpy Old Women territory. Now (an important distinction) if the 'tree' is the shrubbery type then that's fine. But NOT an evergreen tree. That's nonsense!!

Evergreen trees are very well suited to Christmas because they are a symbol of life and hope when most trees are empty and bare. Makes no sense then to use them for a springtime celebration. Easter time is time to celebrate new life; lambs chicks, flowers budding and trees growing new leaves. An evergreen tree does not symbolise these things.

YABU: it's just a decoration, fuck off and mind your own business
or
YANBU: Evergreen trees have no place in Easter decorations

Rant over. Thanks for reading. I'm off to have a herbal tea to calm down. 🍵

I admit to being a bit When I started seeing SM posts of Christmas trees decorated for summer, Halloween, Valentine's and Easter... But it's harmless and people need something cheery right now.

@BoobsOnTheMoon

I had an Easter tree every year as a child. But it's a completely different thing from a Christmas tree

An Easter tree is a few small branches in a vase, the branches should have buds or catkins (preferably pussy willow) and then you hang hand painted eggs from it.

It's definitely a very old tradition.

Same @boobsonthemoon

I quite like the white twig ones - I spent Easter in Germany as an exchange student in my teens and the host mum took me to buy my own decoration for the family one, and then one to take home. I couldn't convince my own mother to make one the following year though.

Decorating some branches and sticking them in a vase - fine.
Rushing out to shops to buy some (fake?!) sticks with eggs on them - ridiculous.

YANBU. I always said that being able to buy hot cross buns all year round was the thin end of the wedge.

On valentines a home page on Instagram decorated her house for valentines and had a very tacky looking pink Xmas tree. It's ridiculous. Stick to trees for Xmas kinky

Okay not kinky

@dontforgetyourbrolly We are practicing Catholic so absolutely know about this, for us Easter is a bigger deal than Christmas. We have Easter crates and bags for the eggs and gifts, a lent countdown linked to the gospels, twig tree and we decorate the front door. Absolutely fine for you to think it's all tat, that's your opinion but don't think people doing this are not Christians.

Meh. We use our potted Christmas tree. Only started last year when everything was really quite grim. I stick some Easter bonnet decorations on it. This year I’ve bought some Easter gnomes. It’ll only come out at the weekend though.

It's the amount of Easter shite in the shops that people are buying that does my head in. We don't need Easter decorations. There really is no need. It doesn't make Easter any better. Yes, I know it's up to them but I'm very grumpy.

@Dontforgetyourbrolly

Omg it's so ridiculous, tat on Facebook I've seen : easter trees , easter crates, decorating your door for Easter! Hanging decorations for easter ....the list goes on. Easter is a catholic celebration with of course its roots in paganism.....I doubt anyone that buys this rubbish even knows the idea behind it all. And dont get me started on the Easter bunny

Hanging egg decorations on spring branches or painted sticks is traditional in Germany and other European countries. Painting or dyeing eggs is traditional in European countries.

Christmas is also a catholic festival which coopted pagan traditions.

Bunnies and eggs are traditional (pre-Christian) symbols of spring.

Unsurprisingly this year people are trying to find the joy and change of visual environment any way and anywhere they can.

What's your problem?

@LemonRoses

Made worse that there should be no celebration, no decorations until after Good Friday. Lent is a time for fasting, solemnity and not a time for fairy lights. Easter Sunday is the time for jollies.

It's a Pagan celebration that Christians claimed as their own. If you want to play it that way, fine, but it's not fir you to dictate to others

Repurposing Christmas trees is a bit odd (never seen it) but I do like branches/twiggy things with decorated eggs. Bunnies, flowers
Celebration of Spring.

I like the white twig ones and I'm a bit tempted to get my kids involved in making one.

Using your Christmas tree is bonkers, and all the Easter basket tat flooding my Facebook right now is doing my head in.

I am usually with you on this kind of thing.
But this year and last- where we are stuck inside/ doing local walks, I have got a lot of pleasure from seeing all sorts of decorations.

Well I've ordered two Easter trees from Amazon and they should be arriving today and I'm going to make decorations with the kids to go on them 😁

I'm not Christian, I'm more of a pagan myself. The eggs/Easter bunny at Easter all come from pagan roots anyway. I like following the Celtic calendar but enjoy celebrating Christmas and Easter too. This year I wanted to get decorations as everything has been so bloody miserable this past year, anything that brings a bit of joy is good in my book.

I'm actually really excited to make the decorations and watch my kids enjoy themselves. It's more than the decorations to me- it's having something to celebrate, enjoy spring arriving and doing something memorable with my little ones. Something to look after our mental health in what has been a horrible time.

I was all set to come on and tell you you were being miserable to judge something that makes others happy and has no effect on you however reading the OP I agree, I had never thought if it but you make total sense.

I confess I am now thinking of doing a bit of seasonal decorating today, I'll blame you.

If I was more organised and had more time, I would decorate some eggshells and hang them on a tree outside for Easter Sunday.

I always like seeing the easter decorations and celebrations in other European countries.

Having them on a fake tree inside feels a bit odd. But I suppose some people don't have gardens.

It's a Pagan celebration that Christians claimed as their own. If you want to play it that way, fine, but it's not fir you to dictate to others.

It perhaps evolved (and only perhaps) but that was only suggested by St Bede in the 8th Century or thereabouts. It is now very much the major Christian festival and has been for over two thousand years. Time for you pagans to get used it, perhaps.

Celebrate Spring by all means, put up your Eostre decorations but don’t think it’s Easter you are celebrating. Anymore than me eating apples in September is a celebration of RosH Hashannah.

Also Eastee coincides with the time of the Jewish Passover which according to the gospels was when Jesus was crucified. The secular imagery is from the pagan tradition, such as rabbits but Easter as a Christian festival ties in with Passover. Christmas was totally a made up date though and taken from the pagan holiday of Yule. Whatever you are celebrating I hope you have fun and decorate however you wish!

It's a tradition in some countries, I know a family from Slovakia who always have a small bare twig Easter tree decorated to signify rebirth and the coming of spring.

I have done them all my life courtesy of grandparents who visited Germany a lot and brought home wooden eggs and decorations. We use white twigs or branches of forsythia if Easter is early like this year and it's in flower.

Very much a European thing. In Prague the trees in the squares are decorated with huge eggs and ribbons for Easter.

Example 1!

I saw an ad for one and thought they were taking the piss and trying to sell of Christmas stock they couldn't get rid of in the sales due to lockdown.
Had no idea people were actually putting things up.

I’ve only seen evergreen trees this year, usually by those who haven’t had an Easter tree before and are using what they have.

We’ve always had a white twiggy style one. Also always had a spring wreath, used to be made from flowers from the garden growing up but I did buy one with flowers and eggs on a few years ago that we use.

YABU to pick on wreaths. Wreaths are not just for Christmas, wreaths have always been used year round as significant markers on graves, memorials, at harvest time, and on holy days. And you don't get much more holy than Easter.