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Help!  One of our teachers found a wonderful Christmas ornament at a local
arts & crafts fair that is said to be from Germany or the Ukraine.  The
story that goes along with the spider ornament is called "The Legend of the
Christmas Spider", and it supposedly originated in Germany and/or the
Ukraine.  I have searched through all of my sources and have been unable to
locate any information about this legend.  Does anyone know anything about
this story.  Supposedly the spiders wanted to see the Christ Child when he
came to bless a house, and because they were afraid they would be swept
away as the mother cleaned, they climbed into the attic.  As they peeked
through the floor, they fell onto the Christmas tree and then spun their
webs.  When the Christ Child came, he said that the spiders were just as
important in the world as humans, and so in recognition of them, he turned
their webs  into gold and silver, and thus "tinsel" for our trees came into
being.

If anyone knows of a source for this story, please e-mail me.  Thanks so much.

Lou Brewer
Nickerson Elementary School
Nickeson, KS
brewer@southwind.net


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