Weaving Old and New Traditions Together: Eastern European Christmas Spider Tradition

Spider ornament in a Christmas tree (Source: Manor College)

 

Love them or hate them, spiders play an important role in native ecosystems and in cultural traditions throughout time and around the world.  From their role as scary creepy crawlies in Western Halloween traditions to the iconic tale of Charlotte who used her web to save Wilbur the pig there is a wide diversity in the folklore and tales about spiders.  This blog post will bring your attention to yet another one that you may not be familiar with: the role of spiders in Christmas traditions among Eastern European populations.

 

Commonly referred to as the “Ukrainian Christmas Spider” the use of spiders and their webs as part of Christmas traditions exists throughout Eastern European populations.  It is customary on Christmas Eve to construct spider figurines from straw and hang them from the ceiling.  Alternatively, individuals may place a spider ornament in their Christmas tree or, according to several journalistic sources, they hang tinsel off the tree’s branches.  The claim is that the tinsel represents the spider’s webs. 

 

These may seem like strange customs, but they are rooted in long-standing traditions and values that have existed for thousands of years.  It is believed that these favorable ideas concerning spiders existed in pre-Christian beliefs, which today are often referred to as folk beliefs. It is unknown what specifically led to the cherishment of spiders, but they have and continue to be viewed as messengers of good news and protectors of the homes and families they dwell alongside.  As these groups adopted Christianity as their primary faith the meaning of the spider transformed and was integrated into Christian beliefs and values. 

 

This has led to a variety of legends concerning the importance of spiders, particularly at Christmas time.  There are several that center around a central theme of poverty and acts of kindness.  Several legends claim that a poor woman sought to provide her children a nice Christmas by acquiring a Christmas tree that she could not afford to decorate.  In the process of getting the tree the woman and/or her children encounter a spider, which they allow to live in the tree.  It repays this kind act by decorating the tree with its cobwebs, which sparkle either naturally or from the sun’s rays hitting them and lighting up the tree.  An alternative legend speaks of spiders who fall in love with a well decorated tree.  The spiders explore the bedazzled tree, but they accidentally leave behind dusty cobwebs. When Santa Clause arrives to deliver the presents to the family he turns the dusty cobwebs into silver and gold tinsel.  A final legend is rooted in Christian beliefs by asserting it was a spider who saved the Holy Family from King Herod’s soldiers, who were tasked with killing baby Jesus.  In this legend the family flees into a cave and a spider seals it in with a thick web, which confuses the soldiers as they believe no one could have entered or survived in that cave and thus sparing the family and Jesus from harm.

 

While it is unclear what led to the Christmas spider tradition it continues to this day among various Eastern European groups and their descendants.  It is a nice tradition that demonstrates the continuity of cultural values throughout time, as well as showcases how core values remain in tact although changed slightly to accommodate changes in the culture.

 

Works Cited

Brown, Wizzie. "The Legend of the Christmas Spider." 21 December 2018. Texas A & M AgriLife Extension. Electronic. 23 November 2024.

Iatsenko, G., Ishchuk, A., & Shcherbakova, N. (2020). Dialogue of generations as communicative dimension of bread culture semantics in the Ukrainian sacral tradition. Journal of History Culture and Art Research,, 9(4), 333-344.

Manor College. "Christmas Spiders? Here’s More on a Ukrainian Holiday Tradition." 15 December 2021. Manor College. Electronic. 23 November 2024.

Natalia, Roman. "Usage of folk crafts of Slobozhanshchyna during preschool children education." Current issues of science and integrated technologies (2023): 10-13.