A great post from Jesus Creed:

While walking under the starry sky in a snowy woods just outside Wittenberg on a bright moon-lit night, Martin Luther was so overtaken by the glorious scene that he determined to recreate it inside his home, the Black Cloister. He chopped down a fresh blue spruce, brought it inside and attached lighted candles, their flames reminding him of the lovely stars in the sky. And thus began a long tradition of houses burning down during the Christmas season.

Read the whole thing here.