Mike Conley's Tales of the Weird: Many legends associated with Christmas

There is truly no time of the year quite like Christmas. It is a holiday full of hope, promise and magic for folks of all ages.
While we should never forget the reason for celebrating Christmas, there are also some strange and interesting legends associated with this holiday that are worth repeating. Some of them are very old and date back to the ancient superstitions from Europe. Indeed, no night of the year, with the exception of Halloween, is so oddly associated with the supernatural as much as Christmas Eve.
One enduring European legend holds that at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve animals mysteriously have the ability to speak. They can talk for a period of time while their owners are asleep. This legend is usually associated with farm animals although I would think it applies to household pets as well.
Some people say that the animals will talk about any mistreatment they have received from their owners while they have the ability to speak.
Another legend says that at midnight all cattle and other farm animals will kneel in their stalls and adore the newborn Christ child. It is believed that the animals in the stable in Bethlehem first did this and the act has been repeated every year since on Christmas Eve. This idea is widespread in England and Europe.
In northern England, some folks say that the bees will gather together on Christmas Eve and hum a Christmas carol.
Other tales associated with the holiday have to do with the decorations around the house.
According to one superstition, you must take the Christmas tree down within 12 days of Christmas Day. If not, bad luck will fall upon the household if the tree is still standing by Jan. 7.
The tradition of using tinsel when decorating a Christmas tree is said to have come from the story of a poor woman in Germany who had no decorations for the little tree she found for her children.
The tales goes that during Christmas Eve spiders in the tree wove webs around it and covered it with white strands. A local holy man passed by the humble home and saw the poor family's little tree decorated by the spiders. He said a blessing over it and the house. By Christmas morning, the spider web strands had magically turned to silver and glistened on the sunlight to the delight of the poor woman and her children. In addition to having a beautiful Christmas tree, the silver tinsel also provided the mother the ability to give food and presents for her needy children, according to a Web site about the legend.
The use of holly sprigs and plants as Christmas decorations dates back to both the ancient Romans and Druids. The Romans believed the plant to be sacred and they would adorn their heads with holly wreaths to protect themselves from evil spirits. Likewise, the Druids wore sprigs in their hair to ward off witches and keep lightning from striking them and their homes.
And some say that the robin's red breast exists today because of one bird's act of compassion.
During the first Christmas, a little brown bird shared the stable in Bethlehem with Mary, Joseph and the newborn Jesus. One night as the family lay sleeping, the little bird noticed their fire was going out. So, she flew down from the rafters and fanned the fire with her wings throughout the cold night in order to keep the baby Jesus warm. In the morning, she was rewarded with a red breast as a symbol of her love for the newborn king. That is why the robin looks like it does today, according to the legend.
Those are just a few of the legends associated with Christmas. Many of them remind us of the greatest gift ever given some 2,000 years ago.