Legend of the Christmas Spider
Long, long ago, one Christmas Eve, the spiders were banished from homes and any spiders that survived had to move to the farthest corner of the attic. Their webs were broken and torn down, while the houses were cleaned for Christmas.
However, some of the young spiders wanted to see the decorated Christmas tree and the Christ child that was due to arrive at midnight to bless the tree.
"Now, now little ones," the mother spider said to the youngsters, "We are not allowed inside the rooms to see the tree. We are to stay here in the corner of the attic."
"But mom, please, please let us just peek." the young spiders begged the mother spider. "We promise we will be very quiet and not wake up the humans."
"Well, alright." the mother spider relented. "But we must wait until the humans are all in bed asleep. Then we shall all creep out to get a closer look at the Christmas tree."
Just a few minutes past nine o'clock at night, all the people were fast asleep in their cozy beds. At once, all the spiders came out of their corners and rushed to see the tree. Even the adult spiders felt the thrill of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.
They slowly crept closer ansd closer to the Christmas tree. They were so captivated by the beauty of it. With all the lights, the ornaments, and even the smell delighted them, that they spent all night in the tree crawling up and down and round and round. They could not hold back their urge to weave pretty and delicate spider webs all over the tree as they danced from branch to branch.
Then, in the wee morning hours, they heard something coming close to the tree. The spiders all hide deep inside the branches, worried the people woke up and would be angry at the webs they spread all over the tree.
But it was the Christ child who approached the tree. "Well now, what have we here?" the Christ child asked in amazement. "It seems some creatures had a bit of a celebration. The mother worked hard all day to make everything perfect and she will be quite displeased about the webs the spiders have woven. But they are God's creatures so I can't allow her to harm them."
Then with a heart full of love and a soft, gentle smile, the Christ child gently touched the spider webs and they began to give off a beautiful shimmering sparkle of gold and silver. The colors were so bright that it made the Christmas tree look even more beautiful than before.
It is said that this is how tinsel became a popular Christmas tree decoration. Some people will also hang a plastic spider in remembrance of the devoted little spiders who worked hard that Christmas Eve.
