Origins and Wood for Interior Design

In the process of researching into the deeper origins of everyday things, one will often find that there are more questions that answers. This is the kind of happy confusion that most historians have come to love, sometimes having to come through it by a series of experiences of trying to find the truth. There are few things, then, that could be argued to have a singular origin, and although it might be frustrating, it can also lead to understanding things on a much more complex level.

This is certainly the case with the Christmas Tree. In most contemporary discussions of the tree, the commonly accepted notion is that its origins have to do with pagan traditions. During the darkest part of the winter, when nothing is growing, people bring something green into the home in order to invoke the life force during a dark time. Further examination reveals that there may indeed be pagan origins, but the traditions are varied and so widespread that no singular tradition can be comfortably credited. But the argument is very compelling, and also can explain something as seemingly unrelated as bamboo wood blinds. Using natural woods to decorate the home, however, certainly does offer a kind of quotation of nature, that no matter how urban the environment, the wilderness is still present.

It doesn’t really seem to matter whether or not the wood touches for interior design are hand-hewn chairs, or factory direct blinds. They all serve to offer a kind of quotation of nature, and make the interior reflect the exterior in some significant way.

The connections get deeper the further one looks. Like any investigation into history, specifics always reflect a larger whole, and small connections to the past can become amplified if one only looks a little more closely. Again, looking at the Christmas Tree, there are likely origins in the worship of a Greek God, Adonia, who was resurrected by a serpent that some call Aessulapius.

In other versions, this serpent is called Asklepios, and this is the point where the specific serves to mystify even further. He is also depicted as an old man, and has become syncretized with the God of Medicine. In later versions, his earlier depiction as a serpent becomes a man holding a staff with entwined serpents. This symbol has become common in anything related to medicine in western culture. However the notions of origin might come into play here, it is clear that it’s always more complex than it seems. It’s also clear that the tree, like natural wood, has a kind of healing quality, and it’s one that still transmits a kind of quiet power across the centuries, and across continents.

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