Christmas Tales: The Legend Of The Candy Cane

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Christmas is the most joyful time of the year. It is the time when winter sets in and everywhere people around the globe celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. Everywhere the story of Jesus' birth is re-enacted which makes this celebration all the more magical.

It is interesting to see that everything related to Christmas somehow magically connects to Jesus Christ. Be it the Christmas tree or Santa Claus or even the ornaments of the Christmas tree are in one or the other related to Jesus. Every ornament on the Christmas tree has its own interesting tale to tell.

One such ornament is the candy cane. A candy cane is usually seen as the most humble candy which is distributed among kids during Christmas or hung on a Christmas tree. But do you know that the humble candy cane also has some hidden tales to tell? Let us find out about the legend of the candy cane and its significance in Christmas.

ALSO SEE: MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Origin Of The Candy Cane: The origin of the candy cane goes back over 350 years, when candy-makers both professional and amateur were making hard sugar sticks. According to folklores, in 1670, in Cologne, Germany, the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral, wishing to remedy the noise caused by children in his church during the Christmas Eve, asked a local candy maker to make some sweet sticks for them. In order to justify the practice of giving candy to children during worship services, he asked the candy maker to add a crook to the top of each stick, which would help children remember the shepherds who paid visit to infant Jesus.

Cane Of The Shepherd: A candy cane is shaped like a shepherd's crook which reminds us that Jesus who is the Good Shephard came into our world on Christmas. The Bible says, "The Lord is my shepherd." Therefore the candy cane reminds us that Jesus is our shepherd and he will keep us from wandering away and getting lost or hurt.

Shape Of The 'J': A candy cane is shaped like J which denotes Jesus. It is a reminder that Jesus is there for us whenever we need Him.

Colours Of The Candy Cane: When the candy cane was manufactured, it was completely white in colour. White stands for purity and denotes that Jesus was as spotless as the white hue. Later the red stripes were added to the candy canes which signifies the blood of Jesus when He sacrificed Himself for humanity on the cross. The Bible tells us that before He was crucified, Jesus was beaten with a whip which made blood-red stripes across His back. The Bible says that we are healed by those stripes. The stripes on the candy cane should remind us that Jesus suffered and died, so that we can have everlasting life.

The Sweet Taste: The candy cane is the reminder of love of Jesus which grows sweeter everyday.

The Hard Candy: The hardness of the candy represents Christian Church's foundation on solid rock.

The Minty Flavour: The peppermint flavour of the candy represents the use of 'hyssop' which is a herb referred to in the Old Testament.

Though there is no historical evidence to support these views, yet they seem to enhance the flavour of Christmas more than ever. The strongest connection one might make between the origins of the candy cane and any intentional Christian association is to guess that possibly some unknown person, at some indefinite time, took a long-existing form of sweet (i.e., straight white sticks of sugar candy) that was already associated with Christmas and produced bent versions of it to represent a shepherd's crook and make it easier to hang on Christmas trees. Nevertheless they are an inseparable and fun part of Christmas traditions.

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