text: why do people decorate with lights for christmas? is this custom based on chanukah which is the festival of lights?  in addition, why is the celebration of the birth of a man born in the middle east honored by the cutting down and decoration of a coniferous tree which is only found in northern climates? because christmas is based on yule. the early christians adopted this timing to coincide with yule in order to try to win over the pegans.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/yule  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/christmas_trees#history  pegans used fire/lights light up the dark winter and to scare off any evil spirits that may be lurking. they brought evergreens inside for the same reason. then they started putting presents only on a tree. putting candles on the tree was a much later developemt in an attempt to combine the lighting and evergreen traditions. the electric lights we have today haven't been around for very long....only since 1882.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/christmas_lights    btw: "chanukah" is a jewish holiday. it has nothing to do with christianity.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/chanukah