During many holidays, the folks working on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope try and find an image that captures the essence of the celebration. We've seen Christmas Tree clusters and spooky nebulae. ...

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A quick Google search reveals that the spiral is an ancient multicultural symbol that symbolizes eternity, rebirth, seasonal cycles, and the sun. All these themes are associated with the Winter Solstice to which Christmas was conveniently associated with. So the "holiday wreath" analogy may have been a bit of stretch to fit into our modern Christmas symbolism but the spiral galaxy fits nicely into the ancient symbolism of the season.

[BTW: an article in Today's Parent made reference to a spiral of evergreen boughs laid out on the floor lit with small random candles and a bright central candle... kinda sounds like a spiral galaxy to me!]

http://www.todaysparent.com/craftsac...ontent=1191188

Merry Solstice!

gregory