Finshots Holiday Special: Why Ukraine decorates Christmas trees with spiders
Hey folks! Just a reminder that we’re taking a year end break this week to step away from our usual writing spree and use the time to figure out how we can make Finshots even better in 2026.
And for that, we need your help.
We’ve put together a short Finshots Readers’ Survey to understand what you enjoy about our stories and where you think we can improve. So before you dive into today’s story, please take a moment to fill it out.
Also, since we’re on a break, there won’t be a Finshots Weekly Quiz today.
But as promised, every day we’ll bring you a recap of some of the best stories we wrote this year, along with a Holiday Special series featuring one special edition each day on some of the weirdest and most unique Christmas traditions from around the world.
Let’s kick start today’s edition by revisiting five of our most interesting business stories from the year…
DeepSeek — The Model that broke the market: An explainer on how a Chinese AI model wiped $1 trillion from the stock market.
Why Reliance wants a bigger slice of quick commerce: An explainer about why Reliance is racing into quick commerce.
Why’s Mastercard betting big on Stablecoins?: An explainer on why Mastercard is interested in stablecoins and how it might change global payments.
Is ANI a bully?: A story that takes a closer look at copyright infringement in the business of content creation.
What happens when EVs flood the used market?: A story that looks past the new EV launches to ask a less glamorous but decisive question.
And because five felt too tough to narrow down, here’s a bonus list:
India's Pickleball boom!: An explainer on why everyone in India, including businesses, is latching onto the rising pickleball trend.
What’s up with Cartoon Network?: A story about why Cartoon Network nearly shut down and how it’s trying to stage a comeback.
The curious case of rising coconut oil prices: A story that cracks open the coconut oil price surge.
Today’s Finshots Holiday Special: Why Ukraine decorates Christmas trees with spiders
Decorating a Christmas tree with tinsel, holly, candy canes and lights, and unwrapping gifts under it, is pretty much what Christmas looks like for most of us. But have you ever thought of decorating a Christmas tree with spider webs?
Well, we know that sounds odd but in parts of Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, that’s exactly what people do. Christmas trees there are often adorned with artificial spider webs and small spider ornaments, known as pavuchky (which literally means “little spiders” in Ukrainian). And far from being creepy, these spiders are seen as symbols of luck and prosperity.
So how did this unusual tradition begin?
There are many versions of the story, but the most popular one traces back to a folktale from the late 19th or early 20th century, often called The Legend of the Christmas Spider.
The story goes like this.
One summer day, a pine cone fell onto the earthen floor of a small hut where a poor but hardworking widow lived with her children. Over time, that pine cone began to grow into a little tree. The children lovingly cared for it, thrilled at the idea that they might have their very own Christmas tree by winter.
And the tree did grow. But when Christmas Eve finally arrived, reality set in. The family had no money for decorations. With heavy hearts, the children went to bed, leaving the bare tree standing in the corner.
The spiders living in the hut noticed the children’s sadness and decided to help. During the night, they spun their webs all around the tree, wrapping it in fine, shimmering cobwebs.
When the family woke up the next morning and opened the windows, sunlight streamed in. As the first rays touched the webs, they transformed into glistening strands of gold and silver.
The widow and her children were overjoyed. And from that moment on, the story says, their fortunes changed. And they never lived in poverty again.
That legend explains why, even today, many people in Ukraine don’t remove cobwebs during the holiday season. Leaving them untouched is a way of showing gratitude, just like the family in the folktale did, to honour the good luck the spiders brought them.
It’s a beautiful contrast, really. While in India we sweep away cobwebs during festivals to keep our homes clean and mark fresh beginnings, in Ukraine spiders and their webs are welcomed as symbols of hope, luck, and prosperity.
Quite an unusual way to celebrate Christmas, sure! But also a surprisingly heartwarming one. What do you think?
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